The Sorrowful Song of Philomela (Aetna 586–587)

Abstract

Abstract This paper focuses on two lines of the poem Aetna that are generally considered to be corrupt (586–587). I suggest two emendations aimed at restoring a reasonable form of the text, consistent with the traditional portrait of the Pandionids. In order to solve the crux it is necessary to restore the two topoi related to the representation of the Pandionids after their metamorphoses: the place where they reside and the mourning song of the nightingale.