Instructor:
This course explores two Renaissance epic poems, Ludovico Ariosto’s Orlando furioso and Torquato Tasso’s Gerusalemme liberata. It considers numerous themes, including the following: the influence of classical models (especially Virgil’s Aeneid); the interplay between love and war; questions of gender; the encounters between Islam and Christianity in the Renaissance. The discussions will be conducted in English, but the Orlando furioso and the Gerusalemme liberata will be read in Italian (advanced reading knowledge of Italian required).