The authoress shows various ways used by Lucan to introduce an atmosphere of horror into his poem. Fear is visible not only in his descriptions of battles but also in the images of the universe dissolving itself into chaos. In the course of this transformation, all four of the elements, freed from their cosmic frame and at war one with another, bring harm and death to human beings and animals. Hate and fury, cruelty and disregard for law, omnipresent on the battlefields, are reflected in the behaviour of nature.