Into Thin Air: Shakespeare's The Tempest and Virgil.

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  • Author(s): Easting, Robert1
  • Source:
    Notes & Queries. Jun2023, Vol. 70 Issue 2, p79-80. 2p.
  • Subject Terms:
    *POETS
  • Additional Information
    • Subject Terms:
      TEMPEST, The (Play : Shakespeare); AENEID
    • Subject Terms:
      SHAKESPEARE, William, 1564-1616; VIRGIL, 70 B.C.-19 B.C.
    • Abstract:
      The author suggests that the expression "into thin air" used by William Shakespeare in the play "The Tempest" was taken from Roman poet Virgil and his poem "Aeneid IV." Topics include the Oxford English Dictionary's acknowledgement of Shakespeare as the first to use the expression, the author's claim that Shakespeare may have been prompted by Virgil's line, and the reference of "The Tempest" to " Aeneid" from the opening pattern of storm and shipwreck to the extended banter about widow Dido.