ORLANDO FURIOSO – The finest expression of the literary tendencies of the Italian Renaissance

Ludovico Ariosto was born in Italy, in 1474, Reggio Emilia (duchy of Modena). He was Italian poet, remembered for his epic poem Orlando furioso, the finest expression of the literary tendencies and spiritual attitudes of the Italian Renaissance. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XrCpiJL8YXE Upon its publication in 1516, Orlando furioso enjoyed immediate popularity throughout Europe. He showed an inclination toward poetry from an early age, but his father intended him for a legal career.

In 1512 he went to Rome with the cardinal’s brother Alfonso, who had succeeded Ercole as duke in 1505. Ariosto had produced a number of Latin verses, inspired by the Roman poets Tibullus and Horace. Since about 1505, he had been working on Orlando furioso, continuing to revise and refine it for the rest of his life. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iwtwFK9dHfs The main unifying element, is the personality of Ariosto himself, who confers his own refined spirituality on all his characters. Sensual love is the prevailing sentiment, but it is tempered by the author’s ironical attitude and artistic detachment.

Orlando furioso https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=azNcr6LMiDM is one of the greatest epic poems of the Italian Renaissance, an intricate tale of love and enchantment set at the time of the Holy Roman Emperor Charlemagne’s conflict with the Moors. In the poem of Ariosto, the ideals of courtly society are separated from reality, marked by quell’irrazionale tangle of passions that will be represented in the tournament knights. When Count Orlando returns to France from Cathay (with the captive Angelica as his prize), her beauty soon inspires his cousin Rinaldo to challenge him to a duel.

During their battle, Angelica escapes from both knights on horseback. This dazzling kaleidoscope of fabulous adventures, sorcery and romance has inspired generations of writers, with its depiction of a fantastical world of magic rings and barbaric splendour. https://www.amazon.com/Orlando-Furioso-Romantic-Penguin-Classics/dp/0140443118/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1479461477&sr=1-2&keywords=orlando+furioso

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