Abstract

Some scholars have seen in ‘fulminat’ an allusion to Callimachus' βροντν οκ μν, λλ Διc , and that is reasonable enough, since Virgil contrasts the warlike fulminations of Octavian with mocking disparagement of his own very different lifestyle . But it may have escaped attention that Virgil seems to be imitating some lines by another Hellenistic poet, Rhianus ; the parallel has thought-provoking implications