Anneo Cornuto e la creatività virgiliana: una rilettura del fr. 29 Mazzarino

Name: Anneo Cornuto e la creatività virgiliana: una rilettura del fr. 29 Mazzarino
Brand: Vita e Pensiero
Price: 6.00 EUR
Availability: OnlineOnly

digital

Articolo

Rivista

AEVUM

Fascicolo

AEVUM - 2025 - 1

Titolo

Anneo Cornuto e la creatività virgiliana: una rilettura del fr. 29 Mazzarino

Autore

Marco Gay

Editore

Vita e Pensiero

Formato

Articolo |

Pdf

Pagine

Online da

06-2025

Doi

10.26350/000193_000250

Issn

0001-9593 (stampa) | 1827-787X (digitale)

€ 6,00

Ebook in formato Pdf leggibile su questi device:

Computer
con Software:
- Adobe PDF Reader
Android
iPhone/Ipad
con App:
- Adobe PDF Reader
E-Book Reader
Ibs Tolino
Kobo

Descrizione

Based on the passage Macr. Sat. 5,19,1-4, which transmits the fr. 29 Mazzarino, Annaeus Cornutus is routinely thought to be the source of a variety of attacks against Virgil’s mythological innovations (e.g. Serv. [Dan.] ad Aen. 3,46, 11,554, 12,83). This paper argues that Macrobius, who considers the Virgilian poems the peak of the Graeco-Roman literary tradition, misrepresents the original meaning of Cornutus’ claim about the novelty of the cutting
of Dido’s lock (Aen. 4,693-705) and of the Golden Bough (Aen. 6,124-211). In fact, there is no overt criticism of Virgil in fr. 29 Mazzarino even though, in other instances, Cornutus is not shy of voicing his disappointment in Virgil’s poetic solutions: the phrase poetico more, which features in the fragment, is typically used to assert the rights of poetic creativity. Furthermore, in his theologiae Graecae compendium Cornutus concedes that altering traditional
myths is part of the art of poetry, and philosophers/allegorisers must be aware of this. Finally, the article argues that there is no reason to ascribe to Cornutus the criticism against the Trojan ships’ and Polydorus’ metamorphoses attested by Serv. ad Aen. 3,46, which are not mentioned in fr. 29 Mazzarino, and that the same applies to the notes Serv. Dan. ad Aen. 11,554 and Serv. ad Aen. 12,83, which, unlike fr. 29 Mazzarino, do not address alleged inventions ex nihilo but that of details that impair the narrative consistency of traditional myths.