Forgery and the Desire for the Classical Author in the Pseudo-Ovidian De vetula

Abstract

This chapter discusses the motives for literary forgery in the thirteenth-century pseudo-Ovidian poem De vetula. It reads the poem as an allegory of forgery, with each character representing a different kind of text: an original classical text, a later medieval copy of that classical text, and eventually, the forgery that pretends to be the genuine work of a classical author. At the literal level, De vetula’s characters participate in a standard fabliau plot. When read allegorically, however, their emotions and actions symbolize medieval audiences’ longing for unmediated access to classical literature, and the lengths to which some writers were willing to go in order to satisfy that desire. Through these characters, the unknown author of De vetula acknowledges forgery’s inherently transgressive nature, while also explaining why an author who recognizes the unethical quality of forgery might nevertheless choose to commit forgery. In this way, this chapter uses the medieval De vetula to reflect more broadly on the reasons for creating forgeries of classical literature.