Classical Traditions in

Science Fiction
EDITED BY
BRETT M.ROGERS
AND
BENJAMIN ELDON STEVENS

3
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3
Virgil in Jules Vernes Journey to
the Center of the Earth
Benjamin Eldon Stevens

Jules Vernes novel Journey to the Center of the Earth (1864a [Journey])
makes frequent and meaningful references to Greek and Roman classics, paying special attention to the Latin language and its literature.1 In
this chapter I argue that Journeys engagement with the Roman poet
Virgilvia quotations, allusions, and a deep structural parallel to
Virgils epic poem, the Aeneid (ca. 19 b.c.e. [Aen.])exempliies how
modern science iction (SF) may be read as drawing on classical traditions in order to articulate master narratives of modern science. In general, the ancient classics are displaced from their previously privileged
position of knowledge, becoming instead mere tradition, while
knowledge is limited to the results of modern scientiic practice (or, as

1
An early version of this material was presented at the 2010 Annual Meeting of the
Classical Association of the Atlantic States. It could not have reached its present form
without the assistance of various readers, including the Presss anonymous reviewers and
the team acknowledged in this volumes introduction. Special thanks are owed to my
father for weekly visits to comicbook shops; ma mre davoir tudi le franais lorsque
jtais enfant; and to Brett M.Rogers, co-editor, colleague, and indefatigable friend on
many fantastic journeys.

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SFs Rosy-Fingered Dawn

in Vernes case, science writing).2 In Journey in particular, Verne

described by his publisher J.-G. Hetzel as the man of perpendiculars
replaces Virgils unsystematic cyclical cosmology (as described to
Aeneas by the ghost of his father, Anchises) with the nascent science of
geology and its consequences for a linear model of human history,
including prehistory. Whereas Virgils hero encounters igures from his
own past from whom he may acquire knowledge about an ideal future
for his people, Vernes hero experiences a vision, even a sort of epiphany, of a far more distant, depersonalized pasta prehistorythat is
said by the new scientiic narrative to be shared by reader, author, and
characters alike.3 In this way, following a sort of perpendicular deviation from ancient epic, Journey ofers an image of the hero redeined
as modern scientiic man.
At the same time, as it replaces and displaces the classics, Vernes narrative may also be read as ofering a critique of modern science, in part
by showing appreciation for what science does not seem to capture adequately. In this connection, Latin in general and Virgil above all are
represented as natural means of expressing personal feeling, especially
the romantic feelings of wonder, afection, and love. In the world envisioned by the novel, Latin is simultaneously the language of scholarly

2
Cf. publisher J.-G. Hetzels description of the project of Vernes Extraordinary
Journeys:to outline all the geographical, geological, physical, and astronomical knowledge amassed by modern science and to recount, in an entertaining and picturesque
format... the history of the universe (in the prologue to Verne [1866]); on this project,
see further Evans (1988:731). Work of such scope admits contradictory readings:e.g.,
Vernes writing has been said to emerge directly from bourgeois ideology as it pertains to
science (Barthes 1957) but also to articulate fractures in that ideology (Butour 1949,
Macherey 1966). Some other interpretations of Journey are noted below. Raymond and
Compre (1976) is a useful introduction to Verne studies, while Compre (1977) is good
on Journey. Aspecial issue of Science Fiction Studies (32.1 [2005]) is devoted to essays on
Vernes work. On the man himself, see Butcher (2006).
3
Ancient epic heroes like Aeneas are set in motion against their wishes, struggling to
get home or, as in Aeneas case, to reach a new place that must substitute for a home that
has been lost. By contrast, modern heroes like Vernes leave home in order to explore
unknown places and then return, inding that little if anything has changed; on Vernes
circular cartographies, see Harpold (2005), generally Butcher (1991, paying special attention to Journey on 6074), and Martin (1985:144150). Such modern travelers may have
more in common with ancient explorers like the Greek historian Herodotus (ith century b.c.e.), possessed of a certain rationalizing impulse, than with heroes like Aeneas,
driven by powers beyond their comprehension and control. On epiphanies ancient and
modern, see Grobty (this volume, chapter thirteen).

Virgil in Journey to the Center of the Earth

77

communication and the language of personal expression. Relatedly, the

novels narrator understands Latin in terms that would distinguish science from poetry. his evaluative distinction interacts with the novels
general engagement with the classics in complex and interesting ways.
In what follows, Iattempt to justify this reading of Journeys classical
receptions by focusing on the novels three full quotations from Virgil.
(Some other references to ancient material are discussed in the notes, and
all are gathered in an appendix to this chapter.) Although the third quotation is perhaps the most important for the novels reception of classical
material overall, since it occurs at an especially climactic moment in the
story, all three together suggest ways of understanding Verness engagement with Virgil, Latin, and the classics, and so may serve to organize my
argument. Above all, Ihope to show how productive it can be to read modern SF as a kind of classical reception that draws on classical tradition to
articulate and to complicate its own master narratives.

