II
In Spain, Vives (1538) defines ingenium as the
strength of the mind (Gracián, 1960); Huarte, in his
famous Examen de ingenios (1575), means by ingenio
a special talent. Huarte's book stimulated many imita-
tions in all European countries (Lipenius, 1682;
Kahlius, 1740). Herrera (1580) identifies “Plato's ge-
nius” (Spanish genio) with “Aristotle's active intellect”
as a supernatural power of invention. Rengifo (1592)
and Carvallo (1602) interpret ingenio as furor poeticus
(Menéndez, 1962). Gracián (1646; 1658) makes a dis-
tinction between genio and ingenio: the first seems to
be (as for other authors) a natural inclination to un-
common achievement, the second a peculiar intelli-
gence (
agudeza) adapted to discover similarities and
analogies (Gracián, 1960; Cirot, 1926; Zilsel, 1926).
