ABSTRACT
We find the name Phyllis in Vergil, Horace, Propertius and Ovid. It did not refer in all cases to the mythical heroine. It can be attributed to a shepherdess, a slave or a musician. This chapter proposes the thesis that the mythic Phyllis was one of the most famous exempla used in the Amores of Gallus to illustrate his conception of passion. The chapter further aims to show that each poet after Gallus takes part in the debate initiated by Gallus about themes of fidelity/infidelity and constancy/renunciation, from a personal perspective connected with a particular literary genre: bucolic, lyric poetry and elegy.
