The Celestial Axis in Manilius’ Astronomica (1. 275-293): paradox and sublime

The paper intends to illustrate the cosmological and poetic importance of the Axis and its description, beginning with the most recent studies on Manilius, which have surprisingly neglected this passage. This contribution, examining the rhetoric of the Paradox and the Sublime, observes, in the context of Manilius’ Astronomica, the manners through which didactic poetry attempts to visualize and describe an invisibile object like the Axis. Through a textual and linguistic analysis this paper shows how Manilius uses the rhetorical tools of the Greek and Latin didactic poetry in order to produce a poetic work that will represent and recreate the World even in its invisible components.