Marriage, fama, and the Story of Idomeneus in Vergil’s Aeneid

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At Aeneid 3.121-123 the Trojans on Delos hear rumours about the departure of Idomeneus from Crete. The fact that the text offers no explanation for his departure has puzzled scholars. In this paper I argue that throughout the Aeneid there is an intratextual pattern which consistently links rumour, in the figure of Fama, to the theme of marriage and that this connection suggests that the story Vergil has in mind in book 3 is that of the murder of Idomeneus’ wife Meda during his absence at Troy.