Los jesuitas como maestros de la retorica y el drama. 1986.pdf

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Revista anadiense de Estudios Hispnicos

The Jesuits as Masters of Rhetoric and DramaAuthor(s): LOUISE FOTHERGILL-PAYNESource: Revista Canadiense de Estudios Hispnicos, Vol. 10, No. 3 (Primavera 1986), pp. 375-387Published by: Revista Canadiense de Estudios HispnicosStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/27762454.

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376An important part of the school curriculum was rhetoric, the art of

speaking well which was fundamental to the trainingof futurepreachersand lawyers. Following the example of other institutions, such as theGerman Scola Latina, the early EnglishGrammar Schools and the DutchRederijkers Kamer (rhetorical society), the Jesuitsrealized thatproducingplays might well be an excellent method forpractising the rules of therhetorical arts.2Thus itwas that themagister rhetoricus was charged with thewritingof the Latin Playwhich, as timewent by, tended to become increasingly

bilingual. Initially, he playwas performed only once a year, but soon theevent became so popular that, indefiance of Rome's regulations, someColleges staged their elaborate productions up to five times inany givenschool year.As a result there grew upa whole new dramatic genre of trulyEuropean dimensions as well as a vast corpus of uneven and practicallyforgotten plays.3The influence of Jesuitdrama on the beginnings of Europe's nationaltheatreswas surely immense as itshaped not only hundreds of potentialplaywrights but also must have conditioned the receptiveness of futureaudiences. Added to that, therewas the Jesuits'own acute sensibility toeach nation's favourite pastime which would explain why the schools inGerman speaking lands concentrated on oratorios, in France on tragoediae and inSpain on tragoediae and comoediae or amix of both. Bethis as itmay, the purpose of the Jesuit school theatrewas such that theperformance still squarely fitted the precepts of the ars rhetoricalThe plays staged in the colleges formed part of the so called luduslitterarius, a one-day festival at which the students showed off theircompetence inLatin and Rhetoric. On such occasions the Jesuit schoolsopened their doors to the public and entertained "toda la villa" with adisplay of theirwork, recitals and literary ontests, crowned by the performance of their play. The purpose of the ludus litterariuswas to showtheworld how good theywere inthe hope of pleasing not only ecclesiasticdignitaries but also, and especially, potential benefactors and relativesof present and prospective pupils.With their performances, then, the Jesuitshad three goals inmind: toplead, to please and to persuade, a threefold aim that neatly coincidedwith the precepts of the rhetorical arts. Inaway, the Schoolmaster's taskwas similar to the lawyer'smandate which was to defend his position incompetition with a rival, to gain the sympathy of his listeners and toconvince the judges of the superior strength of his cause. To that effect,the discourse should hold the judge's attention throughout, impartknowledge and keep him well disposed ("iudicem attentum parare,iudicem docilem parare, iudicem benevolum parare").5

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377Thus, long before the appearance of 20th-century literary theory,Greek and Roman rhetoricians had established the intimate relation

between the author (the orator), his discourse (his argumenta) and therecipient (his iudex or iudicium). Translated to the sixteenth-Centurystage, the orator becomes the author/actor, his argumenta the development of the plot and his iudicium a critical audience.Furthermore, the rhetorician turned playwright had to consider thefive parts of the art, namely the inventio and dispositio as well as theelocutio, memoria and actio. Of these, the inventio and dispositio,applied to the stage,would be the plot divided into scenes, while the lastthree, elocutio, memoria and actio,would translate as diction, memorization of the part and acting.The ars bene dicendi was conceived within the framework of anoverriding utilitas causae inwhich every word and gesture had to servea single cause. A furtherconsideration, whether one planned a speech orthe production of a play, was the choice of subject (res), taking intoaccount the place (locus) and the times (tempus) which again shouldconform to the all-important recipient of themessage.

Applying these and other rules of the rhetorical game, themagisterrhetoricus somade his play resemble more an exercise inthe ars rhetoricathan in the ars poetica. Whether we are faced with the deeply movingTragedia de San Hermenegildo (MS 386) or the various Tragoediae andComoediae contained inMS 384, the Triunfode la Fortuna (MS 385) orHistoria Filerini (MS 398 and 399), they all reveal the same rhetoricalpattern.6Of these, theHistoria Filerini isperhaps themost representative of playsproduced after 1580.7 In tune with the changing fashion in the seculartheatre, Jesuitdrama tended to abandon a predominantly tragicmood infavour of the "tragicomedia," a mix which seemed to please Spanishaudiences most. This play, therefore, is particularly appropriate exampleto study.The Historia Fileriniwas composed in about 1586 for the Colegio deJerezde la Frontera. Although the decision to found a school inthewinegrowing country of Jerez dated from 1579, it took a few years for theCollege to become fully perational. Infact, the play may well have beenperformed at its fficial opening. Ithas four acts, half inSpanish and halfinLatin, running to over a hundred folios and obviously written with thetown of Jerez inmind. Itsargumenta, a refutationof Epicureanism, clearlyinvolve thewine trade,while themention of an "ejecutoria de hidalgu?a"alludes to a possible nouveau-riche population where it ays: "Y aun enJerez habr? quien, por tener hoy otra tal, diera todo su caudal" (fo. 75

).



