Flawed characters Pharsalia

throughout pharsalia, simile holds, , caesar continuously depicted active force, strikes great power.

pompey, on other hand, old , past prime, , years of peacetime have turned him soft. susanna braund argues lucan has taken weaker, human, elements of aeneas character—aeneas doubting mission, aeneas husband , lover—and bestowed them upon pompey. , while portrays leader indecisive, slow action, , ineffective, make him main character shown have sort of emotional life. more, lucan @ times explicitly roots pompey. nevertheless, leader doomed in end. lucan compares pompey large oak-tree (book 1, lines 136–43), still quite magnificent on verge of falling over:

by comparing caesar bolt of lightning, , pompey large tree on verge of death, lucan poetically implies on in pharsalia caesar strike , fell pompey.

the grand exception bleak depiction of characters cato, stands stoic ideal in face of world gone mad (he alone, example, refuses consult oracles know future). pompey seems transformed after pharsalus, becoming kind of stoic martyr; calm in face of death upon arrival in egypt, receives virtual canonization lucan @ start of book ix. elevation of stoic , republican principles in sharp contrast ambitious , imperial caesar, becomes greater monster after decisive battle. though caesar wins in end, lucan makes sentiments known in famous line victrix causa deis placuit sed victa catoni – victorious cause pleased gods, vanquished [cause] pleased cato.