Signos y profecí­as en el libro III de Eneida

Abstract

The aim of this article is to study the signs and prophecies in Aeneid III, regarded as a means of communicating fatum between gods and men and therefore included in divinatio. We analyze the announces given by Apollo, Celaeno, Helenus and the sign of the white horses in connection with the typology of divinatory practices presented by both an ancient text (Cicero?s On divination) and contemporary studies (Bouché-Leclercq, Flacelière, Turcan, Warrior, etc). By means of this examination we find a) a synthesis of elements belonging to different kind of rituals, hardly comparable only with Roman official divination, b) the way in which the divine hierarchy of the poem is organized, in terms of knowledge of fate and c) a representation of the Trojan as pious people who honor the gods trough different offerings and sacrifices