Hosidius Geta Medea-centója

The subject of my paper is Hosidius Geta’s drama, Medea. The Late Latin tragedy retells the well-known Greek myth in Virgilian hexameters. Written in the 3rd century AD, the piece was preserved in the so-called Codex Salmasianus (today Codex Parisianus 10381), a manuscript copied in a monastic scriptorium in the 8th century. Not much is known about its assumed author, Hosidius Geta. Due to the fact that his figure is known from a reference by Tertullian the African, Hosidius might also have lived in Africa. Originally, the name of the genre cento meant a patchwork garment used for covering animals or as defensive armour. Later, the expression was applied to a new method of poetic creation and a particular literary genre, in which new poems were composed of excerpts taken from other authors, especially Virgil. I focus on passages where Medea’s words might have been borrowed from Virgil’s Dido. Most quotations from Dido are put into the mouth of Medea, but Medea’s passages are predominantly composed of other sources. Hosidius’ Medea is related to Seneca’s portrayal: her cruel and destructive nature seems to be conscious, which alienates the reader.