LITERATURE1BClassicalandChristianIdeasinEnglishRenaissancePoetry PeterHofstee2011

Humanism TheoriesofPoetry ThePaganGods Allegory PlatonismandNeoplatonism 1 2 2 4 5

CHAPTER9:HUMANISM There isadistinctionbetweenmodernhumanismandRenaissance humanism:a modern de=inition ofhumanismisaviewoflifewhichdisplacesGodandputsmanatthecentre.Renaissancehumanism wasprimarilyan educationalmovementwhichbegan in Italyin the early14th century and reached Englandattheendofthe15th.Ahumanistwasa scholarwithtwocomplementaryaims:1)torecover themoralvaluesof classicallife;and 2)toimitatethe languageandstyle of theclassics.Hehopedto unitewisdomandeloquence. Cicero was the hero of the humanists. His literary style was the embodiment of eloquence; his philosophical works gave the humanists their ethics and his rhetorical works gave then their educational theory (and in effect de=ined their role). Two rival systems of education coexisted in classicalandHellenisticGreece: 1. Thephilosophical,goingbacktoPlato(whichfocusedonmathematics,logicandmetaphysics); 2. The rhetorical, going back to Isocrates, which was primarily literary in emphasis (art of declamation,concernedwithpoliticallife). IntheHellenisticperiod,theemphasiswasonrhetoric.Inthemedievalperiod,thecon=lictbetween philosophyand rhetoric continued, nowone and nowthe otherdominating the educationalsystem. Humanismwasdisplacedinthe late12thcenturyandinthe13thcenturybytheincreasingimportance of the studyof logic. In the intellectual system known asscholasticism (which dominated medieval education),theologywasjoined with the more abstractandtechnicalbranches ofphilosophy.Itwas againstthisabstract,rigourousandtechnicaleducationalsystemthatthehumanistsrebelled. The chief spokesman for the new attitudes was Petrarch in the mid14th century. For Petrarch, medievalEuropehaslostthe valueswiththe languageandliteratureof the classicalworld,andheled thehumanistattempttorevivethem.The=irststepwastorememberthetextsoftheclassicalauthors andtoreintroducethe studyofGreekin the West. Asaconsequence, manyimportantworksignored for hundreds of years were put intro circulation againalthough some humanists tended to exaggeratetheextenttowhichclassicalliteraturewaslost.Also,theinventionofprintingtowardsthe endofthe15thcenturygreatlyhelpedthehumanistsintheirtaskofdisseminatingclassicalliterature. Mosthumanists,beginningwithPetrarch,attemptedtoharmoniseclassicalethicswiththepractical Christianityof the gospels.ThisChristian humanism =lourished particularlyin northern Europe, and the Dutch humanist Erasmus was its chief exponent. Erasmus, together with the younger Spanish humanist Vives, was the formative in=luence in the development of English humanism. Erasmus in=luenced three aspectsof English humanism:educational, religious and political. By the end of the 16thcenturythehumanistshadeffectedimportantchangesineducation. We can distinguish certain key concepts of humanism. The =irst is imitation, of the style and language of classicalauthors.The secondconceptis pragmatism:humanistsdisapprovedof abstract, theoreticalknowledge;theyvaluedknowledgeasitcouldbeusedtopromotethegoodlife.Thethirdis duty. One of thesigni=icanthumanist achievements wastomakethe majorworksof classicalliterature availableinEnglishtranslationbythe early17thcentury:Shakespeareisthemostobviousbene=iciary. Humanism in=luenced theorganisation of prose works:because humanistdistrust ofabstractlogical argument,digressiveandanecdoticalforms=illedwithmoralexampleswere favoured,suchasessays, dialoguesbiographyandhistory.

