Giovanni Boccaccio

by Brown, Virginia

• ISBN13: 9780674003477
• ISBN10: 0674003470
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2001-04-26
• Publisher: Harvard Univ Pr

Summary

After the composition of the Decameron, and under the influence of Petrarch's humanism, Giovanni Boccaccio(1313-1375) devoted the last decades of his life to compiling encyclopedic works in Latin. Among them is Famous Women, the first collection of biographies in Western literature devoted exclusively to women. The 106 women whose life stories make up this volume range from the exemplary to the notorious, from historical and mythological figures to Renaissance contemporaries. In the hands of a master storyteller, these brief biographies afford a fascinating glimpse of a moment in history when medieval attitudes toward women were beginning to give way to more modern views of their potential. Famous Women, which Boccaccio continued to revise and expand until the end of his life, became one of the most popular works in the last age of the manuscript book, and had a signal influence on many literary works, including Chaucer's Canterbury Tales and Castiglione's Courtier. This edition presents the first English translation based on the autograph manuscript of the Latin.

Table of Contents

Introduction	xi
FAMOUS WOMEN
Dedication	2	(6)
Preface	8	(6)
Eve, Our First Mother	14	(2)
Semiramis, Queen of the Assyrians	16	(8)
Opis, Wife of Saturn	24	(2)
Juno, Goddess of Kingdoms	26	(2)
Ceres, Goddess of the Harvest and Queen of Sicily	28	(6)
Minerva	34	(4)
Venus, Queen of Cyprus	38	(4)
Isis, Queen and Goddess of Egypt	42	(4)
Europa, Queen of Crete	46	(4)
Libya, Queen of Libya	50	(1)
Marpesia and Lampedo, Queens of the Amazons	50	(4)
Thisbe, a Babylonian Maiden	54	(6)
Hypermnestra, Queen of the Argives and Priestess of Juno	60	(6)
Niobe, Queen of Thebes	66	(4)
Hypsipyle, Queen of Lemnos	70	(4)
Medea, Queen of Colchis	74	(4)
Arachne of Colophon	78	(4)
Orithya and Antiope, Queens of the Amazons	82	(2)
Erythraea or Herophile a Sibyl	84	(4)
Medusa, Daughter of Phorcus	88	(2)
Iole, Daughter of the King of the Aetolians	90	(6)
Deianira, Wife of Hercules	96	(2)
Jocasta, Queen of Thebes	98	(4)
Almathea or Deiphebe, a Sibyl	102	(2)
Nicostrata or Carmenta, Daughter of King Ionius	104	(8)
Pocris, Wife of Cephalus	112	(4)
Argia, Wife of Polynices and Daughter of King Adrastus	116	(4)
Manto, Daughter of Tiresias	120	(2)
The Wives of the Minyans	122	(6)
Penthesilea, Queen of the Amazons	128	(4)
Polyxena, Daughter of King Priam	132	(2)
Hecuba, Queen of the Trojans	134	(2)
Cassandra, Daughter of King Priam of Troy	136	(2)
Clytemnestra, Queen of Mycenae	138	(4)
Helen, Wife of King Menelaus	142	(8)
Circe, Daughter of the Sun	150	(4)
Camilla, Queen of the Volscians	154	(4)
Penelope, Wife of Ulysses	158	(6)
Lavinia, Queen of Laurentum	164	(2)
Dido or Elissa, Queen of Carthage	166	(14)
Nicaula, Queen of Ethiopia	180	(4)
Pamphile, Daughter of Platea	184	(2)
Rhea Ilia, a Vestal Virgin	186	(4)
Gaia Cyrilla, Wife of King Tarquinius Priscus	190	(2)
Sappho, Girl of Lesbos and Poetess	192	(2)
Lucretia, Wife of Collatinus	194	(4)
Tamyris, Queen of Scythia	198	(6)
Leaena, a Prostitute	204	(4)
Athaliah, Queen of Jerusalem	208	(8)
Cloelia, a Roman Maiden	216	(2)
Hippo, a Greek Woman	218	(2)
Megullia Dotata	220	(2)
Veturia, a Roman Matron	222	(8)
Tamaris, Daughter of Micon	230	(2)
Artemisia, Queen of Caria	232	(10)
Virginia, Virgin and Daughter of Virginius	242	(6)
Irene, Daughter of Cratinus	248	(2)
Leontium	250	(2)
Olympias, Queen of Macedonia	252	(6)
Claudia, a Vestal Virgin	258	(2)
Virginia, Wife of Lucius Volumnius	260	(4)
Flora the Prostitute, Goddess of Flowers and Wife of Zephyrus	264	(6)
A Young Roman Woman	270	(4)
Marcia, Daughter of Varro	274	(2)
Sulpicia, Wife of Fulvius Flaccus	276	(4)
Harmonia, Daughter of Gelon of Sicily	280	(4)
Busa of Canosa di Puglia	284	(4)
Sophonisba, Queen of Numidia	288	(8)
Theoxena, Daughter of Prince Herodicus	296	(6)
Berenice, Queen of Cappadocia	302	(4)
The Wife of Orgiago the Galatian	306	(4)
Tertia Aemilia, Wife of the Elder Africanus	310	(4)
Dripetrua, Queen of Laodicea	314	(2)
Sempronia, Daughter of Gracchus	316	(2)
Claudia Quinta, a Roman Woman	318	(4)
Hypsicratea, Queen of Pontus	322	(6)
Sempronia, a Roman Woman	328	(6)
The Wives of the Cimbrians	334	(4)
Julia, Daughter of the Dictator Julius Caesar	338	(2)
Portia, Daughter of Cato Uticensis	340	(4)
Curia, Wife of Quintus Lucretius	344	(4)
Hortensia, Daughter of Quintus Hortensius	348	(2)
Sulpicia, Wife of Truscellio	350	(2)
Cornificia, a Poetess	352	(2)
Mariamme, Queen of Judaea	354	(6)
Cleopatra, Queen of Egypt	360	(14)
Antonia, Daughter of Antony	374	(2)
Agrippina, Wife of Germanicus	376	(4)
Paulina, a Roman Woman	380	(4)
Agrippina, Mother of the Emperor Nero	384	(10)
Epicharis, a Freedwoman	394	(4)
Pompeia Paulina, Wife of Seneca	398	(4)
Sabina Poppaea, Wife of Nero	402	(6)
Triaria, Wife of Lucius Vitellius	408	(2)
Proba, Wife of Adelphus	410	(6)
Faustina Augusta	416	(4)
Symiamira, Woman of Emesa	420	(6)
Zenobia, Queen of Palmyra	426	(10)
Joan, an Englishwoman and Pope	436	(6)
Irene, Empress of Constantinople	442	(4)
Gualdrada, a Florentine Maiden	446	(4)
Constance, Empress of Rome and Queen of Sicily	450	(4)
Camiola, a Sienese Widow	454	(12)
Joanna, Queen of Jerusalem and Sicily	466	(6)
Conclusion	472	(5)
Note on the Text	477	(2)
Notes	479	(26)
Bibliography	505	(6)
Index	511

