"El primogenito de la agudeza": Martial's Epigrams in the XVIIth century Spanish Literature

In the present paper, we seek to investigate the presence of the roman poet Martial in the Spanish literature of the XVII century. We chose for the object of analysis the two treatises written by the Spanish Jesuit Baltasar Gracian: Arte de ingenio, tratado de la agudeza (1642) and Agudeza y arte de ingenio (1648). In both, the Martial's epigrams are widely referred as examples of wits and the roman poet is considered, by the Spanish Jesuit, as the first great wit poet. Therefore, in analyzing the presence of Martial in Gracian's treatises, we seek to understand the path covered by the Epigrams and his uses in the XVII century in Spain.