Ennius Noster: Lucretius and the Annales

Consensus holds that Lucretius admired the literary prestige of Homeric epos, the form that Ennius famously introduced to Latin literature. However, some hold that Lucretius disagreed with Ennius' quasi-Pythagorean claim to be Homer reborn, and so uniquely qualified to adapt Homeric poetry to the Latin language. Likewise, received wisdom holds that Lucretius followed in the path of poets writing in the wake of Ennius' Annales, most of whom employed an Ennian style. However, throughout the De Rerum Natura, Lucretius' use of Ennius' Annales as a formal model for a long discursive poem in epic meter was neither inevitable nor predictable, on the one hand, nor meaningful in the simple way that critical consensus has always maintained. Jason Nethercut posits that Lucretius selected Ennius as a model precisely to dismantle the values for which he claimed Ennius stood, including the importance of history as a poetic subject and Rome's historical achievement in particular. As the first book to offer substantial analysis of the relationship between two of the ancient world's most impactful poets, Ennius Noster: Lucretius and the Annales fills an important gap not only in Lucretian scholarship, but also in our understanding of Latin literary history.

Table of Contents:
Introduction Chapter 1: Ennius and the Tradition of Republican Epic Chapter 2: Lucretius on the Ennian Cosmos Chapter 3: Ennian Historiography in Lucretius Chapter 4: Ennian Poetology and Literary Affiliation in Lucretius Conclusion Appendices Works Cited

About the Author :
Jason Nethercut is Assistant Professor of Classics at the University of South Florida.

Review :
Ennius Noster does more than fill a 'gap': this is a bold and important work of scholarship, with provocative things to say about Lucretius, Ennius, and Latin literary history writ large... A major contribution to the study of republican Latin literature. I will...state that the field is much better off because of this monograph. At the end of reading this innovative and, I dare say, necessary work, one has the feeling of having learned something genuinely new. Nethercut makes the bold move of redefining the poetry of both Homer (8th century BCE) and Ennius as "philosophical didactic rather than mythological or historical epic" ... a fresh perspective, persuasively argued, for those studying the bedrock texts upon which the conception of the universe in the Western world arose. This book by a learned scholar is an invaluable aid for all researchers in Latin literature.... At the end of reading this innovative and, I dare say, necessary work, one has the feeling of having learned something genuinely new. The right scholar has finally come along to throw light on these matters from a fresh perspective. This is a major contribution to the contemporary scholarly 'Lucretian Renaissance' and a strong contender for the highest honors in the current sweepstakes of modern Lucretian research. The book is a welcome addition to the burgeoning scholarship on the annales, particularly to the other book-length studies of the reception of the annales. This is not just an important intervention on two major poets; it's an exceptionally stylish piece of writing. Well edited and attractively presented-this valuable contribution to scholarship will, in every sense, be a welcome and worthwhile addition to the shelves of any library and scholar. There are many sensitive, insightful, and illuminating readings of Lucretius throughout the book, which leaves the reader with a richer appreciation of both poets.