Jerusalem Delivered: Tasso (week 3)
Details
This meetup is hosted by Wisdom and Woe. For more details and to sign up for this event, go to: https://www.meetup.com/wisdom-and-woe/events/295107773/
"Jerusalem Delivered" (1581) is one of the great works of Renaissance literature, composed by arguably the greatest Italian poet after Dante, which for three centuries was known as the great modern epic, influencing everything from The Faerie Queen to Paradise Lost.
Set during the First Crusade in the 11th century, it tells the story of the siege which gave Christian armies temporary control over Jerusalem and the Holy Land.
As in other epic poems, "Jerusalem Delivered" deftly mixes history and myth. Tasso's heroes--Godfrey, leader of the Christian armies; Rinaldo, bravest of the Christian warriors; and Tancred, the Italian prince who falls in love with the pagan warrioress Clorinda--must face not only the Saracens and their allies, but also a host of fearsome and manipulative devils, demons, and sorcerers.
This is a sweeping and often thrilling tale of war, faith, love, and sex. Writing at a time when Christianity was bitterly divided, Tasso was naturally concerned with themes of leadership and loyalty, the importance of sacrifice, the evils of corruption, and the existence of truth.
Schedule:
- Week 1: books 1-5
- Week 2: books 6-10
- Week 3: books 11-16
- Week 4: books 17-20
Jerusalem Delivered:
- Kindle
- Gutenberg
- Google books
- Librivox 14h 39m
Join Wisdom and Woe here: https://www.meetup.com/wisdom-and-woe
Wisdom and Woe is a philosophy and literature discussion group dedicated to exploring the world, work, life, and times of Herman Melville and the 19th century Romantic movement. The group is free and open to anybody with an interest in learning and growing by "diving deeper" into "time and eternity, things of this world and of the next, and books, and publishers, and all possible and impossible matters."