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.