The Classics
The chapter examines the medieval idea of the literary ‘classic’—a notion that discriminated between ‘major’ and ‘minor’ authors (auctores maiores and auctores minores) to establish the status and function of both groups in Dante. It thus focuses not only on the ways in which the poet may have read ‘authoritative’ writers, but also on how and when he came into contact with their works. Specifically, the manner in which Dante utilized pagan writers is profoundly shaped by the commentary traditions on their works, by their presence in later writers, and by their exemplary status in an extremely wide range of genres from Scriptural exegesis to teaching manuals. Equally, the question of when and where Dante may have read, or whether he had even read in full, particular texts and authors is crucial when endeavouring to establish the poet’s education and intellectual formation (this chapter offers an illustrative account of Dante’s access to Virgil’s works).