Expunging Originality: Alexandrian Critics in Late Antique Gaul

Abstract

Abstract:This essay examines three references to the Alexandrian critic-librarians Zenodotus and Aristarchus in the writings of Ausonius of Bordeaux: Professores 13, Epistle 10, and the preface to the Ludus Septem Sapientum. Through these references to the origins of Hellenistic bookish erudition, Ausonius defines his literary etiquette—his process of writing, circulating, and evaluating poetry—as an ongoing, albeit anachronistic, continuation of the classical past, defined by his coterie's encyclopedism and knowledge ordering. The reading advanced here offers a holistic approach to Ausonius's corpus, calling into question scholarly strategies that rely on dissecting his poetry into serious and ludic types.