Guest Paragon Posted April 3, 2014 Posted April 3, 2014 Visitors to the National September 11 Memorial Museum will see a large quotation on a wall. But behind Virgil's quote is a story of blood and murder. The quotation reads: "No Day Shall Erase You From The Memory of Time" and is in reality a tribute to two dead soldier-lovers, Nisus and Euryalus. Yet for the Museum, it encloses the some-8000 remains of unidentified victims of the World Trade Towers collapse, thus making it a central point for visitors. Since Virgil's quote lionizes two dead soldiers, lovers, who have just annihilated an enemy camp, folks are wondering how appropriate it is for a memorial to civilian dead. The quote doesn't speak of a nameless "you," which in this case appears to mean the dead on 9/11. The two Trojan soldiers have just slaughtered the enemy "in an orgy of violence, skewering soldiers whom you ambushed in their sleep. For this, the enemy has killed you and impaled your heads on spears." Virgil, the Aeneid. Naturally, there is some wiggling around by the Museum management, trying to say that this quote applies in this very different situation. Then there are those who think the quote is highly inappropriate. You can read the discussion here: http://www.nytimes.com/2014/04/03/nyregion/an-inscription-taken-out-of-poetic-context-and-placed-on-a-9-11-memorial.html?ref=nyregion Nisus and Euryalus More on the two lovers: http://www.madelinemiller.com/myth-of-the-week-nisus-and-euryalus/ Quote
