Abstract
MY PLAN in this article is first to demonstrate Virgil's adoption in many passages of a certain Stoic expression, and then to consider how strong the influence of this philosophy was on his general attitude of mind towards human existence. My justification for adding this to the enormous Virgilian bibliography' is that some passages gain a greater but often overlooked significance if the underlying Stoic phraseology is recognised. I shall not discuss here his borrowings from Stoic cosmology and Platonic eschatology, for his adoption of tenets from a certain school in these areas would not necessarily mean that he accepted their views on moral questions. There is a clear example of Virgil's conscious adoption of a Stoic phrase in the way he refers to man's relationship to Fate. The Stoics often expressed their search for accord with nature and the universe as following Fate or following the god, the words used being usually freoOat or &KoXovOrev, sequi or comitari. For examples may be given the lines of Cleanthes:
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