Abstract The paper combines an analysis of the distinctive features of the Roman literary persona with two issues discussed in modern character theory: the transtextual identity and the ontological status of literary characters. It focuses on the bucolic poetry by Virgil (1 st century BCE) and Calpurnius Siculus (1 st century CE), as well as on late antique commentaries on Virgil. The bucolic personae can be perceived as characters – which, moreover, can appear as textual artifices or as non-actual individuals – or as masks for text-external persons. In the commentaries, the identification of the mask with the ›man behind the mask‹ is partial and is discussed in terms of single parameters. The ontological status of such a persona is dynamic. It oscillates between that of a character and that of a mask. As a result, the identities of the character and of the author appear to be dynamically modelled, sometimes merging and sometimes separating. These observations have consequences for the question of transtextuality both within the work of one poet and across works. First, the question concerns not only the identity of the personae , but also their ontological status. When homonymous personae are transferred from one text to another, they can retain their ontological status, or change it. When a persona is perceived as a mask, the question of transtextual identity concerns the level of the mask and of the person ›behind the mask‹. Second, the homonymous characters in Virgil’s and Calpurnius’ poetry are intricately connected, sharing some characteristics and not others. From this perspective, a network of partial identifications emerges. If the persona is seen also as a mask for text-external persons, a second level of identifications is introduced into this network, which further complicates it.
Lisa Cordes (Fri,) studied this question.