Publication Date:
2021
Short description:
Oltre i confini. Il destino della Camilla di Virgilio / Bruzzone, Antonella. - (2021), pp. 59-66.
abstract:
In the evocative figure of Camilla, the queen of the Volscians who fights alongside Turnus against the Trojans in
Aen. 11, Virgil combines originally different archetypes (the Amazon modelled on Penthesilea, the virgin hunter
companion of Diana, the invincible hero killed by deception, among others). From the very first lines in which she
is introduced—the catalogue of the warriors of Book 7,803-818—her ethos is characterized in a way that places
her outside the traditional female sphere; and, on the other hand, the Kriegertum that equates Camilla to males
shows her greatest charm precisely in the contrast with her being a girl, inevitably isolating her from the male
world as well. Her fate seems to be determined by the gesture of her father Metabus who, pursued by the enemies,
throws his still infant daughter rapidum super amnem in order to save her (Aen. 11,562). Indeed, it is there, beyond
the border marked by the river, in a territory other than her own, Camilla begins her singular existence, growing
in a wild environment, isolated from the human group and close to the world of nature, and she becomes a woman
according to a totally unique identity, crossing all gender boundaries.
Aen. 11, Virgil combines originally different archetypes (the Amazon modelled on Penthesilea, the virgin hunter
companion of Diana, the invincible hero killed by deception, among others). From the very first lines in which she
is introduced—the catalogue of the warriors of Book 7,803-818—her ethos is characterized in a way that places
her outside the traditional female sphere; and, on the other hand, the Kriegertum that equates Camilla to males
shows her greatest charm precisely in the contrast with her being a girl, inevitably isolating her from the male
world as well. Her fate seems to be determined by the gesture of her father Metabus who, pursued by the enemies,
throws his still infant daughter rapidum super amnem in order to save her (Aen. 11,562). Indeed, it is there, beyond
the border marked by the river, in a territory other than her own, Camilla begins her singular existence, growing
in a wild environment, isolated from the human group and close to the world of nature, and she becomes a woman
according to a totally unique identity, crossing all gender boundaries.
Iris type:
2.1 Contributo in volume (Capitolo o Saggio)
Keywords:
Virgil, Aeneid, Camilla, Gender, Female Warrior, Paradoxical Character
List of contributors:
Bruzzone, Antonella
Book title:
Sconfinamenti di genere. Donne coraggiose che vivono nei testi e nelle immagini / Crossing Gender Boundaries. Brave Women Living in Texts and Image