Vespa (poet)

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Vespa was an ancient Roman poet. He probably lived in the 4th century.

The poet is only known from his work, a Latin controversial poem in which he calls his cognomen Vespa ("wasp") in the third verse . There is little evidence for determining its lifetime; the criteria are linguistic, metric and cultural-historical. The dates suggested in the classical literature vary between the 2nd and the 5th century. In recent research, the view has prevailed that Vespa probably lived in the 4th century. According to him, he has performed successfully in many cities, that is, he publicly recited his work for the entertainment of the audience. Since at the beginning he turned to the "divine" muses and took the Roman world of gods for granted, it is clear that he was not a Christian. His witty puns and puns show that he knew how to entertain his audience.

The cheerful poem consists of 99 hexameters . It bears the title Iudicium coci et pistoris iudice Vulcano ("The competition between cook and baker with Vulkan as referee"). A cook and a baker argue about which of their professions is given priority; everyone wants to show that their art is more useful. The topic was new, there is no other professions competition known from antiquity. First the baker presents his opinion, then the cook. The role of arbiter fell to Vulcanus , the god of fire and the professions that rely on fire. In the end, however, the god did not pass judgment because he showed equal esteem to both. He admonished them to end their argument; in the event that they continued the argument, he threatened them to deprive them of the fire and thus the livelihood.

Editions and translations

  • Alfred Johannes Baumgartner: Studies on the anthology of the Codex Salmasianus. Köpfli, Baden 1981 (dissertation; contains pp. 13–89 a critical edition of Vespa's poem with introduction, translation, commentary and investigation)

literature

personal data
SURNAME Vespa
BRIEF DESCRIPTION ancient roman poet
DATE OF BIRTH 3rd century or 4th century
DATE OF DEATH 4th century or 5th century