Paolo_Marso
Paolo Marsi
Italian humanist
Paolo Marsi or Paolo Marso, in Latin Paulus Marsus or Paulus Marsus Piscinas (1440–1484[1]) was an Italian humanist and poet known primarily for his commentary on the Fasti of Ovid.
Marsi was born at Pescina, and was the brother of the Pietro Marsi[2] who was an acquaintance of Erasmus.[3] He was a student of Pomponio Leto, and became a professor of rhetoric.[4] He was a friend of Lodovico Lazzarelli,[5] and a member of the Roman Academy who participated in antiquarian activities such as celebrating the founding of Rome.[6] In the 1460s, several of the sodality's members, including the Marsi brothers, were imprisoned for fomenting "republicanism, paganism, and conspiracy".[7] Marsi was among the poets who addressed homoerotic praise in the manner of Martial to Lucio Fazini, a handsome young scholar who was also incarcerated and tortured for pursuing classical studies.[8]
Marsi died in 1484, shortly after he delivered the funeral oration for Andrea Brenta.[9]
Marsi's commentary had a "supplemental influence" on The Rape of Lucrece by Shakespeare, who drew primarily on Ovid's account in the Fasti.[10]