Big Book Blog

An epic, or Homeric simile, is basically just a really long simile, usually characteristic of epic poetry (hence the name). The two page description of abandoned Moscow as a queenless beehive on pages 874-875 immediately reminded me of Virgil’s description of Carthage in book 1 of the Aeneid. In an epic simile, Virgil compares a functioning city to a beehive. The simile is preceded by a description of the perfect city. Aeneas and a companion, having been blown into Carthage’s shores by a storm, are out exploring when they come upon Carthage. They stand amazed at the way in which the city functions:

Instant ardentes Tyrii: pars ducere muros,molirique arcem et manibus subvolvere saxa,pars optare locum tecto et concludere sulco.Iura magistratusque legunt sanctumque senatum;hic portus alii effodiunt; hic alta theatrisfundamenta locant alii, immanisque columnasrupibus excidunt, scaenis decora alta futuris. (Virgil I.422-429)

Burning, the Tyrians press on: part extend the walls and make a citadel and roll huge rocks with their hands, part choose a place for a building and enclose it with a trench; the magistrate and the sacred senate choose laws. Here some dig out harbours, here some establish the high foundations for theaters, and they cut out columns from huge cliffs, about to be high ornaments for a stage.  In general this passage is regarded as Virgil describing his vision of the ideal city and of Rome. Everyone does their part, things are constructed, laws are obeyed etc. Having made his point, he compares this perfection to nature.

Qualis apes aestate nova per florea ruraexercet sub sole labor, cum gentis adultos
educunt fetus, aut cum liquentia mella
stipant et dulci distendunt nectare cellas,
aut onera accipiunt venientum, aut agmine facto
ignavom fucos pecus a praesepibus arcent:   (Virgil, I.430-436)”Such as in the new summer work busies bees through the flowery countryside beneath the sun, when they lead on the young of the race, adults or when they stow flowing honey and they stretch the cells with sweet nectar, or they accept the burdens of the returning ones, or with a battle line having been drawn they keep of the drones, an idle herd from the hives; the work boils and the fragrant hone smells of thyme.”

As Tolstoy was a pretty educated guy, I think we can safely assume that he’d read this simile (the note in my Latin text went so far as to call it famous). In Tolstoy’s adaptation, the beehive as presented by Virgil had been lost in the abandoning of Moscow. The repeating images- the warm, flowing honey, the order of everyone’s work and the defense of the hive- were what was not happening. What really interests me is the difference in Tolstoy and Virgil’s views of what makes a city run. In Book 4, when Dido and Aeneas are, well, dating (ish), Carthage falls apart.

non coeptae adsurgunt turres, non arma iuuentus
exercet portusue aut propugnacula bello
tuta parant: pendent opera interrupta minaeque
murorum ingentes aequataque machina caelo. (Virgil, IV.85-89)The towers having been begun no longer rise, the youth do not exercise with arms or prepare the harbours or safe ramparts for war: the labors and the huge menace of the walls and the machine equal to the sky hang interrupted.

This image of idle nothingness is horrifying given the attention Virgil paid to describing the functioning Carthage. For Virgil, it is all about the leader. He wrote about leaders: Aeneas, who founded Rome, Dido, and without directly saying it, Agustus. Much of the Aeneid is devoted to exploring the qualities of a good leader, because for Virgil the leader did control history. Without Dido, Carthage cannot function. It is literally the queenless behive described by Tolstoy. Ironically, for Tolstoy it matters very little wether or not the beehive actually has a queen. His views on leadership have been discussed a lot in our class, but his philosophy generally says that the person in charge is not responsible for the actions of history. What Moscow lost was not a leader, it was the spirit of the Russian people.  By comparing a city without it’s people to a beehive without it’s queen Tolstoy is yet again reminding us of the unimportance of leaders.  Note: I can’t find my english translation of the Aeneid (and I don’t like the online versions) so if someone wants to correct my translation, feel free!