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Soledad Llano Berini

The Use of Myths in Humanistic Satire. The Example of Antonio Vinciguerra

After the long Middle Ages, the humanistic period, which comprises in Italy the second half of the fourteenth century and all of the fifteenth century, is presented as a renewal of the prevailing mentality. The artists and intellectuals turned their gaze toward the classical world and Greek and Latin language and literature, designed as an example of the spiritual man and the cradle of great masters. The initial study of classical texts, Philological Humanism, in the fourteenth century, developed with the new century into a humanism centred on literary and philosophical creation, and led the way to the foundation of a new civilization. It is in this specific context that one must analyse the work of the Venetian humanist Antonio Vinciguerra. It echoes the classical tradition of the satire, not only in terms of gender, but also of content, his satires being true invectives against the society of the time. The study that is presented is centred on the use of classical myths and their protagonists that Vinciguerra applies in his satirical work. We will attempt to analyse how the author uses these myths as positive and negative examples of how the vices affect a society that is no longer medieval.

Introduction