Literary decorum in Virgil

Abstract

The focus of this thesis is the hypothesis of the relevance of the ancient literary concept of decorum in Virgil’s poetry. An analysis of the history of decorum in the ancient world and of its theoretical complexity is followed by a series of case studied taken from the Eclogues, the Georgics and the Aeneid. The exegetical tools employed are comparisons between Virgil’s texts and their main models (e.g. Homer, Hesiod, Theocritus) on the one hand, and with the ancient critical judgments on them, especially in the form of marginal notes like scholia, on the other hand. The aim of the research is shedding light on Virgil’s improvements in terms of decorum as it was conceived in his time and their ideological implications.