Stop Me If You've Heard This One: Faux Alexandrian Footnotes in Vergil

This paper reexamines Vergil's use of the Alexandrian Footnote on those occasions when the poet seems to refer to a nonexistent tradition. Two examples are discussed: Sinon's claims about Palamedes ( Aen . 2.81–93) and the story of Scylla ( Ecl . 6.74–77). In each case, the Alexandrian Footnote is used by a character internal to the poem. This internal character acts as a surrogate for and exercises the same fictive capacity as the poet: the footnote occurs in the context of story-telling. In such a context, when Vergil uses a “faux footnote” to invoke a tradition at precisely the moment he deviates from it by creating something new, he actively signals the lack of source material and highlights his own power as a creator of fiction.