Chapter Carmina sola loquor: Claudiano e la rappresentazione di sé come poeta

Overview & Synopsis

Despite a certain reluctance to highlight relevant aspects of his biographical profile, Claudian occasionally outlines traits of his artistic personality within some of his prefatory elegiac couplets preceding the hexameter poems delivered on public occasions (Ruf. 1, nupt., Stil. 3), as well as in several compositions included in the collection of the so called carmina minora (carm. min. 3, 14, 21-23, 25). This paper examines the information that the late antique Latin poet provides about himself, often associating it with literary issues, in which, proudly asserting his role as vates, he reveals that when he speaks in the first person, he almost always does so in relation to his poetic activity.