Vergil's Goddesses and Heroines: Authenticating the Early Goddesses and Establishing the Roman Common Identity

Panel Description: Goddesses and heroines play a prominent role in early Italian culture as well as in the works of Vergil, his contemporaries, and throughout the imperial age. This interconnection has recently been highlighted by discoveries at Pompeii regarding Venus and Mefitis. This panel is designed to highlight recent work on Vergil’s Aeneid and its context within the larger Roman world. Papers have been selected to explore Vergilian exploration and exploitation of goddesses and heroines as well as to illustrate connections between these Vergilian figures and Roman common identity and community.