The self-portrait Ovid left to his contemporaries is that of an habitué of the rhetoric schools, a talented pupil of such celebrated rhetoricians as Porcius Latro and Arellius Fuscus. An invaluable evidence is represented by Seneca the Elder’s controversy 2.2, which provides the image of Ovid as a young declaimer : in the excerpts preserved by Seneca at 2.2.9-11, the would-be poet appears while discussing the main topic of the controversy, that is the binding power of lovers’ oaths. The rhetorical training left a trace in Ovid’s poetry, and particularly on his twentieth Heroid, which seems actually structured like a school controversy, for we can find two opposite points of view (Acontius’ and Cydippe’s) confronting each other about the same question ; besides, Acontius underscores the importance of lovers’ oaths, claiming that they are put under gods’ protection. It looks as if Ovid, many years after his rhetorical education, gave an answer to the question put forward by Seneca’s controversy on the same topic.
Les dieux garants du serment d’amour. Ovide déclamateur (Sen. Contr. 2.2) et poète (Ov. Her. 20)
Graziana Brescia
2022-01-01
Abstract
The self-portrait Ovid left to his contemporaries is that of an habitué of the rhetoric schools, a talented pupil of such celebrated rhetoricians as Porcius Latro and Arellius Fuscus. An invaluable evidence is represented by Seneca the Elder’s controversy 2.2, which provides the image of Ovid as a young declaimer : in the excerpts preserved by Seneca at 2.2.9-11, the would-be poet appears while discussing the main topic of the controversy, that is the binding power of lovers’ oaths. The rhetorical training left a trace in Ovid’s poetry, and particularly on his twentieth Heroid, which seems actually structured like a school controversy, for we can find two opposite points of view (Acontius’ and Cydippe’s) confronting each other about the same question ; besides, Acontius underscores the importance of lovers’ oaths, claiming that they are put under gods’ protection. It looks as if Ovid, many years after his rhetorical education, gave an answer to the question put forward by Seneca’s controversy on the same topic.I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
