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The Decameron

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The Decameron

Not who you're looking for? Others named The Decameron: 1971 film by Pier Paolo Pasolini · American TV series or program

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The Decameron across IJR

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Overview

The Decameron (; or Decamerone ), subtitled Prince Galehaut (Old ) and sometimes nicknamed l'Umana commedia ("the Human comedy", as it was Boccaccio that dubbed Dante Alighieri's Comedy "Divine"), is a collection of short stories by the 14th-century Italian author Giovanni Boccaccio (1313–1375). The book is structured as a frame story containing 100 tales told by a group of seven young women and three young men; they shelter in a secluded villa just outside Florence in order to escape the Black Death, which was afflicting the city. Boccaccio probably conceived of the Decameron after the epidemic of 1348, and completed it by 1353. The various tales of love in The Decameron range from the erotic to the tragic. Tales of wit, practical jokes, and life lessons contribute to the mosaic. In addition to its literary value and widespread influence (for example on Chaucer's Canterbury Tales), it provides a document of life at the time. Written in the vernacular of the Florentine language, it is considered a masterpiece of classical early Italian prose. Title The book's primary title exemplifies Boccaccio's fondness for Greek philology: Decameron combines Greek , déka ("ten") and , hēméra ("day") to mean "ten-day [event]", referring to the period in which the characters of the frame story tell their tales. Boccaccio's subtitle, Prencipe Galeotto, refers to Galehaut, a fictional king portrayed in the 13th-century Lancelot-Grail who was sometimes called by the title haut prince "high prince". Galehaut was a close friend of Lancelot, but an enemy of King Arthur. When Galehaut learned that Lancelot loved Arthur's wife, Guinevere, he set aside his own ardor for Lancelot in order to arrange a meeting between his friend and Guinevere. At this meeting the Queen first kisses Lancelot, and so begins their love affair. In Canto V of Inferno, Dante compares these fictional lovers with the real-life paramours Francesca da Rimini and Paolo Malatesta, whose relationship he fictionalises. In Inferno, Francesca and Paolo read of Lancelot and Guinevere, and the story impassions them to lovemaking.

From Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0).

Notable quotes

“Se medesimi esaltando con parole da fare per istomacaggine le pietre saltar del muro e fuggirsi.”
— They boosted themselves with such nauseating self-praise as to make the stones jump out of the walls and flee.
“Natural ragione è di ciascuno che ci nasce, la sua vita, quanto può, aiutare e conservare e difendere.”
— Every person born into this world has a natural right to sustain, preserve, and defend his own life to the best of his ability.
“La gente è più acconcia a credere il male che il bene.”
— People are more inclined to believe in bad intentions than in good ones.
“Una boccuccia piccolina, le cui labbra parevan due rubinetti.”
— A sweet little mouth with lips like rubies.
“Essere la natura de' motti cotale, che essi come la pecora morde deono cosi mordere l'uditore, e non come 'l cane: percio che, se come cane mordesse il motto, non sarebbe motto, ma villania.”
— The nature of wit is such that its bite must be like that of a sheep rather than a dog, for if it were to bite the listener like a dog, it would no longer be wit but abuse.
“Leggiadre donne, infra molte bianche colombe aggiugne più di bellezza uno nero corvo, che non farebbe un candido cigno.”
— Charming ladies, the beauty of a flock of white doves is better enhanced by a black crow than by a pure white swan.

Quotes via Wikiquote (CC BY-SA), each with its original source.

