Piso, Lepta, and the pusio

Abstract

Jacobus Piso’s collection of poems preserved in the printed edition entitled Schedia contains two epigrams addressed to a certain Lepta. The aim of this treatise is to interpret the first of these poems, which describes an awkward situation in which the poet tries to visit his friend, Lepta, but is forced to wait at night just to be informed by a page about the absence of his would-be host. I discuss the parallel passages of the poem and the way Piso paraphrases them, as well as a possible hidden meaning of this epigram.