A LIRA CLÁSSICA DO TROVADOR ROMÂNTICO Representações Poéticas da Antiguidade Greco-Romana no Romantismo Literário Português

From the dilucidation of terms as ‘influence’, ‘tradition’, and ‘classic’, this inquiry studies the presence of classical topics or themes in the Portuguese literature, favouring poetic and metapoetic texts (with no exception of other forms of speech) published between 1825 and the 1880’s, although contemplating some previous and later evidence.Despite contradicting Romantic programmatic principles, in Portugal, we understand an austere defence of the (ancient and national) classical role-playing in a debate with French voices from the Querelles des Anciens et des Moderns still echoing: the classical decorum, the formal discipline, the deference to reason and to models (to be imitated), and the imagination ecstasy control continue to be valid fundaments; at the same time, an authentic and national literary project is vindicated. In the 19th century, the formal education, some reference works, and multiple periodical papers collaborate to disseminate the knowledge on Classical Antiquity. Nevertheless, to the Latin and Greek studies does not correspond a real humanistic pedagogy, instigating instead moral and ethical bonds; simultaneously, fresh denunciations accumulate criticism to these subjects value, when a modern country was searching for a big economic progress.Whereas a coherent theory on the poetics and the literary performance, the Antiquity settles doctrinal aesthetic principles, seized as authoritative and reference guide. Thus, if typ-ical Romantic manners and aesthetic values can be found in ancient writers, in Portuguese authors such conceptual grounds is not meaningfully modified in their theoretical and pro-grammatic writings. The Poetry (power that enchants, elevates, convinces, celebrates, moves, and surpasses the death) is assumed: to be born from the combination of the ingenium with the ars; to be the effect of defamiliarization continuous renewing; to be credited to a great talent, who promotes the originality, a divine agent far from the vulgarity. Notwithstanding, it will be the thematic elaboration of classical motives that more clearly shows the way Portu-guese literature reviewed and recreated the Antiquity: studying poetic texts about Greek and Roman political questions, historical figures, and mythological heroes, it can be seen that the-se elements appear up to date and Romantic-sensitive adapted. This inquiry settles the idea that the classical authors, their works, their characters, their literary culture, and their poetics were always in debate during the Romantic period in Portugal.