Instytut Badań Literackich Polskiej Akademii Nauk

(Hannibal ante portas. Interpretation of the plot from the 21st chapter of the 3rd volume of the “Chronica Polonorum" by Gallus Anonymous)

Year of publication: 2016
Page range: 9 (5-13)
Keywords: reception of the Antiquity in the Middle Ages, "Chronica Polonorum", Gallus Anonymous, Hannibal,  warrior king, Bolesław the Wrymouthed

Author: Tomasz Pełech (Uniwersity of Wrocław / Université Blaise-Pascal Clermont-Ferrand II)

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to interpret the fable from the third Book of the “Chronica Polonorum" of Gallus Anonymus. The chronicler created an image of Boleslaus the Wrymouthed as a great warrior. He emphasized this feature by referring to an excellent role model which was Hannibal. Anonymous presented the crossing of the mountain range of Sudetes by the Polish army conducted by Boleslaus as an extraordinary, almost epic, action that could be compared with the crossing of the Alps by the army under the command of the famous Carthaginian. The symbolic content used in the fable also shows that in the creation of the Wrymouthed made by Gallus there is a possibility of interpretation of the ruler as a leader capable to overcome the power of Rome, represented by the Czechs – the great enemies of the Poles and members of the Empire.

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