ET QUACUMQUE VIAM DEDERIT FORTUNA SEQUAMUR:

LATIN FOR SCIENTIFIC COMMUNICATION
AND ROMANTIC EXPRESSION
Journeys irst quotation from Virgil occurs when the narrator, the journeyman scientist Axel, and his uncle, Professor Lidenbrock, are leaving
Reykjavik (where they have stopped overnight) for their overland journey
to the entrance into the earths depths (ch. 11).4 As they leave, they are bidden goodbye by one of their hosts, Mr. Fridriksson, with, as Axel puts it,
that line from Virgil that seemed ready-made for us, voyagers uncertain
of the way:Et quacumque viam dederit fortuna sequamur (Aen. 11.128).5
In English, the Virgil is: And let us follow whatever road fortune has
4
Uniquely among his novels, Journey was revised by Verne between editions. In this
chapter I use the shorthand Journey to refer to the 1867 editionthe seventhwhich
includes the climactic encounter in the underworld (chs. 3739) discussed below (in
the sections Scientiic Epiphany and Romantic Elegy and Scientiic Epiphany and
an Un-epic Epistemology). For the readers convenience, all translations of Verne into
English are from Butcher (2008), with some modiications as noted below. All translations from Latin are my own.
5
Butcher (2008:60). Journey ch. 11:M. Fridriksson me lana avec son dernier adieu
ce vers que Virgile semblait avoir fait pour nous, voyageurs incertains de la route.
Voyagers uncertain of the way is my replacement for Butchers uncertain travellers on

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SFs Rosy-Fingered Dawn

given! he quotation is apt, and its placement at the end of the chapter produces some dramatic efect, somewhat in the manner of a serialized novel.
Likewise, it may give an insight into Axels feeling, melodramatic (even if it is
accurate as a prediction) in combining the personal with the grandiose. he
fact that such a romantic feeling is somehow best expressed in Latin is
emphasized both at this moment and by the extended scene in Reykjavik. At
the moment of goodbye, whereas Professor Lidenbrock could express his
warm thanks to their host in Icelandic, Axel himself strung together a
cordial farewell in [his] best Latin.6 Previously in the Reykjavik scene, Mr.
Fridriksson is introduced as a humble scholar [who] spoke only Icelandic
and Latin: he came and ofered his services in the language of Horace.
herefore Axel felt that [they] were bound to understand each other. Axels
feeling that Latin allows for solidarity is emphasized:He was in fact the only
person Icould converse with during my entire stay in Iceland; as a result,
Axel declares Mr. Fridriksson is charming and his conversation quite precious.7 It seems then that, by the end of their brief stay in the capital, not
only is Latin Axels only means of communication with anyone, but the language is also positively charged with warm feeling.
Readers familiar with the Latin classics may not be surprised that
Axels standard of comparison is poetry; most otenand at the most
important momentsVirgil. A crucial aspect of Journeys engagement with the classics as they are implied in (Virgils) Latin is thus a
sort of tension between Latin as a language of communication among
scholars, focusing on accurate and enduring description in scientiic
terms, and Latin as a vehicle for personal expression, which by contrast conveys a vivid impression in a particular moment. For convenience, we may call these two modes scientiic and romantic.8
the road:the phrase should capture the connection between Axels uncertainty and his
feeling that the quotation from Virgil is therefore perfectly apt. his should also make it
clear to readers without French that voyageurs is, of course, an echo of the novels title.
6
On Lidenbrocks mastery of many languages, see note 20.
7
Immediately preceding quotations from Verne in English are from Butcher
(2008:48). Journey ch. 9:Mais un charmant homme, et dont le concours nous devint fort
prcieux, ce fut M.Fridriksson, professeur de sciences naturelles lcole de Reyjkjawik.
Ce savant modeste ne parlait que lislandais et le latin; il vint mofrir ses services dans la
langue dHorace, et je sentis que nous tions faits pour nous comprendre. Ce fut, en efet,
le seul personnage avec lequel je pus mentretenire pendant mon sjour en Islande.
8
Cf. Evans (1988: 33102) on how the Ideological Subtexts in the Voyages
Extraordinaires comprise a positivist perspective (3757) and a romantic vision
(58102).