105.3

Contrary to the standard view, the Danaids' threat to kill themselves if Pelasgus does not come to their aid in Aeschylus' Suppliants (455-67) is not decisive evidence of their cruel and manipulative nature. Rather, the threat admits of a range of interpretations that exacerbated spectators' questions regarding the Danaids and their circumstances and generated suspense regarding these well-known figures from myth.

The Vergilian references in Carm. 4.10-15 suggest that Horace and Vergil, not Horace and a Roman crowd, are the subjects of canemus in 4.15.32. Horace has resurrected Vergil through his poetry to help him praise Augustus, because a true encomium of the princeps lies outside the capabilities of Horace's lyric persona.