Hypnerotomachia Poliphili
Introduction |
IntroductionIn many ways the Hypnerotomachia Poliphili is nondescript. Published in 1499, it is modeled on the idyllic, pastoral, bucolic romanzo damore, a tradition that had reached its peak over a century earlier with its universally acknowledged master, Giovanni Boccaccio, whose works included Filostrato (1333), Teseida (1339-1340), Ninfale Fiesolano (1340s) and Amorosa visione (1342). It is an anachronism. It adds nothing to the amorous imaginary. It brings together all the stereotypical characters traditionally associated with what was by then a highly stylized genre: the enamored hero and the indifferent heroine, attended by scores of stock characters -- nymphs, naiads, satyrs, gods, goddesses, and demigods -- who, all to predictably, sing, dance, make merry, advise, and in general eagerly officiate whenever the opportunity arises for the lovers to engage in one rite of union or another. Its settings bow to the invariable formula of verdant glades, babbling brooks, and enclosed gardens. As for the plot, it too conforms to the conventions of the genres time-worn topoi -- the lovers unrequited love, his quest to win the heart of the heroine, loves triumph, the illusion dashed. The action of the Hypnerotomachia Poliphili
takes place in a dream. The books opens on the hero,
Poliphilo, who has spent a restless night because his
beloved, Polia, has shunned him. At the break of day, he
finally falls into a deep slumber and his
"Hypnerotomachia," or, as it can be roughly
translated, "struggle for love in a dream,"
begins. The action is particularly absurd, however, even
by the standards of the genre. Poliphilo is transported
into a wild forest. He gets lost, escapes, and falls
asleep once more. He then awakens in a second dream,
dreamed inside the first. Within it, he is taken by some
nymphs to meet their queen. There he is asked to declare
his love for Polia, which he does. He is then directed by
two nymphs to three gates. He chooses the third, and
there he discovers his beloved. They are taken by some
more nymphs to a temple to be engaged. Along the way they
come across no less than five triumphal processions
celebrating the union of the lovers. Then they are taken
to the island of Cythera by barge, with Cupid as the
boatswain; there they see another triumphal procession
celebrating their union. The narrative is uninterrupted,
and a second voice takes over, as Polia describes he
erotomachia from her own point of view. This takes up one
fifth of the book, after which the hero resumes his
narrative. They are blissfully wed, but Polia vanishes
into thin air as Poliphilo is about to take her into his
arms. |
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Delft University of Technology and MIT Press.