Notable quotes

“Se medesimi esaltando con parole da fare per istomacaggine le pietre saltar del muro e fuggirsi.”
— They boosted themselves with such nauseating self-praise as to make the stones jump out of the walls and flee.
“Natural ragione è di ciascuno che ci nasce, la sua vita, quanto può, aiutare e conservare e difendere.”
— Every person born into this world has a natural right to sustain, preserve, and defend his own life to the best of his ability.
“La gente è più acconcia a credere il male che il bene.”
— People are more inclined to believe in bad intentions than in good ones.
“Una boccuccia piccolina, le cui labbra parevan due rubinetti.”
— A sweet little mouth with lips like rubies.
“Essere la natura de' motti cotale, che essi come la pecora morde deono cosi mordere l'uditore, e non come 'l cane: percio che, se come cane mordesse il motto, non sarebbe motto, ma villania.”
— The nature of wit is such that its bite must be like that of a sheep rather than a dog, for if it were to bite the listener like a dog, it would no longer be wit but abuse.
“Leggiadre donne, infra molte bianche colombe aggiugne più di bellezza uno nero corvo, che non farebbe un candido cigno.”
— Charming ladies, the beauty of a flock of white doves is better enhanced by a black crow than by a pure white swan.

Quotes via Wikiquote (CC BY-SA), each with its original source.

The Decameron (; or Decamerone ), subtitled Prince Galehaut (Old ) and sometimes nicknamed l'Umana commedia ("the Human comedy", as it was Boccaccio that dubbed Dante Alighieri's Comedy "Divine"), is a collection of short stories by the 14th-century Italian author Giovanni Boccaccio (1313–1375). The book is structured as a frame story containing 100 tales told by a group of seven young women and three young men; they shelter in a secluded villa just outside Florence in order to escape the Black Death, which was afflicting the city. Boccaccio probably conceived of the Decameron after the epidemic of 1348, and completed it by 1353. The various tales of love in The Decameron range from the erotic to the tragic. Tales of wit, practical jokes, and life lessons contribute to the mosaic. In addition to its literary value and widespread influence (for example on Chaucer's Canterbury Tales), it provides a document of life at the time. Written in the vernacular of the Florentine language, it is considered a masterpiece of classical early Italian prose.

Not who you're looking for? Others named The Decameron: 1971 film by Pier Paolo Pasolini · American TV series or program

Overview

The Decameron (; or Decamerone ), subtitled Prince Galehaut (Old ) and sometimes nicknamed l'Umana commedia ("the Human comedy", as it was Boccaccio that dubbed Dante Alighieri's Comedy "Divine"), is a collection of short stories by the 14th-century Italian author Giovanni Boccaccio (1313–1375). The book is structured as a frame story containing 100 tales told by a group of seven young women and three young men; they shelter in a secluded villa just outside Florence in order to escape the Black Death, which was afflicting the city. Boccaccio probably conceived of the Decameron after the epidemic of 1348, and completed it by 1353. The various tales of love in The Decameron range from the erotic to the tragic. Tales of wit, practical jokes, and life lessons contribute to the mosaic. In addition to its literary value and widespread influence (for example on Chaucer's Canterbury Tales), it provides a document of life at the time. Written in the vernacular of the Florentine language, it is considered a masterpiece of classical early Italian prose. Title The book's primary title exemplifies Boccaccio's fondness for Greek philology: Decameron combines Greek , déka ("ten") and , hēméra ("day") to mean "ten-day [event]", referring to the period in which the characters of the frame story tell their tales. Boccaccio's subtitle, Prencipe Galeotto, refers to Galehaut, a fictional king portrayed in the 13th-century Lancelot-Grail who was sometimes called by the title haut prince "high prince". Galehaut was a close friend of Lancelot, but an enemy of King Arthur. When Galehaut learned that Lancelot loved Arthur's wife, Guinevere, he set aside his own ardor for Lancelot in order to arrange a meeting between his friend and Guinevere. At this meeting the Queen first kisses Lancelot, and so begins their love affair. In Canto V of Inferno, Dante compares these fictional lovers with the real-life paramours Francesca da Rimini and Paolo Malatesta, whose relationship he fictionalises. In Inferno, Francesca and Paolo read of Lancelot and Guinevere, and the story impassions them to lovemaking.

From Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0).

The Decameron across IJR

Ask Genius about The Decameron Create in Studio Build a game Watch videos