MERCURY IN THE MIDDLE: THE MANY MEANINGS OF (MEDIUS) SERMO IN LATIN

Abstract

In this paper, I argue that previous studies of sermo cannot explain the range of its linguistic meanings or its value in Roman culture more generally. In contrast, by defining this word in imagistic terms it is possible to provide a unified explanation not only for its polysemy between monologic and dialogic interpretations, but also for its association with the god Mercury. What’s more, I show that the symbolic sameness of sermo and Mercury underlies a systematic “slippage” of meaning between these signs, as an analysis of the idiom medius sermo demonstrates. Finally, a discussion of Vergil’s Aeneid illustrates how Latin authors can utilize such conceptual elisions in elaborating literary themes.

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