Curvant capita ardua montes. L’elemento fantastico nella ‹Felsinais› di Marco Girolamo Vida

Abstract

The ‹Felsinais› by Marco Girolamo Vida (1465 – 1566) is an epic narration of the war started by Pope Julius II against Bologna in November 1506. The work includes three episodes that do not take place in the real word: the pontifical army climbing to the Apennines, the flood of the river Reno, and the arrival of the Night on the battlefield. According to Tzvetan Todorov’s studies, these events belong to the realm of the fantastic. The application of his hermeneutic model highlights the ways in whichVida creates the fantastic and the functions it fulfils in the organization of the work.

Keywords: Marco Girolamo Vida; Statius; Silius Italicus; Epic Poetry; Reception ofClassics; Fantastic; Literary Theory