CHAPTER11:THEORIESOFPOETRY Renaissancepoetsandcriticsdrewoncertainkeyclassicaltexts,butmodi=iedtheminthelightoftheir Christianbeliefs.Thefunctionofpoetrywasregardedasacivilisingforce,aneducationalinstrument,a meanstoactionorakeytosecretknowledge. TheMusesarethemythologicalembodimentoftheancientbeliefthatthepoetisinspiredbyaforce outsidehimself to write of subjectsbeyond hisnormal reach. The invocation of the Muses became a traditionalformulaofepicandheroicpoetry.Theidea thatpoetryisdivinelyinspiredwaswidespread intheRenaissance.Moredaringly:justasGodisamaker,apoet(thecreatorofhisownworld)isagod. Theidea of God as a makerisboth Platonicand Christian, bothlinkGodandthe poet through their common creative capacity. The idea of the poet asa creatorrepresents a radicaldeparture fromthe varioustraditionalde=initionsofthepoetasimitatorofnature. Theories about the sources of poetry divine inspiration, creation from the poets imagination, imitation of nature were much less debated than theories about its effects. According to Horace, poetsweretheancientlawgiversandeducators,thefoundersofcivilisation.Asexampleshementions themythsofOrpheus,whichisacomplexandsuggestiveaccountofthesocialeffectsofpoetryandthe relation between the poet and society. Horaces view that the best poet both pleases and teaches contains the germ of the widely held Renaissance idea that the function of poetry is essentially didactic, that it is a way of introducing philosophical ideas, disguised with the pleasures of metre, rhymeandfable,tointellectstoofeebletodigestphilosophyunadorned. Thisbelittlingandpatronisingtheoryof poetryasa sugaredpill isbynomeansthe onlydidactic theoryheldinthe Renaissance. Inthe humanist viewpoetrydoes notsimplyteach;itmovesmento action,itmakesthembetter,itcausesthemtoimitatethemoralideaembodiedinthepoem.humanist theory regards poetry as having an important political function, concerned with the socially and politicallyconspicuousreader. Theallegoricaltheoryofpoetry,whichpersistedfromantiquitythroughtheMiddleAges,butwhich wasgiven prominence byRenaissance Neoplatonists, assumes three different classesof reader. The =irstisthemostsuper=icial.Thesecondlearnsfromthefablesimple moraltruths.Thethirdandmost important reader penetrates the veil of fable to acquire secret philosophical/religious knowledge which cannot be expressed otherwise than through fable. Yet almost no Renaissance critic was preparedtoallowthatthechieffunctionofpoetrymightbetogivedelight. CHAPTER2:THEPAGANGODS
Greekname Saturn Jupiter,Jove Juno Neptune Dis,Pluto Venus Vulcan Mars Cupid Minerva Apollo Diana Mercury Latinname Cronos Zeus Hera Poseidon Hades,Pluto Aphrodite Hephaestus Ares Eros Athene Apollo Artemis Hermes Associations&activities FatherofJupiter,deposedbyhim;goldenage Kingandfatherofthegods;power,justice;sky,thunderbolt WifeofJupiter;marriage,childbirth,jealousy;enemyoftheTrojans BrotherofJupiterandPluto;kingofthesea;trident BrotherofJupiterandNeptune;kingoftheunderworld;husbandofProserpina WifeofVulcan;loverofMars,motherofCupid;motherofAeneasbyAnchises;love, beauty HusbandofVenus;=ire,forgingofmetal;lame LoverofVenus;war,strife SonofVenus;love;bow,wings Wisdom,justice,technicalskill BrotherofDiana;sun;oracles;music;lyre SisterofApollo;moon;chastity;bow,hunting MessengerofGods;thief;caduceus(snakeentwinedstaff)

Greekname Liber,Bacchus Ceres Proserpina Pan

Latinname Dionysus,Bacchus Demeter Persephone Pan

Associations&activities Wine;irrationality;bull SisterofJupiter;motherofProserpina;corn WifeofPluto;spring Goatlegged;shepherd;music;nature

