Architettura e stile metrico dell'epillio Megara (Ps.-Mosch. IV)

The paper suggests a hypothesis about the structure of the anonymous epyllion Megara, a dramatic dialogue between Megara and Alcmena, respectively wife and mother of Heracles, where they lament their situation: first Megara, desperate for the death of her children at the hands of his mad husband, then Alcmena, upset by a dream that adumbrates the hero’s sorrowful destiny. Such narrative segments define the poem’s carefully constructed architecture; this architecture underscores both the narrative strategy enacted by the two main charaters and their characterization. Particularly relevant is the metrical analysis of the poem’s hexamater: the metrical style is similar to that of Alexandrian poets, but with a few significant differences.