Pierre de Ronsard, La Franciade

Phillip John Usher (New York University)

Ed. by Tim Unwin, University of Bristol
The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 1.5.2.02: French Writing and Culture in the Renaissance, 1400-1600.
Vol. editors: Robert J. Hudson (Brigham Young University), Tim Unwin (University of Bristol), Phillip John Usher (New York University), David Williams (University of Sheffield)

Dates

First circulation or publication 1572

Places

France (Country of Origin)

Genres and Modes

Epic
Poetry (any)

Resources

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The

Franciade

is an unfinished epic by Pierre de Ronsard. Its first four books, published in 1572, tell the story of Francus, the supposed son of Hector and a survivor of the Trojan War. Although Francus had died in Homer’s

Iliad

, where he is called Astyanax and Skamandrios, Ronsard saves him and makes him the ancestor of the French monarchy. As one of the text’s liminary Latin praise poems states “As Astyanax fell from a tower in Troy, Jupiter saved him with a decoy in order to hide him”, a gesture compared to Ronsard’s own poetic enterprise: “All the glory of the house of Astyanax might have perished yet again, although it had then been saved by Jupiter, had you, Ronsard, not followed Jupiter’s example and saved Astyanax with a poetic counterfeit” (Ronsard 1983, 21-22;…

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2341 words

Citation: Usher, Phillip John. "La Franciade". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 25 January 2011 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=31708, accessed 26 November 2024.]

Pierre de Ronsard, La Franciade

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