Intertextual connections between Thomas More’s Utopia and Cicero’s De finibus bonorum et malorum

Abstract

In 1516, More wrote to Erasmus, putting him in charge of the publication of Utopia. In his study about the “sources, parallels and influences” of More’s libellus, Edward Surtz points out that “the most evident influences are classical” and in 1965, in the introduction of his edition of Utopia, he noted that in the composition of this fiction, Plato and Plutarch are as essential as Cicero and Seneca. He also noted that these philosophers are “the source for the tenets and arguments of the two schools discussed by the Utopians, the Epicurean and the Stoic” and that “Cicero’s De finibus is of special interest here, but detailed studies of Ciceronian and Senecan influences have still to be made.” (p.cliv, clxi). From 1965 until today we haven’t found a specific study on this problem in the bibliography about Utopia and classical Latin literature, that’s why in this paper we will examine some of the connections that link More’s libellus to De finibus.