Sulle tracce di Ovidio epico? Contese tra padri e figli in Ps. Quint. decl. 258

Abstract

In the Minor Declamation 258 it is possible to notice some echoes of the Armorum iudicium of Ov. met. xiii 1-383, an episode whose success in Greece and Rome dates back to the Cyclic poems. Porcius Latro, the famous rhetorician and teacher of Ovid, chose this subject for one of his declamations and provided his pupil with a model: in fact, as showed by Sen. contr. ii 2, 8, the poet borrowed from the rhetor some literal expressions. We can also remember Sen. contr. x and Calp. decl. 21, two of the most important texts where the motifs of family disputes and reward for viri fortes are re-elaborated, in different ages. Therefore, the Minor declamation 258 is one of these interesting adaptations of the theme: it is rich in similarities and differences when compared with the cited declamations, which are connected to the paradigmatic plot of the quarrel between Ajax and Ulysses for Achilles’ weapons, a plot to which Ovid had already paid a tribute.