Precis for "The Virgilian Intertext"

            Joseph Farrell in his essay, “The Virgilian Intertext”, (9/9/12) argues that intertextuality is a tool that Virgil uses to enhance the interpretation of his works. He uses examples from Virgil’s Eclogues, Georgics, and Aeneid with references to other authors’, and Homer’s works such as the Iliad and Odyssey to convey this. “Intertextuality is one of Virgil’s most powerfully evocative tools for communicating ideas,” and by bringing this information to the reader, it gives them an opportunity to look deeper into Virgil’s work and interpret it in new ways (Farrell 222). Furthermore, this intertextuality “greatly enriches (and often complicates)” the reader’s understanding of Virgil’s works, giving them a whole new dimension of analysis while reading (228). The author intends to present this knowledge to those reading anything of Virgil’s, to express its importance and relevance.

            The essay was convincing, as it gave me a new understanding of the Aeneid and how much intertextuality plays a role in it. It also gives reasons for why Virgil might have done this, and how it enhances the text. It shows how widely read Virgil was when writing his works, and how creatively he thought to include all of these allusions in his work. However, this information is pretty useless to a reader, such as myself, who has not read many of the works, which Virgil refers to in his intertextuality. Without prior knowledge of those works, this information tells me that these references exist, but I have no tools to find them and analyze them unless I read the texts that Virgil acquired them from.