The Invention of Satire: A Paradigmatic Case?

What is it about?

This paper combines discussion of why satire seems more problematic generically than other Roman literary genres with a particular issue of literary history, satire's original relationship with Roman comedy. Despite Quintilian's famous remark satura quidem tota nostra est, Greek sources have acquired more weight than Roman ones in the discussions of its invention. This paper aims to redress the balance by stressing the significance of satiric material in Roman comedy. At the same time a distinction is drawn between expectations specific to satire and those implicit in generic theory.

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