Charles Batteux and the reception of Horace’s Ars poetica in 18th century France

Abstract

The aim of this work is to investigate the reception of the Epistle to the Pisons in France during the 18^th century. Looking through the catalogue of the Bibliothèque Nationale de France, personalities emerge, sometimes well-known, more often unknown, but always decidedly original. The common trait linking them lies in their ability to interpret and adapt Horace’s work according to their own intellectual interests. These are all elements that stand out clearly from the more or less faithful translations and comments. Thus, authors moved by a fully philological interest for the correctness of the text are flanked by others who attempt to fill in the supposed gaps on their own initiative. Or, even, by someone who drops the Ars poetica into the contemporary context to such an extent that it becomes a weapon in support of Napoleon’s rise and the morality of the people who follow him. But there is only one author capable of devoting a life-long attention to the Venosine’s epistle on poetics. He is Charles Batteux, a philosopher – an esthéticien – famous in France and known throughout Europe for his reflections on poetology. And it is precisely on this author that the paper concentrates most, attempting to delineate the phases of his thought about the Ars poetica by means of the two – or, as we shall see better, three – commented translations prepared over the course of twenty years.