The liminal season: the image of spring in greek and latin literature

Abstract

This article attempts an investigation of the numerous references to spring made by the Ancient Greek and Latin authors in order to offer a more precise understanding of what this season meant for the ancient world. After establishing the temporal frame to which these references allude, a short description of the vernal festivals offers a glimpse of the positive and negative associations of the season that will pervade the references to spring made by the ancient writers. The material investigated reveals that spring was seen as a period of renewal and rebirth, but also as a time fraught with anxiety and worry. Spring is a liminal period of the year, a time of hope and purification, of beauty, fertility and joyous celebration, but also a time of ambiguity and danger. Spring is unpredictable and characterised by an element of incertitude and change unknown to other seasons, its activities may become dangerous, while the feelings it arises may easily turn into uncontrollable passio.