Poliziano's Fabula di Orfeo: a contaminatio of classical and vernacular Themes

Abstract

Poliziano’s Fabula di Orfeo is a unique example of the transformations of the classical tradition. It is an amalgam or contaminatio, principally of Virgil and Ovid, Petrarch, vernacular rustic eclogue, and numerous other elements. There has been much discussion concerning what genre it belongs to, which I consider rather pointless, for it is sui generis, a very original form of dramatic poetry. Poliziano is a skilled poet in both Latin and Italian, and he succeeds here in creating a marvelous pastiche of the two in a brilliant illustration of his artistic creed of docta varietas. The aim of the paper is to record and describe the various registers of diction and style that make the piece so engaging.