Marco Polo

Sante Matteo (Miami University)

Ed. by Jo Ann Cavallo, Columbia University
The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 1.6.1: Italian Writing and Culture, 453-present.
Vol. editors: Carla Bregman (Independent Scholar - North America), Jo Ann Cavallo (Columbia University)

Dates

Born 1254
Died 1324
Activity 1271-1299

Places

Born in Italy
Active in Italy; Asia - Central; China

Activities

Primary

Explorer

Other

Travel writer

Resources

Polo's Works

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Marco Polo is arguably the most widely known Italian historical figure in the world. Who else has an animal species named after him (Marco Polo sheep), a lunar crater, an asteroid (29457 Marcopolo), and a popular game (a kind of Blind Man’s Bluff played in a swimming pool in which the “blind man” yells “Marco” and the players he’s trying to catch answer “Polo”)? Is there any city on any continent that does not have a “Marco Polo” travel agency? How many boats, buses and other means of conveyance are named after him (for instance, the buses that shuttle tourists from Agua Caliente to Machu Picchu in Peru)?

And yet, despite this lasting worldwide fame, The Travels of Marco Polo (called Il Milione in Italian) receives scant attention in Italian literary histories and

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2506 words

Citation: Matteo, Sante. "Marco Polo". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 01 June 2010 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=3594, accessed 18 April 2024.]

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