Seneca’s Agamemnon in a bucolic guise: The humble style of the vernacular translation by Evangelista Fossa

Abstract

Evangelista Fossa, a friar of the Order of the Servants of Mary who lived at the end of the 15th century, composed two interesting vernacular translations: one of the first nine eclogues by Vergil (1494), the other of the first part of the Agamemnon by Seneca (1497). The translation of the eclogues served him as a model for the translation of the tragedy. The purpose of this contribution is to highlight the traits of style of the vernacular pastoral poetry that Fossa applies to the tragedy. The final section is dedicated to the reception of Fossa’s Agamennone by a contemporary author, Pizio da Montevarchi.