The mythsof the pagan godsdescribe the behaviourof the gods towards one another, theirbattles, jealousies, theirtreatmentofhumans,etc.Inspiteoftheirimmortality,thegodsareanthropomorphic in conception, exhibiting human passions and desires. The essence of the relations of the godswith menandwithoneanotheriscon=lict.Mansplaceisinsecure;hecannotexplainwhythingsareasthey are.Hecannotexpectjustice.Theuniverseisnotorderedmorally,orifitis,itisorderedaccordingtoa moralityhecannotunderstand. However, with the growth of philosophic rationalism in Greece from the 5th century BC, the traditional myths came under attack. As a result, philosophers were faced with the problem of the myths.One solutionwastoattackthemoutright,theothersolutionbyfarthemorein=luentialwas to interpret the myths allegorically. Three kinds of allegory were possible: physical, historical and moral. Physical allegory assumes that the myths were invented to account for natural phenomena whichwaspopularamongtheStoics.Historicalallegory,alsoknownasEuhemerism,assumesthatthe godswereonceearthlyrulerswhosesubjectsdei=iedthem,orbenefactorswhotaughtparticularskills. Moralallegoryallowsenormousfreedom tothe interpreter;ostensiblyimmoral mythscan beshown tohavemoralmeanings.ThiswasparticularlypractisedbytheNeoplatonists. The educated butdevoutGreeks and Romans were faced with a dilemma. On the one hand they regarded naive acceptance of the myths as superstition; on the otherhand theyregarded toomuch allegoryasa rationalising ofreligionwhichledtoatheism.Also, theywere consciousof the political importanceofreligiontounderminereligionwouldbetounderminethestate. Christianitybecame the of=icial religion of the Roman empire under the emperor Constantine in 324, and pagan forms of worship were =inally made illegal in 390 byTheodosius. The mythsof the pagangodswereparticularlyvulnerabletoChristianattack.PartlyinresponsetoChristiancriticismof pagan cultsandmyths, allegoricalinterpretationsdevisedearlierwere revived.Itwasimpossible for Christianitytoignorepagancultureandpaganeducationalmethods,largelybecauseitcouldnotasyet provide a substitute. So, accommodationwasnecessary. The argumentwasthatthe Christianswere entitled to appropriate what was valuable in pagan culture, just as the Israelites had robbed the Egyptians(Exodus12:356).OverthecenturiesChristianitytreatedthemythsinfourways: 1. Intheorthodoxview,thegodsweredemons; 2. Euhemeristically,theywereearlykingsorbenefactors; 3. Physically,theyweretheplanetsandstarsofastrology; 4. Themostimportant,theyweremoralallegoriesofhumanconductandforeshadowingsofChristian truth. Thusthevocabularyof biblical typology(Ch.10) could be stretchedtoaccommodate the pagangods. ThepaganshadshownhowHomerandVirgilcouldbe moralised;theChristiansmanagedtomoralise evenintractableauthorslikeOvid. Agreatdealof knowledgeof pagan mythsin theMiddleAgesandthe Renaissance derived notso much from classical sources, of which Ovid was the most important, as from handbooks which suppliedreadymadeinterpretations.ForBoccaccio,poeticmythistheshellwhichenclosesthekernel ofphilosophicalandtheologicaltruth;itisaviewsharedbymostRenaissancepoetswhoemploymyth (Ch.12). The handbooks were parasitic, each compiler tending to incorporate the work of his predecessor. SinceRenaissance poetsturnedtothe handbooksmore frequentlythantothe worksof classicalauthors, the godsinRenaissance literaturedonotnecessarilyresemble theircounterpartsin HomerorVirgilorOvidveryclosely.Brie=ly,=ivechiefusesofmythcanbeidenti=ied: 1. Narrative;thestoryistoldforitsownsake,unmoralised. 2. Embellishmentandenrichmentofmeaning,toaggrandisethesubjectofapoem. 3. Themostwidespread:theallegorical,whichisSpensersmethodinTheFaerieQueene. 4. Mockheroic,toexposethesubjectofthecomparison, thoughthe mythitselfisnotbeingcriticised.
