• Est. 2015 in Grand Rapids, MI, USA
Enroll Now

The Super Bowl Halftime Show of Antiquity: Ship Races and Funeral Games in Aeneid Book V (Ad Navseam Ep. 95)

Meta Description: Join Dr. Jeff Winkle and Dr. David Noe in Ad Navseam Episode 95 as they dive into the thrilling funeral games of Virgil’s Aeneid Book V. Discover why ancient athletics are serious business, explore the comedic ship race, and learn how to master the Latin language. Plus, an analysis of the Ganymede ekphrasis and the ultimate “Fail Army” moment of antiquity.

Introduction: Back to School and the Bruegel Backlash

Welcome back, classical gourmands, to Episode 95 of the Ad Navseam Podcast! Broadcasting from the subterranean Vomitorium, your hosts, Dr. Jeff Winkle and Dr. David Noe, are slowly creeping toward their milestone 100th episode. While they joke about celebrating with a cheesy “best-of” clip show, they lament that several of their favorite deep-dives might not make the cut—most notably their heavily-researched episode on Peter Bruegel’s painting, The Fall of Icarus, which unfortunately did not resonate with the audience.

Regardless of download numbers, Dr. Winkle notes that his current college students are eagerly eating up the Bruegel analysis in his mythology class.

Both hosts are back in the thick of the academic semester. Jeff just finished his first week of classes, riding the initial wave of exhaustion but thankful for a roster of chatty, eager students. Dave is also back in the classroom at a local seminary, teaching Greek and the Latin language. Like many educators during the first week of the term, Dave is battling a strained voice from lecturing for hours on end, relying heavily on a large mug of tea to survive the vocal marathon.

The Shout-Out: Memphis Harmony and the Latin Language

Before diving into Roman epic poetry, the hosts deliver a well-deserved shout-out to listener Matt Bell. Matt is beginning his second year teaching the Latin language to third through sixth graders at Westminster Academy in Memphis, Tennessee. Remarkably, Matt never took Latin in school; he learned Spanish first and is entirely self-taught in the classical tongues.

Matt’s journey took a dramatic turn in 2018 when he attended a spoken Latin biduum (a two-day immersive language seminar) in Fort Worth, Texas, alongside Dr. Noe. On the drive home, Matt was overwhelmed by a terrifying yet exciting calling: he absolutely had to master and teach this ancient language. Now, he finds incredible joy in taking a complex subject like the Latin language and making it highly accessible for young children. Furthermore, Matt is an accomplished musician who writes and sings in the early American “shape note” tradition, and his work can be found at memphisharmony.bandcamp.com. The hosts express immense gratitude for Matt’s dedication to keeping the classical flame alive for the next generation.

The Halftime Show: Taking the Funeral Games Seriously

The core of Episode 95 centers on Book V of Vergil’s Aeneid. This section of the epic is widely known as the “Funeral Games” book, marking the one-year anniversary of the death of Aeneas’s father, Anchises.

Dr. Winkle points out that Book V is often considered a “sleeper” chapter—the equivalent of the Super Bowl halftime show. Many readers and scholars view it as a mere breather or a necessary interlude between the intense tragedy of Dido in Book IV and the profound underworld journey in Book VI. Quoting an article by Roger Dunkel from the Classical Journal, the hosts note that scholar R.D. Williams famously described Book V as a “relaxation of tension” and a “carefree” breathing space.

Dunkel argues that this dismissive attitude stems from a modern academic prejudice against athletics. Because modern scholars are accustomed to the incredibly sober tone of the Aeneid, they struggle to accept that mere athletic contests could hold any serious thematic weight. However, to the ancient Greeks and Romans, sporting events were deeply serious, religious endeavors. The esteemed critic Brooks Otis provides a superior reading of the text, arguing that Book V is a highly subtle, complex composition. Otis sees the games as a crucial bridge anticipating the Iliadic warfare of the epic’s second half, containing an underlying current of calamity amidst the joy.

Sailing into the Storm and Pulling into Sicily

The book opens with a strikingly dark tone. Aeneas and his fleet are sailing away from Carthage. Looking back, they see the sky illuminated by the flames of Dido’s funeral pyre. While the Trojans do not know exactly what caused the fire, their knowledge of what a frenzied, heartbroken woman is capable of gives them grim presentiments of disaster.

