Fray Luis de León and Lope de Vega: Renaissance to National Theater
Fray Luis de León
The poems of Fray Luis de León are heirs to the Renaissance in both form and content.
In form, he used Italianate verse stanzas, above all, the lira and hendecasyllabic and heptasyllabic verses. The content includes classic topics (locus amoenus, Golden Mean) combined with religious themes.
Fray Luis, in both prose and verse, was extremely careful with language and style. He eschewed bombast and excess, and imbued his words with naturalness, simplicity, and harmony, to say “what
Read MoreRenaissance Prose: Didactic, Fiction, and Novels
Renaissance Prose: Didactic and Fictional Works
The prose of the Golden Age, encompassing both didactic prose (dialogues) and fiction (novels), transmits the new Renaissance ideas. Dialogues contributed to the development of the novel. Highlights include Dialogue of Language by Juan de Valdés and Dialogue of Mercury and Charon by Alfonso Valdés.
Doctrinal Treatises
St. Teresa of Ávila’s prose is widespread on doctrinal aesthetic levels. Teresa of Jesus was a great prose writer, both classical and
Read MoreSpain in the Early 20th Century: Literature and Society
Narrative of Early 20th Century Spain
Introduction: Historical Context
The 19th century concluded with the Disaster of ’98, where Spain relinquished its last colonial holdings: Cuba, Puerto Rico, and the Philippines. This led to a sense of defeat and decline. In 1902, Alfonso XIII’s reign began, with conservatives and liberals alternating in government peacefully. General Primo de Rivera seized power from 1923 to 1930. The monarchy weakened, and Republicans, supported by socialists and Catalan left-
Read MoreAncient Greece: Society, Classes, and Mythology
Ancient Greece: Society and Mythology
Athenian Social Classes
Athenian society was structured into several distinct classes:
- Politai: Divided into ten tribes across territorial districts (plain, mountain, and coast). They possessed full civil rights, acquired by birth. Their responsibilities included serving in the heavy infantry or cavalry, participating in magistracies, serving in courts, and paying special taxes.
- Metics: Foreigners residing in Athens. Despite being free, they lacked citizenship rights.
Aeschylus, Sophocles, Euripides: Ancient Greek Tragedy
The Three Great Poets of Tragedy
The three great poets of tragedy are:
- Aeschylus: He wrote more than 80 plays, of which only seven have survived, along with fragments of others. The first dated work is called The Persians. Another outstanding work is Prometheus Bound.
- Sophocles: He enjoyed great prestige in his city and was friends with famous contemporaries such as Herodotus, Hippocrates, and Pericles. In no Greek poet is there a deeper consideration of human pain and destiny. In Antigone, divine
Modernism and the Generation of ’98 in Spain
Modernism and the Generation of ’98
Modernism
Modernism was an artistic movement that spread throughout the creative world. Created by Rubén Darío and José Martí, it features:
- Aesthetic literature: It seeks beauty above all else.
- Escapism: Authors often expressed feelings like boredom and laziness.
- Symbolic elements: Reliance on symbols, such as the swan.
The Generation of ’98
The Generation of ’98 was a group of authors born in the late 19th century who discussed two main topics:
- The decline of Spain.