This study examines rivers as a literary phenomenon particularly in the poetryof Vergil. It first considers the GrecoRoman understanding of the river in itsprim... » 

This study examines rivers as a literary phenomenon particularly in the poetryof Vergil. It first considers the GrecoRoman understanding of the river in itsprimary symbolic roles cosmological ritual and ethnographical and thenanalyzes the river as a literary device arguing that descriptions of rivers inRoman poetry are in many cases a form of authorial comment on the progress orstructure of a narrative. «