NOT ONLY ARIADNE: THE INFLUENCE OF CATULLUS 11 ON AENEID 4.

Although Vergil's engagement with Catullus in Aeneid 4 has long drawn scholarly attention, studies on this topic primarily focus on the influence of Ariadne's soliloquy in Catullus 64 on Dido's monologues. The reference to Catullus 64 shows the reader Dido's perspective, as the queen presents herself as the new Ariadne, and Aeneas as the new Theseus. In this paper I argue that Vergil also evokes Catullus 11 to imply that the same story can be told from a different point of view. By means of this allusion, Aeneas justifies himself, and makes it clear that he must depart from Carthage because his affair with Dido is threatening the mission that fate has assigned to him. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]