LFU:online

Introduction to the history of the Renaissance reception of the De rerum natura of Lucretius

The course will examine the history of the reception of the De rerum natura of Lucretius from the early 15th century to the end of the 18th century. Partly, we will read Neo-Latin literary texts, which were influenced by Lucretius (Pontano, Marullus, Fracastoro, Melchior de Polignac), partly we will survey the recent secondary literature on the importance of Lucretius for the Renaissance history of ideas.

Close reading of texts, interpretation, critical approaches to primary and secondary literature. Active participation in classroom work is required for getting a grade.

Weekly assignments, preparation of a bibliography on a special topic, seminar paper, written exam from the text at the end of the semester

The Cambridge Companion to Lucretius, ed. Philip Hardie, Stuart Gillespie, Cambridge, 2007.
Stephen Greenblatt, Die Wende : wie die Renaissance begann, München, Siedler, 2012.
Reviews in: Exemplaria, Vol. 25 No. 4, Winter 2013, 313–70
Yasmin Haskell, Loyola’s Bees, Ideology and Industry in Jesuit Latin Didactic Poetry, 2003, 178-244.
Gerard Passannante, The Lucretian Renaissance: Philology and the Afterlife of Tradition, Chicago, 2011.
Valentina Prosperi, Di soavi licor gli orli del vaso: La fortuna di Lucrezio, Torino, 2004.
M. A. Screech, Montaigne’s Annotated Copy of Lucretius, Genf, 1998.