Pinguia Alabastra: Metaliterature and Intertextuality in Sidonius Apollinaris’ Carmen 9

This study aims at shedding new light on some poetological aspects of the vv. 318-328 of Sidonius Apollinaris’ c. 9, where the author foresees that the readers will disavow the poetic dignity of his nugae and will recycle the charta for vile purposes. As it emerges from an analysis of the multiple Martialian echoes underlying this passage, such a hyperbolic locus humilitatis conceals Sidonius’ desire to adhere to an illustrious and congenial tradition and to capture its boni odores, or, in other terms, its ability to give voice to a vital hedonism by means of an aestheticizing and refined poetry. Sidonius establishes then an analogy between epigrams and perfume bottles to elaborate a metaliterary reflection which plays with the three key concepts of container, content and smell to illustrate the relationship between late antique nugatory poetry, its hypotexts and the related thematic areas.