Instytut Badań Literackich Polskiej Akademii Nauk

(The base for the ingeniousness of Jan Achacy Kmita’s “Spitamegeranomachia")

Year of publication: 2015
Page range: 19 (23-41)
Keywords: "Spitamegeranomachia", Jan Achacy Kmita, mock-heroic poem, geranomachia
Author: Aleksandra Goszczyńska (The University of Lodz)

Abstract

This paper offers a detailed analysis “Spitamegeranomachia" by Jan Achacy Kmita on the background of his work and in the broader context of the inventio-doctrine of the Polish Renaissance. The first Polish mock-heroic poem is presented in the light of the Renaissance reception of ancient literature, culture of translation in this time period, and historical and political writing. The main inspirations of the poem’s author are presented. They include: “Iliad" by Homeras a model of an epic and the source of the geranomachia motif; Pliny the Elder’s “Historia naturalis", from which the characteristics of the Pygmies, cranes, and fantastic semi-human creatures were drawn; and events from Polish history – mostly the Muscovy campaigns of Stephen Báthory, which the poet recorded in the poem through numerous allusions.

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