Esegesi virgiliana antica e interpretazione dell’Eneide: i Penati di Troia

Abstract

The paper intends to investigate to what extent the attention of the ancient commentators to the antiquarian and theological erudition of Virgil can provide an accessus useful to penetrate some fundamental strands of meaning of the Virgilian poem. Theanalysis deals mostly with the scholia of Servius and Servius Danielis concerning the Penates of Troy. Starting with the exegesis of the expression Penatibus et magnis dis (Aen. 3.12 and 8.679), we discuss the various antiquarian interpretations witnessed in the stratified Virgilian exegesis, in relation to the relevance of the ‘theme of greatness’ in the overall design of the Aeneid