Just like the rumours she personifies, Virgil's Fama in Aen. 4.173–97 is a pervasive figure that has many ramifications in art and literature.Footnote ¹ In Statius’ Thebaid, scholars have identified many recreations of the Virgilian monster: beside the two main appearances of the goddess in Books 2 and 3 (2.201–13, 3.425–31),Footnote ² the figure of Pavor in Book 7 has also been convincingly interpreted as an avatar of Fama (7.105–31).Footnote ³ However, there is one more incarnation of Virgil's Fama in the Thebaid that has not been fully recognized so far: Virtus, the personification of moral virtue and courage, as she appears in the episode of Menoeceus’ sacrifice (10.610–80).Footnote ⁴ Therefore, in this note I offer a close reading of the passage which highlights the inter- and intratextual hints of Fama's presence and further reflects on the metapoetic implications of casting Virtus in Fama's role.

Fama's influence looms large at the outset of Menoeceus’ sacrifice. After Tiresias reveals the oracle demanding Menoeceus’ death (10.610–15), Fama appears in person to spread the news through the city (iam Fama sacratam | uocem amplexa uolat, clamantque oracula Thebae, 10.626–7).Footnote ⁵ At this point, Statius introduces Virtus into the narrative with the task of carrying the oracle beyond the city walls and onto the battlefield where Menoeceus is fighting. Thus, Virtus’ intervention appears as an immediate extension of Fama's action. Statius draws attention to the change in divine messengers by interrupting the narrative with an address to the Muse in which he pointedly asks who took over (quis … addiderit?, 10.628–9).Footnote ⁶ The poet then ironically invokes Clio (memor incipe Clio, 10.630), the Muse of history and past events, to vouch for the new twist that he is introducing into the story of Menoeceus’ sacrifice.Footnote ⁷ Moreover, the naming of Clio at this specific point in the epic also reminds the reader of Fama, which is the Latin equivalent of the name of the MuseFootnote ⁸ and has previously been assigned the task of remembering the past (Fama prior … cui meminisse, 4.32–3). Therefore, although Statius introduces a new personification, he is also asking his reader to keep Fama in mind while reading the episode.

The association of Virtus with Fama is prolonged in the description of her arrival, a passage suffused with references to other disruptive figures. The place of Virtus next to Jupiter's throne (diua Iouis solio iuxta comes, Theb. 10.632) aligns her with Virgil's Dirae (hae Iouis ad solium, Aen. 12.849).Footnote ⁹ However, when she happily hops down to earth (caelestibus … desiluit gauisa plagis, Theb. 10.635–6), the movement recalls Fama's leap onto Thebes in Book 2 (Thebas | insilit, 2.208–9), which in turns replicates Fama's perching atop cities in the Aeneid (sedet custos aut summi culmine tecti | turribus aut altis, 4.186–7).Footnote ¹⁰ The happiness of Virtus on this occasion contrasts with her previously sulky mood as she stood in Mars's palace (tristissima Virtus, Theb. 7.51)Footnote ¹¹ and recalls Fama's traditional delight in bringing fake news to men (gaudens, Aen. 4.190; gaudens defertur in urbem, Val. Fl. 2.135). As she approaches Menoeceus, Virtus displays another Fam-ous Virgilian characteristic: her feet walk the earth while her head touches the sky (iamque premit terras, nec uultus ab aethere longe, Theb. 10.638; cf. ingrediturque solo et caput inter nubila condit, Aen. 4.177).Footnote ¹² Finally, just like Fama in Argonautica Book 2 (Val. Fl. 2.141), Virtus shifts shapes and takes the appearance of Tiresias’ daughter Manto (Theb. 10.639–45).Footnote ¹³ While the description of the transformation recalls Allecto's impersonation of the priestess Calybe in Aen. 7.415–19,Footnote ¹⁴ the etymological pun on Manto's name (prouida Manto, Theb. 10.639) draws attention to the new identity that Virtus is assuming. Indeed, the name Manto derives from the Greek verb μαντεύομαι, ‘to divine, to prophesy’.Footnote ¹⁵ Therefore, in this scene, Tiresias’ daughter is but a mouthpiece of the oracle, the ‘foreseeing prophecy’ in person. So, by transforming herself into Manto, Virtus is not merely impersonating a character, she is embodying the sacred utterance, the oracula, which had already been appropriated by Fama at the outset of the episode (Fama sacratam uocem amplexa, 10.626–7).

