The correspondence in verse in Giovanni Pontano's Hendecasyllaborum libri

Abstract

The essay examines Giovanni Pontano’s Hendecasyllaborum  libri seu Baiae from the perspective of verse correspondence,  highlighting how the collection assigns a prominent role to  the members of the Neapolitan Academy. The analysis of the   poetic dialogue is useful to specify one of the key concepts of Pontano’s production, the sodalitas, and to specify the role  that such a literary practice plays in providing, to readers   beyond the circle, an exemplary representation of group  identity. It is remarkable, moreover, that in a canzoniere  containing only carmina by the same author, only one  response text is preserved: these considerations form the  basis of this contribution.