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Visus Homerus Adesse Poeta: The Annals of Quintus Ennius and the Odyssey of Homer
- Classical World
- Johns Hopkins University Press
- Volume 106, Number 1, Fall 2012
- pp. 29-50
- 10.1353/clw.2013.0009
- Article
- Additional Information
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Although its opening line raises expectations of a deep engagement with the Odyssey, there are actually many more allusions to the Iliad in the fragments of the Annals of Quintus Ennius. Specifically, there are four extant topical allusions to the Iliad and none to the Odyssey. The fact that the Annals, like the Iliad, is an epic of war is one explanation. The existence of a Latin translation of the Odyssey by Ennius’ predecessor, Livius Andronicus, is another. Finally, this lack of allusions to the Odyssey may also be an implicit refutation of a claim that Odysseus founded Rome.