sed nunc navita... Neolatin tengerészeklogák

Abstract

It is well-known that Iacopo Sannazaro had created a new genre of pastoral poetry (Eclogae piscatoriae, 1526) that remained popular for centuries. Even in the 18th century there were literary debates concerning fishermen’s eclogues written both in native language and in Latin. While the ecloga piscatoria still receives some scholarly attention, the genre of the much rarer sea-eclogue (ecloga nautica) has almost completely faded into oblivion. The paper focuses on the characteristics of this subgenre by analysing the eclogues of Lorenzo Gambara, Antonius Taygetus, Hugo Grotius and Petrus Stratenus. It will be argued that the ecloga nautica is characterised by distinct features. However, these bold innovations contradicted the more and more rigid expectations concerning the pastoral genre to such an extent that this may also explain why the subgenre had finally remained a marginal phenomenon in the flourishing era of pastoral poetry.