Tragedia y ambivalencia en el Austrias Carmen de Juan Latino. ¿Un poema a los vencedores o a los vencidos en Lepanto?

Abstract

This paper analyses some passages of Juan Latino’s Austrias Carmen (1573) that stand out for their great pathos and their ambivalence in the treatment of the characters. Here, the poet shows the horrors of war, calls the Christian fleet into question and brings to the forefront the virtues and sufferings of the Turks. However, he does not stop celebrating the victory and takes sides for the Spanish monarchy and Christianity. This study aims to demonstrate that the poem’s ambiguity lies in its imitation of Virgil’s Aeneid and, in part, of Lucan’s Pharsalia, and, furthermore, that it does not contradict the propagandistic or laudatory tone of Juan Latino’s poetic production. This hypothesis is supported by literary examples, as well as by historical and biographical facts which prove the poet’s adhesion to the Empire and his complete integration into Spanish society.