SOURCE: "Tibullus 1.7: A Tribute to Messalla," Classical Philology, Vol. LXVI, No. 4, October, 1971, pp. 221-29.

In the following essay, Gaisser discusses Messalla, a Famous Roman general and patron of Tibullus, and contends that Tibullus 1.7 is best read as a tribute in which Messalla is equated with Osiris.

The central problem in the interpretation of Tibullus 1. 7 is to determine the meaning of the hymn to Osiris and its relation to the rest of the poem.¹ A secondary, problem is to account for the exceptionally large number of literary allusions and echoes from other poets.²

The solution that I should like to propose is that both the hymn and the literary echoes are used as tributes to Messalla. Tibullus has artfully complimented his patron by equating him with the god Osiris.³ He has included the literary allusions as a tribute to Messalla's interest in poetry. The poem as a whole thus...