ABSTRACT
This chapter argues that an analysis of Vergil’s exploration of art’s incapacities and the inadequacies of fame offers an explanation of the ultimate success of Lin’s controversial Vietnam Veterans Memorial. Vergil’s concurrent grappling with these issues is most clear in two of the Aeneid’s major ekphrases: Vergil’s description of the Trojan War mural on the Junonian temple at Carthage and the doors to the temple of Apollo at Cumae. Vergil’s Trojan War mural likewise attempts to foreclose interpretation by leaving little doubt as to its message by focusing on mythologized referents rather than real individuals. Aeneas’ reaction to it problematizes the notion of an imposed ‘official’ interpretation. The blank space on Daedalus’ doors also invites contemplation. Despite the Sibyl’s attempts to hurry Aeneas along, he contemplates the void, and in doing so memorializes Icarus in a way no idealizing image could.
