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Ennius Noster: Lucretius and the Annales

Online ISBN:
9780197517727
Print ISBN:
9780197517697
Publisher:
Oxford University Press
Book

Ennius Noster: Lucretius and the Annales

Jason S. Nethercut
Jason S. Nethercut

Assistant Professor of Classics

Assistant Professor of Classics, University of South Florida
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Published online:
17 December 2020
Published in print:
14 January 2021
Online ISBN:
9780197517727
Print ISBN:
9780197517697
Publisher:
Oxford University Press

Abstract

This study argues that Lucretius engages in a comprehensive revision of the entire Ennian value system, literary as well as philosophical, in terms of form as well as content. Lucretius selected Ennius as a model precisely in order to dismantle thoroughly the values for which he claimed Ennius stood. These values include the cosmic importance of history as a poetic subject in general, the importance of Rome’s historical achievement in particular, and Ennius’ innovative, quasi-philosophical conception of literary history. This is the first book-length treatment of the relationship between Lucretius and Ennius in any language, and the only study to date to offer substantial analysis of this relationship. It therefore fills an important gap not only in Lucretian scholarship, but also in our understanding of Latin literary history.

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