Alonso de Ercilla y Zúñiga

Bryce Maxey (Yale University)

Ed. by Juan Pablo Rodriguez, Yale University
The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 1.6.2.01: Spanish Literature and Culture from the Beginning to the Golden Age.
Vol. editors: Andrew M. Beresford (University of Durham), Stuart Green (University of Leeds), Juan Pablo Rodriguez (Yale University), Duncan Wheeler (University of Leeds)

Dates

Born 17 Aug 1533
Died 29 Nov 1594
Activity 1569-1589

Places

Born in Spain
Active in America - South

Activities

Primary

Poet

Other

Soldier

Resources

de Ercilla y Zúñiga's Works

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Alonso de Ercilla y Zúñiga (1533-94) is the author of

La Araucana

, the most widely read and imitated epic of the Spanish Golden Age. Ercilla spent nearly 30 years working on the poem's three volumes, which he published in 1569, 1578, and 1589. Composed in heroic verse,

La Araucana

narrates the history of colonial warfare between the Spaniards and the Araucanians, a nation of bellicose, nomadic herdsmen living in Arauco, a region in southern Chile. The poem is a hybrid masterpiece that fuses literature, history, and autobiography. Unlike his epic precursors, Ercilla participated in many of the battles that he narrated. In the construction of his poem, he blended narrative strategies and the imitation of scenes and characters from classical epic, the Italian romance, and historiography.…

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2382 words

Citation: Maxey, Bryce. "Alonso de Ercilla y Zúñiga". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 10 March 2017 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=13851, accessed 31 October 2024.]