Künstlerfiguren als poetologische Reflexionsfiguren in der augusteischen Dichtung

How is the poetological thought of the Augustan period to be defined; what are its themes, motives and protagonists? Consideration of the very nature of poetry, how it is created and the criteria by which it should be evaluated is a matter of great significance in Augustan literature and is specifically manifested in the poetic works themselves; both issues are clearly identifiable in Horace’s Ars Poetica. Yet poetological reflection has obviously influenced other works of this epoch. This study will examine the numerous figures of artists which are preponderantly found in the works of Ovid and Virgil, and consider their aesthetic representation as reflective figures of the poetic process. Among them there will be discussed the singers Orpheus, Arion, Iopas, Cretheus, Daphnis, Menalcas and Mopsus, the instrumental musicians Misenus, Marsyas and Pan, the sculptor Pygmalion, the craftsman Daedalus and his nephew Perdix, together with the weaver Arachne – one of the few, but nonetheless present, female figures. Through the analysis of these figures of artists, this study opens up a new perspective on the poetological discourse of the Augustan era.