Having adopted some of Fama's features, Virtus also conforms to her new role when she reports Tiresias’ words: instead of repeating the oracle accurately, she astutely distorts the wording of the prophecy. Originally, the prophecy stated that only the youngest descendant of the Earthborn men must die to save the city (cadat generis quicumque nouissimus extat | uiperei, 10.613–14). However, in her retelling of the oracle, Virtus makes it sound as if any descendant of the Earthborn men could fulfil the prophecy (terrigenam … poscunt, 10.668), thus generating a rivalry between Menoeceus and his brother Haemon (accelera, ne proximus occupet Haemon, 10.671).Footnote ¹⁶ Sparking fraternal rivalry through the transmission of false information is a task more often associated with Fama, as in Theb. 2.205–13, than with Virtus. Ironically, Virtus adduces Fama's authority to back the distorted information she has given (Fama canit monitus, 10.669). This reminder of Fama's appearance at the very beginning of the episode reads as a hint at the role Virtus is playing, especially in connection with her self-reflexive comment in line 664 (non haec tibi debita uirtus, 10.664): ‘This is not Virtue, it's Fama speaking.’Footnote ¹⁷

Allusions to Fama continue in the lines following the speech of Virtus. The initial effect of her words again resembles Allecto's intervention in Aeneid Book 7: both Turnus and Menoeceus hesitate (cunctantem, Aen. 7.449; cunctantis, Theb. 10.672) and the goddesses leave a trace of their passage in the men's hearts (fixit sub pectore, Aen. 7.457; seseque in corde reliquit, Theb. 10.673), inflaming them with love of battle or death (saeuit amor ferri, Aen. 7.461; letique inuasit amorem, Theb. 10.677).Footnote ¹⁸ However, the thunderbolt simile that is used to illustrate the striking effect of her speech brings the image of Fama back to the reader's mind (Theb. 10.674–5).Footnote ¹⁹ Indeed, the speed of Virgil's Fama is meant to recall Lucretius’ description of a thunderbolt, and both have similar incendiary properties.Footnote ²⁰ That the simile should display precisely these two characteristics undoubtedly refers to the Virgilian model (non … uelocius, Aen. 4.174; incendit animum, 4.197; haud citius, Theb. 10.674; infestas … flammas, 10.675). In addition, the reference to Fama's ability to bridge earth and sky is repeated when Virtus departs (et subitam a terris in nubila crescere Manto, Theb. 10.679; cf. ingrediturque solo et caput inter nubila condit, Aen. 4.177). This time the allusion is framed by Menoeceus’ perception of the incongruity (notauit, Theb. 10.678; obstipuit, 10.680), as if to highlight the intertextual connection for the reader. The young man's acknowledgement of the divine nature of Virtus further underlines her ambiguous role in the passage, as he is uncertain about the true identity of the goddess (‘diuum quaecumque uocasti’, 10.680).

The numerous allusions to Fama in this passage make her a prime model for Statius’ characterization of Virtus in Thebaid Book 10. Not only is Virtus described in terms reminiscent of the Virgilian monster, she also takes over Fama's narrative role in forwarding distorted information outside the city walls. Acknowledging Fama's influence in the passage allows us to connect the fury-like aspects of Virtus, since Virgil's Fama is both modelled on Homer's Eris and intratextually related to Allecto and the Dirae.Footnote ²¹ Moreover, the substitution of Virtus for Fama reads as a metaphor for Statius’ reworking of Menoeceus’ sacrifice. Indeed, on a metapoetic level Fama represents the literary tradition.Footnote ²² While previous versions present Menoeceus’ self-sacrifice as an exemplary act of virtue, Statius turns it into a debased deuotio motivated by furious love of glory and fraternal rivalry.Footnote ²³ Thus, by replacing Fama with a perverted Virtus, Statius signals that he is not following the traditional story of Menoeceus’ virtuous sacrifice, but instead introduces a new and corrupted version of the myth.