Shades of Sappho in Vergil

Abstract

This chapter argues, for the first time in classical scholarship, for Sapphic allusions in all three works in Vergil’s output. The argument has important consequences for our understanding of how different ancient genres relate to each other when allusions to epithalamia are found in pastoral and lyric allusions are found in epic, as well as of how Greek literature relates to that which is Roman. Close readings of passages from Vergil’s Eclogues, Georgics, and a number of passages from various books of the Aeneid, frequently compared to specimens of other Latin poetry, alongside a number of Sappho’s fragments, helps in deepening our understanding of both Sappho and Vergil.