Calpurnius’ Ars Poetica Nova Through a Paraclausithyron (Ecl. 3, 45-91)

In Calpurnius’ Eclogue 3, the intentional interplay between erotic epistle, elegiac, and pastoral codes enhances the poem’s generic and stylistic richness, culminating in the creation of a generic palimpsest from which emerges a distinctive paraclausithyron. This generic interaction, along with the refunctionalization and even inversion of certain topoi, revitalizes the pastoral tradition and enables the text to articulate its own poetic principles, functioning as a discourse de arte poetica nova.