Article snapshot taken from Wikipedia with creative commons attribution-sharealike license.
Give it a read and then ask your questions in the chat.
We can research this topic together.
:Lets cut to the chase. Christ is a major figure in ''Orlando furioso''. Michael battles Satan who is helping the Saracens. God is involved quite often. To not call it a Christian work is OR. ] (]) 16:56, 31 December 2008 (UTC)
:Lets cut to the chase. Christ is a major figure in ''Orlando furioso''. Michael battles Satan who is helping the Saracens. God is involved quite often. To not call it a Christian work is OR. ] (]) 16:56, 31 December 2008 (UTC)
::I'm not talking about Romanticism. "Romantic epic" is the critical term used to describe Boiardo and Ariosto's ''Orlando'' poems as well as Spenser's ''Faerie Queene''. They used material from Medieval ''romances'' and had multiple plot lines (unlike Classical epics). Look up any decent book on Spenser for further details. ''Orlando furioso'' is notably absent from Chateaubriand's review of Christian epics in ''Génie du christianisme'', whereas Dante's ''Divina Commedia'' and Tasso's ''Gerusalemme'' are all present and correct. Christ's being a major figure in ''Orlando furioso''? That's news to me and the index of characters in Reynolds' translation seems to confirm my impression. Saint Michael makes a cameo when he is sent to bring Silence and Discord to aid the Christians besieged in Paris, but any comparison between Ariosto and Tasso will show you how much more extensive and serious the latter's use of divine machinery is. Tasso is a devout Catholic poet, Ariosto is more ironic and imbued with the Renaissance humanism of the time. His hermits are just as likely to be lecherous as pious and the poet has great fun at the expense of the Donation of Constantine when Astolfo visits the moon. Calling this a "''Christian'' epic" is giving the term undue weight. You might just as well call ''Othello'' a "Christian tragedy" because it takes place against the backdrop of the wars between the Christian Venetians and the Ottomans. --] (]) 17:21, 31 December 2008 (UTC)
This article is within the scope of WikiProject Biography, a collaborative effort to create, develop and organize Misplaced Pages's articles about people. All interested editors are invited to join the project and contribute to the discussion. For instructions on how to use this banner, please refer to the documentation.BiographyWikipedia:WikiProject BiographyTemplate:WikiProject Biographybiography
This article is within the scope of WikiProject Italy, a collaborative effort to improve the coverage of Italy on Misplaced Pages. If you would like to participate, please visit the project page, where you can join the discussion and see a list of open tasks.ItalyWikipedia:WikiProject ItalyTemplate:WikiProject ItalyItaly
This article is within the scope of WikiProject Poetry, a collaborative effort to improve the coverage of poetry on Misplaced Pages. If you would like to participate, please visit the project page, where you can join the discussion and see a list of open tasks.PoetryWikipedia:WikiProject PoetryTemplate:WikiProject PoetryPoetry
I don't have the time or the inclination to fix the rather severe stylistic errors in this page. It almost seems like it was mechanically translated from Italian and lightly proofed by someone who speaks English only as a second or third language. I think I caught most of the worst grammatical and spelling errors, however, and I think all of the sentences at least make sense, now.
Is there any chance we can have a link to the original Italian article? I could help with editing.
I really don't know why this has been described as a "Christian" epic. This isn't Paradise Lost. Yes, like (virtually) every Italian of his time Ariosto was a Christian, although AFAIK not an exceptionally devout one. Perhaps the editor is confusing Orlando furioso with the other great Italian epic of the 16th century, Tasso's Gerusalemme liberata, where Christian themes play a markedly more prominent role. On the other hand, Orlando certainly belongs to the genre of "romantic epic" and is described as such on the title page of Barbara Reynolds' translation. --Folantin (talk) 16:34, 31 December 2008 (UTC)
1. Romance, not "romantic". There is a major difference. It is part Romance, but you cannot say something is a romantic epic, unless it was something similar to what Keats wrote in Hyperion. 2. This is a -Christian- epic. Quint describes it as such. Greene describes it as such. Dozens of major critics on epics describe it as such. Do you honestly think I chose the name "Ottava Rima" because I don't have a clue about Ariosto? Ottava Rima (talk) 16:54, 31 December 2008 (UTC)
Lets cut to the chase. Christ is a major figure in Orlando furioso. Michael battles Satan who is helping the Saracens. God is involved quite often. To not call it a Christian work is OR. Ottava Rima (talk) 16:56, 31 December 2008 (UTC)
I'm not talking about Romanticism. "Romantic epic" is the critical term used to describe Boiardo and Ariosto's Orlando poems as well as Spenser's Faerie Queene. They used material from Medieval romances and had multiple plot lines (unlike Classical epics). Look up any decent book on Spenser for further details. Orlando furioso is notably absent from Chateaubriand's review of Christian epics in Génie du christianisme, whereas Dante's Divina Commedia and Tasso's Gerusalemme are all present and correct. Christ's being a major figure in Orlando furioso? That's news to me and the index of characters in Reynolds' translation seems to confirm my impression. Saint Michael makes a cameo when he is sent to bring Silence and Discord to aid the Christians besieged in Paris, but any comparison between Ariosto and Tasso will show you how much more extensive and serious the latter's use of divine machinery is. Tasso is a devout Catholic poet, Ariosto is more ironic and imbued with the Renaissance humanism of the time. His hermits are just as likely to be lecherous as pious and the poet has great fun at the expense of the Donation of Constantine when Astolfo visits the moon. Calling this a "Christian epic" is giving the term undue weight. You might just as well call Othello a "Christian tragedy" because it takes place against the backdrop of the wars between the Christian Venetians and the Ottomans. --Folantin (talk) 17:21, 31 December 2008 (UTC)
