Ancilla Calliopeae

This book presents for the first time a panorama of about 85 neo-latin epics composed in France during the 16th and 17th centuries; the collection includes historical, biblical and hagiographic poems, ranging from a few hundred to thirty thousand hexameters. A full account is given of the contents and composition of every poem, the historical, biblical and hagiographic background is explored, and the poets' debt to classical poetry is analyzed with as a clear result the growing influence of Vergil and, during the 17th century, of Tasso as well. The repertorium is intended as a sort of guide, which provides the reader interested in Neo-Latin, Classics or the literary history of France conveniently with well-founded information on this literary genre.