imitatio Reference library
Gian Biagio Conte and Glenn W. Most
The Oxford Classical Dictionary (4 ed.)
...or literary system is ignored (ancient imitation is always directed to individual authors grouped together by genre). Typically, ancient literary theory, which never entirely abandoned a model of oral communication, tends to view systematic issues like tradition and genre in interpersonal, binary, and hence moralistic terms. Ancient discussions of imitation urge emulation and rivalry (ζῆλος), not servile dependence, recommend critical study and a plurality of models, and establish as the highest goal a melding of the student's personality with his model's....
