Studia Philologica Valentina ISSN: 1135-9560 Vol. 22, n.s. 19 (2020) 33-45 e-ISSN: 2695-8945 The transformation of the Horatian Sabine farm in Persius’ Satire 6 Anthofili Kallergi
[email protected] https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8723-3514 University of Ioannina Department of Philology Bizani 45500 (Greece) Fecha de recepción: 16/04/2020 Fecha de aceptación: 20/12/2020 ABSTRACT: The purpose of this article is to focus on the motif of the countryside in Roman satire. In particular, it aspires to study the way the Sabine farm is delineated in Horace's Satire 2.6 and later in his Epistles, in order to elucidate the evolution of this motif in Persius’ 6th Satire. In this poem, Persius addresses Caesius Bassus, who retreats to Sabine to seek poetic inspiration, but seems trapped in the paths of earlier poetry and cannot attain bliss, while the poet achieves it in the port of Luna. KEYWORDS: Sabine farm – epicurean ataraxia – satirical persona – roman satire – locus amoenus. Introduction-State of the art The aim of this paper is to focus on the contrast between rusticitas and urbanitas in Roman satire, by examining the evolution of this motif from Horace’s Satires and Epistles to Persius’ 6th Satire, his most Horatian poem.1 Such a conception is a novel and painstaking endeavor, as the existing literature on the influence of Horatian poetry on Persius’ 6th Satire focuses mainly on the intertextual dialogue between the two satirical poets. There is reference to other motifs that Persius adopts from Horace, such as aurea mediocritas, prominent in Satire 6.