Pompey as Ludibrium Pelagi in Lucan: A Horatian Reminiscence

Abstract

The literary representation of Pompey in Lucan’s epic is strongly connected to the idea of the crumbling res publica. The poet reinforces this connection by using the phrase ludibrium pelagi (VIII 710) to describe the Roman general’s decapitated body, thus pointing to a similar phrase in Horace’s ode I 14, where the image of a ship rolling in rough seas symbolizes the dangers threatening the res publica as a result of civil war.