Excerpts

Chapter One

De Eva parente prima

Scripturus igitur quibus fulgoribus mulieres claruerint insignes, a matre omnium sumpsisse exordium non apparebit indignum: ea quippe vetustissima patens, uti prima, sic magnificis fuit insignis splendoribus. Nam, non in hac erumnosa miseriarum valle, in qua ad laborem ceteri mortales nascimur, producta est, nec eodem malleo aut incude etiam fabrefacta, seu eiulans nascendi crimen deflens, aut invalida, ceterorum ritu, venit in vitam; quin imo--quod nemini unquam alteri contigisse auditum est--cum iam ex limo terre rerum omnium Faber optimus Adam manu compegisset propria, et ex agro, cui postea Damascenus nomen inditum est, in orto delitiarum transtulisset eumque in soporem solvisset placidum, artificio sibi tantum cognito ex dormientis latere eduxit eandem, sui compotem et maturam viro et loci amenitate atque sui Factoris letabundam intuitu, immortalem et rerum dominam atque vigilantis iam viri sociam, et ab eodem Evam etiam nominatam.

    Quid maius, quid splendidius potuit unquam contigisse nascenti? Preterea hanc arbitrari possumus corporea formositate mirabilem. Quid enim Del digito factum est quod cetera non excedat pulchritudine? Et quamvis formositas hec annositate peritura sit aut, medio in etatis flore, parvo egritudinis inpulsu, lapsura, tamen, quia inter precipuas dotes suas mulieres numerant, et plurimum ex ea glorie, mortalium indiscreto iudicio, iam consecute sunt, non superflue inter claritates earum, tanquam fulgor precipuus, et apposita est et in sequentibus apponenda veniet.

