Ineptiae e il lessico riduttivo in relazione alla poesia minore

This paper begins with a study of the etymology, meaning and main occurrences of Latin ineptia(e), followed by the literary analysis of its usage in connection to ‘minor’ or ‘light’ poetry in the works of Catullus, Martial, Pliny the Younger, and Ausonius. The results show that ineptiae equals nugae as a technical term of literary criticism in discussions around ‘minor’ poetry, where it can relate to an (ironic) self-deprecating or apologetic attitude (variously interpreted and expressed) on the part of those practicing that type of poetry. Further attention is then devoted to a larger group of terms (including apinae, tricae, quisquiliae, burrae), which, as ineptia( e), originally belong to everyday language and are used in the specifically literary sense of ‘light poetry’, showing the progressive accentuation of the lexicon of apologetic modesty.