The Virgilian Tradition: The First Fifteen Hundred Years (review)

Reception studies have become a hot field in the last few years, and no author has been a greater beneficiary of this interest than Virgil. Since 2000 we have seen several important treatments, including Richard Thomas (Virgil and the Augustan Reception, 2001); Sarah Spence (ed., Poets and Critics Read Vergil, 2001); Craig Kallendorf (The Other Virgil: Pessimistic Readings of the Aeneid in Early Modern Culture, 2007, and The Virgilian Tradition: Book History and the History of Reading in Early Modern Europe, 2007); and Werner Suerbaum (Handbuch der illustrierten Vergil-Ausgaben 1502–1840, 2008). Ziolkowski and Putnam's Virgilian Tradition is a timely and distinguished addition to this list. Ziolkowski and Putnam and their numerous contributors have amassed a treasure trove of materials documenting the rich and varied history of Virgilian reception from the poet's own lifetime to 1500.

The book is large (over 1000 pages), but well organized. The editors have divided their material into five sections: "Virgil the Poet"; "Biography: Images of Virgil"; "Virgil's Texts and Their Uses"; "Commentary Tradition"; and "Virgilian Legends." Each section is chronologically arranged; brief but useful head notes and bibliography accompany each item; a detailed table of contents and index make it easy to find one's way. Texts are generously quoted; all are translated, and the source of each translation is identified. All Latin texts are included, but vernacular sources are given only in translation.

The Virgilian Tradition is an invaluable reference book for scholars, but it is not only that. Ziolkowski and Putnam intend it to be "a warehouse-sized toyshop for students and their teachers" (xxii), and I can easily see it playing that role. In its pages one can explore—quickly or deeply—any number of fascinating topics, some well known to the general classicist, others less so, from quotations of Virgil in Pompeian graffiti (42–44) to the medieval mnemonic, rota Virgilii or Virgil's wheel (744–50), or the tradition of Virgil as a magician (825–73). Each reader will be drawn to different topics, but I found three particularly interesting. In a discussion of musical notation (neumes) in Virgil manuscripts (167–78), Ziolkowski reminds us that the poems were meant to be read aloud and speculates about the relation between ancient and medieval performance. He notes that speeches, and especially the speeches of Dido, were favorite passages for musical notation. The section ends with a bibliography and a list of notated manuscripts. Danielle Joyner's section on Virgilian Imagery (427–63) treats both portraits of Virgil and illustrations of his works in media from manuscripts to mosaics, statues, and frescoes, again with generous bibliography. Putnam includes a large portion of his translation of Maffeo Vegio's supplement to the Aeneid (147–62). The abrupt ending of the Aeneid was problematic even in the fifteenth century, and Vegio provided a solution by producing a thirteenth book that laid all the difficulties to rest. This section, like those on musical notation and Virgil in the visual arts, should be as interesting in the classroom as it is to scholars. All three ought to engage student interest, generate discussion, and provide material for projects and papers at every level from high school Latin classes to graduate seminars.

Most of the volume is taken up with texts: ancient testimonia, medieval and Renaissance imitations, interpretations and commentaries from every period. Many are freestanding, but the editors have also selected texts treating particular episodes. The emphasis on Dido and the Golden Bough in sections 3 and 4 allows the reader to follow the reception of these famous episodes over time and in several media.

My only quibble with the volume is a small one: the source and date of the manuscript illuminations of the Dido episode and the beginning of Aeneid 6 reproduced on the frontispiece are not given. The omission is surprising, given the book's otherwise ample documentation.

The...