Quevedo: wit and classical erudition

Abstract

This article focus on the processes through which Quevedo reshapes the classical models he adopts as the primary matter of imitation and that he integrates in an intricate web organised by wit (agudeza) and the concepts pertaining to the modalities studied by Gracián in his treatise on Agudeza y Arte de Ingenio. Some exemplary cases of imitation of classical texts are commented upon, with a special emphasis on their ingenious elaboration.