“Frondibus et ramis Dapnes imitata decorem” (Lyr. I, 94). Mito y metamorfosis en la Lyrae Heroyca (1581) de Francisco Núñez de Oria

Abstract

In this paper we have focused our attention on the Neo-Latin epic poem entitled Lyrae Heroycae libri quatuordecim (Salamanca, Matías Gast, 1581) by the Spanish humanist Francisco Núñez de Oria. This epic poem, as little known as its author, combines two a priori antagonistic traditions: the classical epic canon and the novel subject of chivalry. However, we can also observe a notable influence of Ovid in this poem, as well as of Breton literature, who, although to a lesser extent than Virgil, is very present in the different metamorphoses of characters and in different allusions of a mythological nature. In the following pages, we will study how the humanist uses these transformations and mythological allusions from different traditions in a Christian key, as part of the same symbolic reading.