Dolopathos
The Dolopathos is originally in Central Latin authored language novel from the late 12th century .
Author and origin
The original author is an otherwise unknown Cistercian monk from the Abbey of Haute-Seille , who calls himself (after the name of his monastery) Johannes de Alta Silva . In the Praefatiuncula (preface) he dedicates his work to Bishop Bertrand von Metz, whose episcopate there lasted from 1179 to 1212. John himself titled his work opusculum de rege et septem sapientibus ('Little Book of the King and the Seven Wise Men').
Soon after its publication, it was reworked by Herbert , an elegant poet at the court of Philip II (d. 1223), and set in old French rhymes under the title Li romans de Dolopathos (a total of 12901 eight-syllables ).
The work is a peculiar adaptation of the Historia septem sapientum and thus goes back to relevant oriental sources or their Greek or Latin translation. However, compared to these sources , the Dolopathos shows considerable differences, both in terms of the framework plot and in terms of some of the internal narratives that are otherwise known from any other version of the Historia septem sapientum . Johannes himself reports in the short afterword that he wrote down these stories non ut vista sed ut audita, i.e. not as he read them (elsewhere), but as he had heard them. From this it was occasionally concluded that these stories could have been traced back to oral traditions, for example from returning crusaders. The reference to hearsay, however, is a very common motif in medieval literature when it comes to disguising a literary fiction .
content
The frame story takes place in ancient Sicily at the time of the reign of Emperor Augustus . The hero of the title is Dolopathos , who is (anachronistically) referred to as the "King" of Sicily, but the real protagonist is his son and heir Lucinius . The father, who himself has only the simple spirit of a soldier and whose education is limited to the knowledge of courtly manners, entrusts the education of the young prince to the wisest man of the time - that is, following a medieval topos , the poet-philosopher Virgil . After a period of hermit instruction, Lucinius returns to the world of the court, which has become alien to him, where the young man also arouses the erotic desires of the women gathered there, but proves himself with ascetic steadfastness. But after he rejects his stepmother, who is also chasing him, she seeks revenge and accuses him (as in the biblical motif of Joseph and Potiphar's wife) of attempted rape. Lucinius, under the threat of death by fire , is brought before a court formed by his father and his court nobility. As a final test of his self-control, however, Lucinius was imposed on Lucinius by his teacher Virgil for a period of one week of silence so that, in his obedience to this commandment, he could not defend himself, which seems to be an admission of his guilt. Every day of this week, however, one of the seven wise men of Rome appears from various parts of the world to speak in his place and tell an instructive story, which is partly direct, partly detouring, on the underlying facts and the related Refers to legal issues, whereupon the sentence and the execution of the death penalty are postponed to the next day.
At the end of this week, Virgil finally reveals the true course of events, whereupon the stepmother - and all the ladies of the court with her - are put at the stake for Lucinius' intended death. In this court society "cleared" of the female element, Dolopathos, Lucinius and Virgil then rule together over a happy Sicily. When finally the father and the old teacher die, the moment seems to have come for Lucinius to take over the reign alone. At that time, however, a Christian preacher came to Sicily who instructed Lucinius in the basic doctrines of the new faith. In the end, Lucinius renounces the throne and follows his new master on a pilgrimage to the Holy Land.
Narrative structure and literary effect
Despite the increased importance that Johannes de Alta Silva gave the frame narrative compared to earlier variants of the Historia septem sapientum through the motif of the conversion of Lucinius, the actual focus of this 'novel' is based on the internal narratives and their skillful connection both with one another and with the events the main story. In this, the Dolopathos refers back to the stories of the Arabian Nights via his oriental model and was ultimately supposed to convey their artistic development of narrative structures to Western literature.
In his Decameron, Giovanni Boccaccio not only adopted three internal narratives from the Dolopathos directly, but also the basic - and historically so momentous - model of a loose and at the same time coherent connection of individual stories within a comprehensive framework. In this respect, the Dolopathos can be seen as the historical prototype for the high art of Italian Renaissance novellism.
swell
- Alfons Hilka (ed.): Johannes de Alta Silva, "Dolopathos" sive De rege et septem sapientibus . Verlag Winter, Heidelberg 1913 (collection of medieval texts; 5).
- Alfons Hilka (Ed.): Dolopathos, ou le roi et les sept sages . Edition Brepols, Turnhout 2000, ISBN 2-503-50950-9 .
- Herbers (author), Anatole de Montaiglon (ed.): Li romans de Dolopathos (Bibliothèque Elzevirienne; 22). Kraus Reprint, Nendeln 1977 (reprint of the Paris 1853 edition).
Individual evidence
- ↑ Alfons Hilka (Ed.): Johannis de Alta Silva Dolopathos sive De rege et septem sapientibus , p. 107