Troilus and Criseyde (c.1385) is an epic poem written by English poet Geoffrey Chaucer. Composed in Middle English, Troilus and Criseyde is the story of two lovers forced apart by the Greek siege of Troy. Often considered Chaucer’s finest work for its structural consistency and completeness, the poem adapts Homer’s Iliad and other ancient sources which expand on its tradition to tell a Christian moral tale about the importance of faith and the sacred nature of human love.
After mocking the god of love, Troilus—a Trojan warrior and the youngest son of Priam—is struck with desire for the beautiful Criseyde, the daughter of a prophet named Calchas. With her uncle Pandarus’ help, the two begin to exchange letters before consummating their love in secret. Meanwhile, Calchas—who has predicted the fall of Troy and abandoned the city to join the Greeks—is negotiating with both sides in order to facilitate the release of Antenor in exchange for his daughter, Criseyde. Although Troilus and Hector object to the plan, Criseyde is sent to the Greek camp. Despite promising to return to Troy and to remain faithful to Troilus, she secretly doubts herself, and is soon courted by the Greek hero Diomede. Troilus and Criseyde, a masterpiece of medieval literature, is a tragic story of desire, will, and the divine that continues to move readers centuries after it was written.
With a beautifully designed cover and professionally typeset manuscript, this edition of Geoffrey Chaucer’s Troilus and Criseyde is a classic of English literature reimagined for modern readers.
Sobre el autor
Geoffrey Chaucer (1340s-1400) was an English poet and civil servant. Born in London to a family of wealthy vintners, Chaucer became a page to a noblewoman as a teenager, gaining access to the court of King Edward III. He served in the English army at the beginning of the Hundred Years’ War, was captured during the siege of Rheims, and returned to England after a sizeable ransom was paid by the king. Afterward, he travelled throughout Europe, married Philippa de Roet—with whom he had four children—and eventually settled in London to study law. In 1367, Chaucer joined the royal court of Edward III, serving in a variety of roles while also writing his earliest known poem, The Book of the Duchess. In 1373, following a military expedition in Picardy, he visited Genoa and Florence where he is believed to have met both Petrarch and Boccaccio, who introduced him to the Italian poetry that would heavily influence the form and content of his own work. Chaucer was appointed to the role of comptroller of customs for the port of London in 1374, a position he would hold for the next twelve years. He is believed to have written The Canterbury Tales—his most important work and an early masterpiece of English literature—in the early 1380s, was appointed clerk of the king’s works in 1389, and, in the last decade of his life, lived on an annual pension granted him by King Richard II. He was buried in Westminster Abbey, and is recognized today as the father of English literature.Más ebooks del mismo autor / Editor
94.364 Ebooks en esta categoría
