“Quegli antichi romani non era puri fossili, dunque”: Primo Levi and Horace

Abstract

Despite the amount of Horatian references in Primo Levi’s writings, only few contributions to date approach this topic. This article aims to analyse a selection of Horatian quotations and allusions which are present in some of Levi’s masterpieces. An analysis of these references shows how Horace was one of the most important thematic and stylistic models for Levi, who conceived the references to the poet as a useful tool of investigation in his own philosophical reflection about the world he lived in.