Fantasy and Metaphor in Meleager

Meleager of Gadara is one of those increasingly rare greek authors whose works are somewhat known to many classicists but whose influence on ancient and later literature remains underappreciated. Meleager's anthology of Greek epigrams called the Garland produced Latin imitations shortly after its creation in the early first century b.c.e., and allusions to Meleager's own, mostly erotic poems are found in prominent programmatic passages of Latin poetry. Examples include the first three poems and the last poem of the Catullan liber, the opening of Propertius's Monobiblos, the first speech in Vergil's Eclogue 1, and the opening lines of Tibullus 1.2. The author would assert that as a model for Latin erotic poetry Meleager rivals Callimachus in both direct allusions and as a source of topoi and imagery. She examines some unique features of Meleager's poetry involving his use of fantasy and metaphor, which distinguish him from the epigrammatists he anthologized.