On Marulić’s Figurative Speech (1)

One of the many requisites of classical epics that the humanist poets often used to ornate their heroic poems are the so called epic similes, elaborate similes in which the comparison is extended by means of an image in movement, with numerous particulars and a characteristic action. The stress is always on the visual, the realistic and the dynamic, the aim being to convey the image in its “totality”; the result is a more complete and a more vivid illustration of the proposed comparison. Such similes demand, of course, more space and in poems they are likely to occupy up to several lines, since here, unlike in metaphors and simple similes, the conciseness and economy of expression are not crucial. Many examples of the use of this vehicle may be found in Marulić’s heroic poem of Judita (Judith), written in Croatian vernacular, as well as in his Latin Dauidias, where they are noticeable, if for nothing else, for their high frequency. It is, however, less known that Marulić, poet by vocation, occasionally used epic similes - alien to the language of prose - in his Latin prose works as well, where they are more difficult to notice in the mass of prose texts. They are fifteen in all. (For comparison, in the Davidias alone they are 32.) Approximately one half of them are contained in the Euangelistarium, one appears in Marulić’s Latin translation of the so called Croatian Chronicle, while the De institutione and the De humilitate account for the rest. As for their contents, the poet’s associations are inspired by pictures of sea, hunt-ing, fishing, floral and animal life, tempests, wars and conflagrations. Here are two characteristic examples: The expectation of future bliss alleviates the atrocious pains suffered by the souls in purgatory, for hence - earlier or later - the path leads to heaven. In a similar way the hope in happy ending and secure earnings helps a merchant endure all sorts of privations and hardship at sea: tempests, huge waves, the stink of stale water in the hull, nausea and vomiting (De inst. V 11). In his exhortation against haughtiness, which, if not curbed by reason, will cause many evils, Marulić compares it with the brightening up of a cloudy and gloomy sky that seldom comes about in calm and much more often with storms, lightnings, thunderbolts, cloud bursts and deluge. Intensifying the poet’s picture are the metaphoric expressions contained in the comparative clause: “the flatulence of storm that blows itself out in the souther’s rage”. (Euan. VII 2). Compared to the Neo-Latin prosaic texts by other contemporary writers, the epic similes of Marulić’s Latin prose works represent a sporadic but expressive and original distinctive trait that should not go neglected in a future comprehensive description of his Latin language