The two studies in this work were written in order to find out how the "epic circle" (Virgil, Homer, Horace, Ovid, Lucan and Dante) functioned in the Western literary tradition from Homer to Tasso. The first study seeks to show how an epic poet, in this case Divbo Franov Gunduli "read" Dante who in turn, had already "read" Virgil. The second and longer study of the two, was written to substantiate Conte"s claim that "a literary work cannot exist outside this system" (allegoresis). Both studies are complementary and aim to show how a particular epic must be read within the context of the "epic circle" that it belonged to, and how this tradition was itself defined and determined by the number of texts which alone formed the "epic circle"