Marco Gay

Based on the passage Macr. Sat. 5,19,1-4, which transmits the fr. 29 Mazzarino, Annaeus Cornutus is routinely thought to be the source of a variety of attacks against Virgil’s mythological innovations (e.g. Serv. [Dan.] ad Aen. 3,46, 11,554, 12,83). This paper argues that Macrobius, who considers the Virgilian poems the peak of the Graeco-Roman literary tradition, misrepresents the original meaning of Cornutus’ claim about the novelty of the cutting of Dido’s lock (Aen. 4,693-705) and of the Golden Bough (Aen. 6,124-211)...