La piedra imán: de Lucrecio a Claudiano; de la ciencia a la mitologí­a

Abstract

In De rerum natura VI, in the context of natural "wonders", Lucretius analyzes the physiology of magnetism (VI.906-920) and its effects (VI.998-1099). Claudius Claudianus, five centuries later, resignifies the arguments of the Roman poet on the imam stone, in a poem by the Carmina minora. Unlike Lucretius, Claudianus resigns the scientific conclusions to focus on the description of the inexplicable attraction that the stone exerts on iron. Based on the above, the communication aims to analyze Lucretian efforts to explain the magnetism and transformations operated by Claudianus, who skillfully fuses science and poetry.