Προβλήματα χρονολόγησης του opusculum ephemeris του Δέκιμου Μάγνου Αυσονίου
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Πολυμεράκης, Φ. Κ.
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Πολυμεράκης, Φ. Κ.
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Πανεπιστήμιο Ιωαννίνων. Φιλοσοφική Σχολή. Τμήμα Φιλολογίας
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This essay deals with'the chronology of the work Ephemeris. The only clear chronological indication which the text itself provides is the reference to Alans (Ephem. 8,17). On this basis, the work, or at least this poem of the series, must have been written after A.D. 379. Previous scholars have pointed out that in this work there is no mention of the court life and the palace of Trier and, consequently, it must have been composed during the poet’s stay in Bordeaux. The last two lines {Ephem. 8,42-43) seem to prove this conjecture, since they refer to a farm near Bordeaux belonging to Ausonius.
By comparing Oratio with the other Christian works of Ausonius we realize that this is a more mature and highly-developed work on the Christian truth, which makes it likely to be posterior to those works. At the same time, by taking into consideration linguistic elements of Oratio and placing them within the historical events, we are led to a chronology of around A.D. 381- 382, when Gratian was under Ambrosius’ influence and Ausonius was absent from the imperial court.
This chronology is in accord with some elements derived from the comparison of Ephemeris with Cupido cruciatus on matters of metre and thema- tics. The technique of the hexameters in Ephemeris presents similarities with the hexameters in Cupido cruciatus as to the percentage of the dactylic lines, the great frequency of the form ddds and, mainly, the frequency of the elisions in a diminishing way along the six feet of the line. Thematic similarities between te two opuscula concern mainly the motif of the dream and the connection of the role of inspiration with Virgil’s emblematic figure. Thematic comparison of the two opuscula, the development of linguistic evidence (mainly the expression hunc lucum... dedico) and the function of the poem in notarium, prove that Ephemeris must have been composed shortly before the Cupido cruciatus.
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