Stealing the Club from Hercules : On Imitation in Latin Poetry

In the first part of this volume on the literary technique of imitation, the author analyses Virgil's working over the text of Homer which paradoxically represents a true act of artistic originality. In the second chapter, the author reconstructs the presuppositions of a method and explores at the same time its limitations. The author seeks to demonstrate in the first chapter (which analyzes Virgil's working over of the text of Homer) that "on the contrary, imitation very often is the actual path of originality, the condition thanks to which it is brought into being--at least in the classical literatures, and as I believe, not only there. In the second chapter I reconstruct the presuppositions of a method."

In this book, conceived as a sort of Prolegomena to his two Teubner editions, Conte gives account of his choices in editing his Virgilian text. Engaging in a passionate debate with his predecessors and critics, he guides the reader in a fascinating journey in the history of transmission and interpretation of Georgics and Aeneid and shows how lively textual criticism can be.

Index 5 Foreword 7 1. Stealing the club from Hercules 11 2. A critical retrospective: method and its limits 41 Gian Biagio Conte. Includes Bibliographical References.