Iberian Apollonius of Tyre [Hardback]

"The tale of King Apollonius of Tyre's adventures is central to the premodern literary imagination. The legend remained current until the 1600s, when it hit the boards as Shakespeare's Pericles. Even though Ben Jonson called the story "mouldy," it is clear that writers and audiences were delighted to dust off, retell, and retranslate this glittering fiction of a tempest-tossed prince and the trials of his family. This volume presents new editions and English translations of the two complete, standalone medieval Iberian versions of The Book of Apollonius and the The Life and History of King Apollonius. The Book of Apollonius is very much a full-fledged exemplary romance of antiquity, while the Life and History of King Apollonius is an extended exemplum verging on romance. Consequently, the two Iberian texts are representative of how different artists and translators chose distinctive modes of reworking classical material for new audiences over the centuries. Moreover, they show how the Apollonius legend is present at the creation of two major literary and cultural movements in Iberia: vernacular, clerical poetry in the thirteenth century, and the transformation of medieval literature -produced by vernacular humanism and nascent print culture- in the fifteenth century. Both Iberian reworkings develop the key, interrelated themes which were in large part the narrative ingredients that made the story so popular for so long, namely, incest and the threat of incest, riddling, intellectual heroism, the thematization of written culture, kingship and courtliness, and the vagaries of fortune. Further, both clearly highlight the exemplary nature of the tale: for medieval Iberian audiences Apollonius's story is a mirror of princes, a spiritual guide, and a story about the pilgrimage of human life"--

A new translation of two medieval Spanish versions of the tale of Apollonius, a story central to the premodern literary imagination and a source for Shakespeare’s Pericles.

Incest, riddling, piracy, prostitution, shipwreck, Lazarus-like resuscitation, and seductive musical performances—the story of King Apollonius and his wanderings, with its riveting plot twists, has been told and retold in many languages since its late antique composition. No conventional romance hero, Apollonius proves his mettle not on the battlefield but through study, sport, music, and courtliness. The equally studious and courtly heroines of the romance—Luciana and Tarsiana, Apollonius’s wife and daughter—embark on their own adventures before the family reunites. Throughout, the king’s trials are cast as a Christian allegory of fortune.

Two Castillian versions are included in The Iberian Apollonius of Tyre. The thirteenth-century poem known as The Book of Apollonius, a creative adaptation by an unknown cleric, focuses on Apollonius as a pilgrim figure and Christianizes the narrative. The fifteenth-century prose Life and History of King Apollonius, a highly literal translation of the Latin Gesta Romanorum text by an anonymous Aragonese translator, is representative of vernacular humanism and linked with the genre of the short chivalric tale.

This volume presents new editions and English translations of these two complete, standalone medieval Spanish versions of the ancient legend.

The Iberian Apollonius of Tyre includes the poem The Book of Apollonius, a creative and Christianized adaptation, and the prose Life and History of King Apollonius, a highly literal translation of the Latin Gesta Romanorum. This volume presents new editions and English translations of these two medieval Spanish versions of the ancient legend.