210 LORENZO SANNA
to oppose him and slowed his hand; that hand, however, drove home
the wound thus hindered, and came to rest in his soul’s inner chambers.
The waters shuddered at the sinful deed, you woods on either side did
weep, and the hollow banks resounded with deeper groans. From his
dying lips this last cry came forth, “Mother!”: over this utterance of the
poor boy’s the river-waters closed. (tr. Dewar 1991)A solemn invocation of the Muses (Theb. 9.315–8) singles out this
episode of the puer Crenaeus, the son of a faun and a nymph, grand-
son of the river Ismenus (9.319 ...Fauno nymphaque Ismenide natus),
whose name implies what his fate will be. From the first lines, the
military atmosphere appears quite far away. The waters, in which the
puer plays, certainly do not represent a battlefield, nor any kind of
physical “training” to help him reach his epic maturity, as was, for
instance, “Chiron’s school” for the young Achilles, compelled to se-
vere tests of endurance, in the whirling waters of the river Spercheos
(Ach. 2.143–51). What transpires is rather Crenaeus’ carefree joy,
happily enjoying himself while he merrily hops along the shores and
plays with the current (9.324–7), playfighting among the river’s ma-
ternal waves. The soft and protective environment of the river’s wa-
ters constitutes a regress to the exclusive and joyful world of early
childhood (9.321 prima dies): indeed, the river cuddles the puer, flat-
tering him (9.324 laetus adulantem), caressing him, protecting him,
and fulfilling his wishes.^37
Crenaeus seems to move far from the dangers and the tragedies of
war, happy in the embrace of his family, safe and relaxed as he was in
the cradle or even in his mother’s womb (9.321–2 ...cui prima dies in
gurgite fido / et natale uadum et uirides cunabula ripae); the puer
seems also to be quite convinced that not even the Parcae can affect
this privileged familiar condition (9.323 ergo ratus nihil Elysias ibi
posse Sorores). In his natural habitat, water seems to support the
puer’s inclination to a selfish satisfaction of his childish needs, as well
as supplying him with protection, games and amusement, keeping
away the problems and values of the epic bellum, caused by careless-
ness and imprudence, or just because the playful puer is still immature
37 Cf. Theb. 9.324–7, where the river’s waters affectionately follow the puer’s
gestures when he crosses or goes with the flow; even if he tries to oppose it, the river
itself alters its flow and goes back with him (9.326–7 ...nec cum subit obuius ullas /
stagna dedere moras pariterque reuertitur amnis).