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Quotations as Glosses: The Prologue of the Ecbasis Captivi
Res Publica Litterarum, 8, 1985, page 281-290
The Ecbasis cuiusdam captivi per tropologiam is a Latin poem of 1229 mostly leonine hexameters which was composed toward the middle of the eleventh century, probably by a monk attached to the monastery of Saint-Èvre in Toul. It survives in only two twelfth-century manuscripts [Koninklijke Bibliotheek van België, Ms. 9799-809, Koninklijke Bibliotheek van België, Ms. 10615-729]. The poem is stylistically intricate, replete with quotations from the classics of pagan and Christian Latin poetry. It includes over 250 lines and phrases from Horace; around 100 from Prudentius and 50 from Vergil; over 20 lines apiece from Juvencus, Sedulius, and Venantius Fortunatus; and 8 lines each from Ovid and Arator. The foregoing itemization leaves out quotations from a dozen poems, from which only a few lines were taken, and from prose works, such as the Benedictine Rule and the Bible. - [Abstract]
Language: English
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