Giovanni Boccaccio
1. Genealogy of the Gentle God:
Book 14, Chapter V
a. Philosophy
is the “messenger of God and encompasses all knowledge.
i. To
those who will listen she will reveal:
1. Praiseworthy
ideals of human character.
2. The
forces of Mother Nature.
3. The
true good.
4. The
secrets of Heaven.
ii. The
environment of Philosophy provides opportunity for higher pursuits of the human
mind; both speculation and knowledge.
iii. The
character of people who have been awarded a seat at Philosophy tend to:
1. Be
few in number.
2. Gentle
in aspect and utterance.
3. Are
distinguished by seriousness, honesty, and true humility that elevate them
above mortals.
4. Give
freely to others their fullness of their knowledge.
b. The
noise in the house of Philosophy are men of low character; also referred to as
the noisy crowd. They tend to:
i. Take
bits of information and project them as knowledge, without having any real
understanding.
ii. Use
the perceived knowledge to lift their status.
iii. Be
comfortable with taking advantage of people.
iv. Be
comfortable with intimidating people.
v. Are
ignorant of many things.
vi. Are
judgmental of things they do not understand.
c. Men
of low character have the following opinion of Poetry.
i. Poetry
has no meaning.
ii. Poets
are liars.
iii. Poems
are false, obscure, and lewd.
d. Men
of low character will defend themselves using the Philosophers, or “Plato’s Authority.”
e. Giovanni
knows his work will be criticized by people who are not qualified to make educated
judgments on poetry, but are crafty, judgmental, and persuasive in other ways.
f. Giovanni
asks for divine strength to meet them with “Justice at my right hand.”
2. Genealogy of the Gentile Gods: Book 14, Chapter VII
a. Poetry
is:
i. A
passionate expression.
1. It
proceeds from the divine.
2. Few
people possess the gift.
3. True
poets are few.
ii. Poetry
is sublime:
1. It
stimulates imagination.
2. Sharpens
and illuminates the mind.
3. It
veils truth in an appropriate fiction.
b. A
poet must be skilled in his craft.
c. Poetry
comes from the divine and deals matters that apply to us all, even if we deny
its use and purpose.
3. Genealogy of the Gentile Gods: Book 14, Chapter XII
a. The
noisy crowd claims poetry is obscure and that poets complicate the language.
b. Boccaccio
feels this claim is a perversion and a way to incriminate an idea they don’t
understand.
c. Boccaccio
offers the following arguments:
i. Plato
and Aristotle’s work is “tangled” and “involved” leaving room for
interpretation.
ii. Holy
Scripture is obscure as supported by Augustine.
iii. Philosophers
have defenders and it’s a blasphemy to criticize Holy Writ; but, it’s easy to
pick on the poets.
iv. Critics
may not understand because:
1. Perceive
the clear as obscure.
2. Some
things are so profound that one needs developed skills to derive meaning.
3. Some
things are naturally clear, but veiled by the poet.
v. To
remove common familiarity and cheapen the meaning, it is the poet’s duty to
protect things and their meanings by removing them from casual gaze.
vi. Hidden
meaning involves effort to decipher and provides higher rewards for discovery.
d. The
noisy crowd needs to:
i. Obtain
an education in poetry.
ii. Open
their minds to give meaning to common words.
iii. Understand
that speech is different than fiction.
e. Advice
to those who would read poetry.
i. You
must read.
ii. Persevere
and inquire with effort.
iii. Develop
alternate strategies to find meaning.
iv. Be
patient and reread.
Works
Cited
Boccaccio,
Giovanni.
Genealogy of the Gentile Gods.
The Norton Anthology of Theory and Criticism. Ed. Vincent B. Leitch et al. 2nd ed. New York: W.W.Norton &
Co., 2010. 190-200. Print.
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