Distant mores a carmine nostri: The Apologetic Use of a Catalogue of Literary Predecessors in Ovid and Ausonius
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| Year of publication | 2018 |
| Type | Appeared in Conference without Proceedings |
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| Description | This paper enquires into the nature of the intertextual relationship existing between Ovid’s catalogue of Greek and Roman precedents included in the second book of his Tristia and the similar catalogue of literary obscenities in Ausonius’ letter addressed to Axius Paulus and attached to his famous Cento Nuptialis. By comparing these two apologetic catalogues in terms of their formal features, content, and function, the paper shows how the echoes of the exiled Augustan poet resonate with and possibly change the overall meaning of Ausonius’ apology. Further, it examines the broader significance this may have within discourse about the fictional nature of literature and especially about the relationship between the author and the reader. |