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Allusive Translation and Chronological Paradox in Varro of Atax’s Argonautae
- American Journal of Philology
- Johns Hopkins University Press
- Volume 134, Number 4 (Whole Number 536), Winter 2013
- pp. 603-636
- 10.1353/ajp.2013.0038
- Article
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Catullus 64 revises traditional mythological chronology by making the Argo the first ship; this “correction” strongly influenced subsequent Latin poetry. Varro of Atax, a young contemporary of Catullus, alludes to this temporal “correction” and to poem 64 more broadly in his Latin translation of Apollonius’ Argonautica, problematizing his principal source text. This allusive technique reveals a complex recreative relationship between translation and source text vis-à-vis other poems that allude to and “correct” this source. Ovid nods at Varro’s “correction” significantly and repeatedly. Varro played an important role as an allusive bridge between Neoteric and Augustan poetry and poetics.