La Fontaine e Aviano (e altri favolisti latini)

Abstract

La Fontaine and Avianus (and other Latin fabulists)Because of the intertextual features of the classical fable’s style throughthe centuries, it’s not always easy to find the exact sources of La Fontaine’sverse fables. As regards the Latin sources, if in recent times therelationships between La Fontaine and Phaedrus have been in depthinvestigated, showing the strong influence that the Latin poet had onthe concept and the composition of the Fables – especially for their firstsix books edited in 1668 –, we can’t say the same for other less knownLatin fabulists of the Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages. Through theanalysis of the themes and the narrative structure of the single fables,this essay aims to investigate how Avianus, the Anonymus Neveleti andthe pseudo-Dositheus influenced La Fontaine’s collection.