    Hec insuper, tam iure originis quam incolatus, paradisi civis facta et amicta splendore nobis incognito, dum una cum viro loci delitiis frueretur avide, invidus sue felicitatis hostis nepharia illi suasione ingessit animo, si adversus unicam sibi legem a Deo impositam iret, in ampliorem gloriam iri posse. Cui dum levitate feminea, magis quam illi nobisque oportuerit, crederet seque stolide ad altiora conscensuram arbitraretur, ante alia, blanda quadam suggestione, virum flexibilem in sententiam suam traxit; et in legem agentes, arboris boni et mali poma dum gustassent, temerario ausu seque genusque suum omne futurum ex quiete et eternitate in labores anxios et miseram mortem et ex delectabili patria inter vepres glebas et scopulos deduxere.

    Nam, cum lux corusca, qua incedebant amicti, abiisset, a turbato Creatore suo obiurgati, perizomatibus cincti, ex delitiarum loco in agros Hebron pulsi exulesque venere. Ibi egregia mulier, his facinoribus clara, cum prima--ut a nonnullis creditum est--vertente terram ligonibus viro, colo nere adinvenisset, sepius dolores partus experta est; et, quibus ob mortem filiorum atque nepotum angustiis angeretur animus, eque misere passa; et, ut algores estusque sinam et incomoda cetera, fessa laboribus moritura devenit in senium.

Eve, Our First Mother

As I am going to write about the glories for which women have become famous, it will not seem inappropriate to begin with the mother of us all. She is the most ancient of mothers and, as the first, she was singled out for special honors. She was not brought forth in this wretched vale of misery in which the rest of us are born to labor; she was not wrought with the same hammer or anvil; nor did she come into life like others, either weak or tearfully bewailing original sin. Instead (and this never happened to anyone else, so far as I know), after the most excellent Creator of all things had formed Adam from earthly clay with his own hand and had taken him from the field later called Damascene to the garden of delights, he made Adam fall into peaceful slumber. With a skill known only to himself, God brought forth a woman from Adam's side as he lay sleeping. Adult, ripe for marriage, joyful at the beauty of the place and at the sight of her Maker, she was also the immortal mistress of nature and the companion of the man who, now awake, named her Eve.

    Could anything greater and more glorious ever happen to someone at birth? We can imagine, besides, how marvelously beautiful her body was, for whatever God creates with his own hand will certainly surpass everything else in beauty. Beauty, to be sure, perishes with old age, and even in the flower of youth it may vanish from a slight attack of illness. Yet, since women count beauty among their foremost endowments and have achieved, owing to the superficial judgment of mortals, much glory on that account, it will not seem excessive to place beauty here and in the following pages as the most dazzling aspect of their fame.

    Eve, furthermore, became a citizen of Paradise as much by right of origin as of residence, and she was cloaked in a radiance unknown to us. While she and her husband were eagerly enjoying the garden's pleasures, the Enemy, envious of her happiness, impressed upon her with perverted eloquence the belief that she could attain greater glory if she disobeyed the one law that God had laid upon her. With a woman's fickleness, Eve believed him more than was good for her or for us; foolishly, she thought that she was about to rise to greater heights. Her first step was to flatter her pliant husband into her way of thinking. Then they broke the law and tasted the apple of the Tree of Good and Evil. By this rash, foolhardy act they brought themselves and all their future descendants from peace and immortality to anxious labor and wretched death, and from a delightful country to thorns, clods, and rocks.

    The gleaming light which clothed them disappeared. Rebuked by their angry Creator and covered by a girdle of leaves, they were driven out of Eden and came as exiles to the fields of Hebron. There, while her husband tilled the soil with the hoe, this distinguished woman, famous for her above-mentioned deeds, discovered (so some believe) the art of spinning with the distaff. She experienced the pains of frequent childbirth and also suffered the grief which tortures the mind at the death of children and grandchildren. I shall pass over the cold and heat and her other sufferings. Finally she reached old age, tired out by her labors, waiting for death.

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