The primus inventor topos in Latin poetry: from Ennius to Phaedrus

Abstract

The literary topos of the primus inventor is the boastful claim by some writers to be the first cultivators of a specific literary genre, a certain metric rhythm, or a particular theme. In Latin literature, this topos is very frequently paired with one or more of the following four literary motifs: the immense “challenge” of the poetic venture, the “daring” to embark upon such a feat, the “novelty” of the subject matter (novitas rerum), or the great “importance” of the topic at hand (magnitudo rerum). This paper examines the use of the primus inventor topos by these eight Latin poets: Ennius, Lucretius, Virgil, Horace, Propertius, Ovid, Manilius, and Phaedrus.