Wiener Studien 126/2013, pp. 261-280, 2014/01/16
Zeitschrift für Klassische Philologie, Patristik und lateinische Tradition
The pseudo Homeric mock-epic poem Batrachomyomachia and one of its numerous transformations, the Croacus of the Italian humanist Elisius Calentius, are open to critical, satirical or didactic readings, but they never express these levels explicitly. This does not mean that they should be undervalued as harmless mere literary games: We find strong poetical implications and reflections how modern literature should be. Elisius Calentius merits a new evaluation in the history of the Batrachomyomachia, because his Croacus is unique in preserving this meta-poetic quality of its Greek precedent, changing virtuously the Hellenistic play with Homer into a play with Roman epic poets.