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5. Negative andhostileuse:itdrawsontheorthodoxtraditionthatthe pagangodswerefallenangels andhenceforcesforevil. CHAPTER12:ALLEGORY Thetermallegorycomesfromclassicalrhetoric,literallymeaning:sayingonethingtomeananother.In classical times and in the Renaissance, it was de=ined as a trope, a =igure of speech. Allegory is a continued metaphora common Renaissance idea. Allegorywas =irstpractised inantiquitynot asa method of writing but as a method of reading texts. Stoic and, later, Neoplatonic philosophers allegorisedthemythsnarratedbyGreekandRomanpoetssothattheyrevealedavarietyofmeanings, aprocesscalledimposedallegory(seeCh.2).Allegorycanbeimposedbecausetheinterpreterbelieves that the text he is studying containssigni=icant hidden truths which have escaped carelessreaders. Both Homer and Virgil were repeatedly allegorised from late antiquity to the Renaissance for this reason.Theotherimportanttextinthedevelopmentofthetraditionofallegoricalinterpretationisthe Bible. The great importance of the biblical tradition of allegorisation that reinforced the habit of readingandthinkingallegorically. We can isolate three explanations astowhya workof literature contains multiple meanings and whythesemeaningsarenotspeltoutdirectly. 1. Didactic: allegorical =iction conveys moral truths in a pleasing form think of the image of the sugaredpill. 2. Farfrombeingameansofmakingclearideasavailable,allegoryconcealsideasfromthevulgarand revealsthemonlytothedeserving;itbecomesanintellectualtest. 3. The mostinteresting:Allegoryis regarded as a means of saying thingsthatwould otherwise be inexpressible.The imagehereisthatofthe veil:throughtheveilreaderscanpenetrate tothelight beyond,whichotherwisewoulddazzlethem. Thusanallegoricalworkisnotselfcontained, butispartofan incompleteprocess.Thisprocessis onlycompleted when itsreaders fullyintuitthe meaningswhichthe author himself canonly partly express. The relation between clarity and obscurity in allegory is complicated. The author attempts to conceal hismeanings from the many and reveal them to the few; thus making itobscure for some readers and clear forothers. Also, darkness may referto the authors attempt to =ilterthe lightof truththroughthe darkglass of allegoricalform;obscurityisthusparadoxicallya meansof achieving clarity. In essence: Clarity through obscurity: no reader can pin down the logic of the authors argument, but everyreader who grasps the implications of the allegory has found the heart of the poem. Only the simplest kind of didactic allegory with a single level of meaning is susceptible of paraphrase. Complex, polysemous allegory cannot be paraphrased is this way, though readers can distinguish kindsof meaning, the mostimportant being moral, political and historical, religiousand philosophical. Moral allegory is usually concerned with con=lict between virtues and vices in the individual.Politicalandhistoricalallegorydeservestobetakenseriously,andnotregardedsimplyasa key to historical events and characters: it is the overall tendency of the historical allegory that is important.Religiousandphilosophicalallegoryaremorememorablebecausetheyaremoreuniversal. Allegory may take several literary forms. It may be progressive narrative or static description. Typicalformsare the quest, thedreamvision, theprogress, triumph,pageantormasque, thedebate, the emblem (a pictorial allegory accompanied by an explanation in verse). Modern readers must discernthe kindof allegoryitis, and thelevels of meaning in contains;theymustrecognise allegory when it is there, and avoid imposing it falsely when it is not. They face two different dangers: of neglectingorundervaluing allegoricalmeaningsthatarepresentina work,andofinventingmeanings thatareinappropriatetoit.However,allegoricalworksprovidetheirreaderswithenoughcluesabout theirnaturetoprovokethemintotheappropriateallegoricalinterpretation.

