Dialettica satirica Architettura interna e riuso di modelli in Hor. Sat. 2,4

In such an elusive book like Horace's Satires II, the fourth satire is particularly disorienting. Nonetheless, within this satire the reference to various literary models is unequivocal. Especially well-known is the allusion to the incipit of Phaedrus (but also of Menexenus) in the first line: from here started the analysis of Angela M. Prowse, who briefly compared Phaedrus and Sat. 2,4. This comparison can be extended, and a comparative reading of Sat. 2,4 and Menexenus could cast some light on two texts whose frame is so odd and so peculiarly similar. The article deals also with the tradition of didactic-gastronomic poetry and of the gastronomic scenes of comedy, models for the monologue of Sat. 2,4, whereas Plato influences mostly its whole structure and the planning of the dialogue.