Portal de Periódicos da CAPES

pessimus omnium poeta : Canonization and the Ancient Reception of Cicero’s Poetry

2018; University of Illinois Press; Volume: 43; Issue: 1 Linguagem: Inglês

10.5406/illiclasstud.43.1.0137

2328-5265

Caroline Bishop,

Augustinian Studies and Theology

Abstract This article discusses the ancient reception of Cicero’s poetry and explains why ancient critiques of it were primarily made under the aegis of genre essentialism: the Greek concept that each author was naturally suited to one genre. It argues that these critiques were a direct result of Cicero’s canonization as Rome’s primary prose author, and specifically of his transformation into an allegory for Republican eloquence silenced by tyranny. Because this canonization relied so heavily on the Philippics, in which Cicero discusses mockery of his poetry (2.19–20), it is concluded that, ironically, Cicero himself sowed the seeds for this tradition.