Marcus Pacuvius

Reading notes

• On the Ends of Good and Evil §5.31 the wild beasts,' says Pacuvius

  A quotation from a tragedy of Marcus Pacuvius, the leading Roman tragic poet of the second century BC. Cicero adduces it to show that even brute fear of death testifies to nature's self-love.

• On the Nature of the Gods §2.91 though Pacuvius offers a translation

  Marcus Pacuvius (c. 220-130 BC), Roman tragedian and nephew of Ennius. Balbus quotes him on "aether" while arguing that Greek scientific terms (aer, aether) may simply be naturalized into Latin.

• Laelius, On Friendship §24 the new play of my guest-friend and friend Marcus Pacuvius

  Marcus Pacuvius (c. 220–130 BC), the leading Roman tragic poet of his day, here a personal friend of Laelius. The scene staged the friendship of Orestes and Pylades, each claiming to be Orestes to die in the other's place.

• Tusculan Disputations §2.48 Pacuvius does this better than Sophocles

  Marcus Pacuvius (c. 220-c. 130 BC), Ennius's nephew and a major Roman tragic poet, whose Niptra adapted a (lost) Sophoclean treatment of Ulysses' death. Cicero judges Pacuvius's more stoical Ulysses superior to Sophocles' tearful one.