Puer renidens (Mart. Cap. 2.144). Revisited Topos of ‘Two Loves’ and intertextuality

Abstract

Love is one of the most frequent literary motifs, often differentiated in various forms. A plurality of words for love in ancient Greek corresponds to a plurality of their divine representations in particular works, and more generally in Ancient religious and philosophical images. The most famous concept is that of the two Loves which is represented in Plato's dialogue Symposium. In the paper, the author revises the standard interpretation of the ‘Two Loves Topos’, considered in Mart. 2. 144–148, literalized as the presence of Amor and absence of Cupid in Philology's suite during her journey to heaven, in terms of literary intertextuality. After a brief outline of the literary evidence of the ‘Two Loves Topos’, Martianus Capella's comprehensive picture is analysed, connecting the archaic opposition between Amor and Cupid and the Platonic division to support his compositional intention to create a ‘new’ comprehensive Love god person, who is in accordance with the unified and harmonious world of mythological, cosmological, and philosophical scholarship.