Cicero and the 'Insatiable Variety' of Nature in Book II of De natura deorum

  • Rita Degl'Innocenti Pierini Università di Firenze
DOI: https://doi.org/10.13135/2532-5353/9344

Abstract

The article studies the exaltation of the manifold variety of terrestrial landscapes by the Stoic Balbus in the second book of De natura deorum (98-99). Cicero delivers a highly elaborate and formal description of the insatiabilis varietas of nature, in which natural, even wild, landscapes coexist with “cultural” landscapes, i.e. with evident traces of human intervention. The article examines the probable philosophical ancestry, expressive and poetic components of these landscapes, as well as their Nachleben (particularly in Seneca and Apuleius).

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Author Biography

Rita Degl'Innocenti Pierini, Università di Firenze

Rita Degl’Innocenti Pierini è attualmente professore ordinario onorario di Letteratura latina presso l’Università degli Studi di Firenze, dove ha svolto tutta la sua carriera. Membro di numerosi Comitati di riviste e collane editoriali scientifiche, è socio ordinario dell’Accademia toscana di Scienze e Lettere “La Colombaria”. I suoi interessi si sono sviluppati in numerose direzioni focalizzandosi in particolare sulla poesia latina arcaica in frammenti, su Cicerone epistolografo e filosofo, su Ovidio (Metamorfosi, poesia dell’esilio e didascalica) e su Seneca filosofo e tragico, con un interesse frequente anche alla fortuna dei classici nella letteratura italiana.

"Cicerone e l'Ambiente", Bologna 2023
Published
2023-12-31
How to Cite
Degl’Innocenti Pierini, R. (2023). Cicero and the ’Insatiable Variety’ of Nature in Book II of De natura deorum. Ciceroniana On Line, 7(2), 481-511. https://doi.org/10.13135/2532-5353/9344
Issue
Vol. 7 No. 2 (2023): “Cicéron et l’environnement” Proceedings edited by Adalberto MAGNAVACCA & Tommaso RICCHIERI
Section
Reflecting on Nature in Cicero’s Philosophical Works

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