CHAPTER3:PLATONISMANDNEOPLATONISM TheonecentralbeliefcommontoPlatoandhisfollowersisthatofthetwoworlds: 1. The=irst, which isintelligibleorapprehendedbythe intellect, istheworld ofIdeasorForms,the archetypalpatterns of everything existing in the inferior material world. It isthe world of Being, stable,eternal,immutable,perfect. 2. Thesecond, which issensibleof apprehended bythe senses,isnotreal initself; itsvalue isinthe factthatitisacopyofof therealworldofForms/Being.ItistheworldofBecoming,alwayssubject tochange. The human soul comes from the =irst world (the world of Being) and is trapped in the bodyin the second(theworldofBecoming),fromwhichitseekstoescape.Thedif=icultyoftheascenttotheworld ofIdeas/Beingandtheproblemofexplainingtherelationbetweenthetwoworldstountrainedminds isillustratedbythe allegoryofthe cave(see Riverspp. 3334). Thisallegorynotonlyillustratesthe stepsthephilosophermustascend,italsoemphasiseshissocialresponsibility. There are two contradictory tendencies in Platos accounts of the relationship between the two worlds.Onetendencyistowardsasceticism,intellectualselfdisciplineandotherworldliness.Thesoul wants to have nothing to do with the body; death is a longedfor release. The inferiority and insubstantiality of the material world are stressed. Allied with this asceticism is the belief thatthe ascent to knowledge of the realworld ispainful and dif=icult. The othertendencyis towards ascetic enjoyment of the second world, which isbeautifuland good because it is a faithfulcopyof the real world.Itisthebeautyofthe materialworld thatleadsthe soultoapprehendtheIdea of Beauty, and theprocessisoneofraptureorecstasyratherthananarduousclimb. Plotinus, a 13thcenturyPlatonist popular in the Renaissance, deviseda hierarchyof being which differssigni=icantlyfrom Platosaccountsof the twoworlds. Firstthere isthe ultimateprinciple,the One, which transcends being. Then comes the Divine Mind, whose thoughts are the world of Ideas. Thencomessoul, which linksthe intelligibleandthe material world;individualsoulsarepart of this greatersoul.ThegoaloflifeistheascentofthesoultomysticalunionwiththeOne. Some tenetsof Platonismwereobviouslyincompatible withChristianity;forexample,thatthesoul passesthroughseveral bodies,andthatknowledge istherecollectionbythe soulofitsown previous existence.Also,some Neoplatonistsregarded demonsandthe pagan godsasintermediariesbetween theintelligibleandmaterialworlds.However,becauseofitsdoctrine ofthetwoworlds,Platonismwas mosteasilyassimilated toChristianity.PlotinusthoughtismuchclosertoChristianitythanPlatosin oneimportantrespect.ThereisnotranscendentprincipleofunityinPlato,whereasPlotinus Onecan easilybeidenti=iedwiththeChristianGod.Augustine,whopassedthroughaNeoplatonicperiodbefore hisconversiontoChristianity,wasmuchin=luencedbyPlotinus.ItislargelythroughAugustinethatthe PlatonictraditionreachedtheMiddleAges. The late 15th century Florentine Neoplatonists, in particular Ficino, were responsible for the dissemination of Platonic and Neoplatonic texts. Ficino developed his own system of Platonic theology,TheologicaPlatonica.TheobjectivewastoreconcilePlatonismwithChristianity,butsomeof Ficinossourcesweredistinctivelyunplatonic. Intheologicalterms, Florentine Neoplatonism isimportantforitsemphasison the freedom ofthe will. In Ficinos system, which is similar to that of Plotinus, each order of the universal hierarchy1 naturally aspires to that above. Man constantly strives to reach God. However, because of the intermediatepositionofthesoul,mancanlookupwardsordownwards;heisfreetoreachtowardsthe truthorignoreit.Inshort,emphasisonhumanchoiceandaspiration. Themostin=luentialaspectofFicinosthoughtwashistheoryofPlatoniclove.Thistheoryoflove while following Plato closely in some aspectsalso draws on a quite different tradition, that of medieval courtly love, in which the intangibility of the woman is her chief attraction, can become simplyagameinwhichsexualityisarti=iciallyignored.Thisassociationhadtheeffectoftrivialisingit. The extent of the in=luence of Italian Neoplatonism on English Renaissance poetry is a disputed matter. It is in love poetrythat the largest numberof allusions toNeoplatonism is to be found, but theseareoftennegativeandironic.

1Thatis:God,angelicmind,soulandbody.