Between Eros and Love

Abstract

Love is a common theme in the Western poetic tradition and gives rise to deep reflections on the vicissitudes of human existence at least since some works of Greco-Roman antiquity. This paper addresses the idea of poetry as a remedy for the affections caused by this feeling, based on what is suggested by the intertextual dialogue of two works: Idylls 11 by Theocritus, which presents the song of the amorous sufferings of Polyphemus in the face of Galatea; Eclogues 2 by Virgil, where the shepherd Coridon sings of his unrequited love for the puer delicatus Alexis. With the aim of presenting these ancient poets, interpreting their metapoetic reflections and proposing a parallel understanding of their works, I will proceed on a philological basis to advance an intertextual interpretation of their positions.