Almost immediately, a massive cobalt storm cloud looms overhead. The helmsman, Palinurus, cries out to Father Neptune, terrified by the churning sea. (This prompts a quick digression from Dr. Noe, who recently experienced his own “Palinurian” moment while walking home through a torrential downpour, utilizing the fantastic Latin adverb urceatim—meaning “raining buckets”).

Realizing they cannot outrun the storm, the Trojans pull safely into the harbors of Sicily. They are welcomed by Acestes, a fellow Trojan who rules the local region (the historical site of Segesta). Recognizing the anniversary of his father’s death, Aeneas declares nine days of feasting, culminating in grand athletic competitions.

The Great Regatta and Ancient Slapstick

The first, and perhaps most entertaining, event of the games is the ship race. Four massive galleys enter the competition: the Pristis (Leviathan) captained by Mnestheus, the Chimaera captained by Gyas, the Centaur captained by Sergestus, and the Scylla captained by Cloanthus. Vergil utilizes this roster for a bit of aristocratic “fan service”. He explicitly names these ancient captains as the direct ancestors of prominent, contemporary Roman families, such as the Memmii, the Sergii, and the Cluentii, allowing his aristocratic audience to proudly spot their great-grandfathers in the mythological narrative.

The race is a masterpiece of action writing. Dr. Noe compares Vergil’s highly dynamic, perfectly paced play-by-play commentary to the legendary sports broadcasting of Vin Scully. The ships must race out into the deep water, round a specific rock, and return.

Approaching the turn, Gyas orders his cautious, seasoned pilot, Menoetes, to hug the rock tightly to save time. Menoetes, fearing hidden reefs, refuses and steers wide into the deep water. Furious at losing the lead, Gyas physically grabs his pilot and hurls him headfirst off the stern into the ocean. The elderly Menoetes bobs in the waves, drags his heavy, dripping body up onto the rock, and violently vomits seawater while the entire Trojan crowd laughs at him. Dr. Winkle notes that this comedic, slapstick scene is the ancient equivalent of the modern television show Fail Army—a rare moment of levity in an otherwise heavy epic.

The race continues with extreme high stakes. Sergestus attempts to cut the corner too tightly and violently runs his ship aground. Ultimately, Cloanthus takes the victory, but only after praying fervently to the gods of the sea. Dr. Noe clarifies that while praying for a sports victory might seem trivial to a modern reader, the polytheistic Romans viewed these athletic events as deeply sacred rituals where divine favor was essential.

The Candy Man, the Ekphrasis, and Homeric Differences

Following the race, Aeneas distributes the prizes. Dr. Winkle notes that it is slightly frustrating that Aeneas acts solely as the “master of ceremonies” rather than participating in the games himself, but Dr. Noe argues that competing would be beneath his god-like status.

Aeneas proves to be the ultimate “Swag Master,” handing out extravagant gifts from what appears to be a bottomless cargo hold. Unlike the funeral games in Homer’s Iliad Book 23, where Achilles awards the winner a woman skilled in domestic handicrafts, Vergil’s prizes consist of heavy silver bars, finely crafted cauldrons, and burnished corselets stripped from fallen enemies.

The grand prize for Cloanthus is a magnificent, gold-embroidered purple cloak. Vergil provides a stunning ekphrasis (a vivid, literary description of a visual work of art) of the cloak’s design. The fabric depicts the royal youth Ganymede hunting stags on Mount Ida, just before being dramatically snatched up into the sky by the eagle of Jove, while his elderly guardians raise their hands in despair and his hunting dogs bark at the wind. It is a masterful, artistic touch that elevates the entire sporting sequence.

Sponsors: Fuel for the Classical Renaissance

Before the cleaning crew arrives to forcefully vacuum the “brackish tang” out of the Vomitorium, the hosts thank the loyal sponsors who keep the podcast running:

The Gustatory Parting Shot

To close out Episode 95, Dave delivers a slightly grim but highly amusing Gustatory Parting Shot from Susan Juby’s novel, The Republic of Dirt: A Return to Wolffield Farm:

“‘Got anything to eat?’ I asked. ‘You know where the gas station is,’ said my incredibly nurturing and maternal mother.”

Stock up on snacks before the next chariot race, check out the Lurch with Merch page at adnavseam.com, and Valete!

Sizing Guide

0