AGRICOLA ALTER MARO

Abstract

Agricola alter Maro expresses the opinion of Erasmus. This chapter demonstrates that Agricola was no Virgilian poet. However, this does not imply that Erasmus was incapable of judging poetical quality. Erasmus chose the praise available to voice his admiration; but he did not intend to compare Agricola to Virgil. By this time alter Maro had become a commonplace term of praise. A survey of Agricola's poetry should begin with the introduction of a subdivision. In Agricola's case this division is somewhat theoretical, but in itself it is not unimportant: a distinction must be made between his Latin poetry and his poems in the vernacular. In his Life of Agricola Johann von Pleningen highlights that Agricola not only wrote prose and poetry in his own language but also in German, Italian and French. The Latin poetry of Agricola can be divided into three generic groups: occasional poetry, religious poems and epigrams. Keywords: Agricola alter Maro; epigrams; Erasmus; occasional poetry; religious poems