[German version] A term which is used to denote a range of classical, medieval, Renaissance and even modern texts which exploit a combination of prose and verse. The term itself, which is clearly a coinage from prosa ( oratio) and metrum, is medieval. The earliest known use is in Rationes dictandi of Hugh of Bologna (early 12th cent.), who sees it as a branch of poetic composition which he labels the 'mixed form' ( mixtum). So much is agreed. For the rest, definitions continue to be contested. A central question is the relationship between medieval prosimetrum and the 'Menippean Satire' o…

[German version] I. Genre As a modern concept, satire denotes a witty and critical approach which can be found in any type of literature or art: “the playfully critical distortion of the familiar” (Feinberg). In antiquity, the term denoted the Roman literary genre of satura as discussed by Quintilian (Inst. 10,1,93) and known to us through the works of Horace, Persius and Juvenal. The genre must be distinguished from other works which feature satirical passages, including Aristophanes [3], Herodas, Plautus, Lucretius, Horace's Epodes and Seneca's Epistles. Quintilian's statem…