By analysing the cumulated usage of the Greek loan word daedalus in De rerum natura it can be shown that the mythological artist Daedalus functions as a poetological model for the didactic narrator. The narrator presents himself as a poet-Daedalus. As with Daedalus’ statues who were said to see and walk around like human beings, De rerum natura adds to the poetic mimesis a formal one such as to stand as a model for the nature it describes. Likewise, as Daedalus’ (...) most characteristic feature in classical literature is his astuteness the muse of poetry in De rerum natura is called callida. The craftsman’s work finally is reflected in the ordering of elements, i.e. in word order. The Epicurean position is furthermore elucidated by comparison with the Platonic view on Daedalus. (shrink)

Despite the frequent use of the antithesis of parua and magna in Latin literature, the expression parua magnis in Pliny 5,6,43–44 need not be read as proverbial but as a quotation of Vergil, georg. 4,176. This attribution follows from the naming of Vergil and of Aratus in epist. 5,6,43–44. Combined allusions as in 5,6,43–44, consisting of a quotation, the naming of the author and/or narrative structures, are a pattern in the corpus of the younger Pliny’s correspondence. The context of georg. (...) 4,169–179, too, supports the attribution of the phrase as a quotation, since in Vergil’s lines a comparison of genres is made, which Pliny adopts for his own literary positioning in the descriptions of villas in epist. 2,17 und 5,6. Further, the attribution to Vergil’s didactic poem, in combination with the reference to Aratus, which other interpretations hardly take into account, permits a new understanding of the narrative structure of the villa descriptions and their allusive affinity not only to ecphrasis but also to didactic poetry. (shrink)