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378The main concern of the Schoolmaster isclearly to involve the rich

burghers in his iudicium. This isopenly expressed in the "despedida"with the recognition that the school was built with theirmoney: "Haecscola vestra est, quae / erecta est mu?ere vestro" (fo. 106 r). The linerecapitulates thewish, expressed earlier inSpanish, that these "primerasflores"will give "frutosmayores ymejores... si ledura siempre el buengobierno" (fo. 105 v). This lastcondition, of course, hints at the benevolence of the townwhose material and financial support was so importantto the College.

Benevolentiam parare is one of the main principles of rhetoric, abenevolence which can so easily turn into the orator's nightmare: thepublic's taedium. To avoid thisdanger, rhetoricians advise that, from thevery start,the subject-matter (res) should be perceived as "nova, magna,atrox" and "pertinens ad exemplum." New, awe-inspiring and exemplaryindeed, is the res of the Historia Filerini. It deals with the dilemmapresented by a growing Epicureanism which occupied the minds ofEuropean thinkers and threatened the teachings of theChurch. The Play'sargumenta adduced to convince the audience of the pernicious effectsof an Epicurean attitude to life nd death, trace the hazardous journey oftwo bewildered adolescents each of whom in his search for happinessand peace of mind, chooses the wrong way to go about it.The richFilerino follows Epicurus and money, the poor Fenelico relies on fortuneand deceit. The ending isa happy one, at least for the rich youth whenhe enters the "Milicia de Dios." The subject matter (res) and the plot(inventio) were, of course, most appropriate fora townwhich, by the verynature of its trade, may have indulged in some special Epicureandelights.The philosophic implications, however, were on a much bigger scaleand in ccord with the rhetorician's advice to present only rerummagnitudo. The threat of Epicureanism to the Catholic Church was twofold. Inthe firstplace, it oncerned the fundamental question of the summumbonum. Whereas the Stoics, whose teaching on this issue had long sincebeen incorporated intoChristianity, considered virtue to be the supremegood, for the Epicureans itmeant a blessed balance of body and mind,untroubled by excesses of any kind, hunger, thirst,sorrow or pain.8 Butby stressing the needs of the body first, he Epicureans created thewrongimpression, namely that they catered to the stomach alone, and this isprecisely the notion that prevails in the Historia Filerini.However, therewas another threat arising from too close an adherenceto Epicureanism and thatwas its onfidence inknowledge. Knowledge oftheworkings of the Universe, the Epicureans believed, would make for



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379wiser, freer and happier men. Related to their belief in the power ofknowledge was, moreover, their conviction that,ultimately,Man and hissoul would perish inone gigantic atomic explosion. Itwas precisely theinquisitive mind that scrutinized the workings of the Universe whiledenying the existence of an after-lifewhich worried theChurch most. Inthe period surrounding the performance of the Historia Filerini, variousbooks on Epicurean thought had appeared, but a concern for its implications only became apparent in the following century.9 In the second halfof the seventeenth Century especially, a number of books appear whosetitles eloquently speak of animadversiones, refutationes and defensiones?0 The fact that a hundred years earlier an anonymous schoolmaster indeepest Andalusia made anti-Epicureanism the subject of a playmeans that,at that time, the controversy was alive and, what ismore, wellsuited for a mixed audience of prosperous burghers and susceptibleyouth.Confident of the magnitude of his subject matter, the author of theHistoria Filerini would now set out on his task not to bore his audiencewith too many refutationes and animadversiones himself. Rhetoriciansstress the importance ofwinning the audience's attention from thewordgo, that is, in the Exordium, where the subject matter is introduced. Onstage, this takes the form of a "Pr?logo," inwhich the "faraute" or"interpres," after begging forattention, announces the conflict in termswith which the audience can identify. Inour play, the "faraute" brieflysummarizes the plot, first introducing the two youths and theirquest forhappiness, then sketching out theirmisguided beliefs. Indoing so, thedramatist satisfied the three conditions laiddown for a successful Exordium inwhich to call for attention: (1) simplyby asking for it("ut attenteaudiant"); (2) by bringing the conflict, quite literally, ome to them ("tuares agitur"), in this case two young students; and (3) by stirring thespectator's sensibilities ("si iudex ... conmovetur"), that is to say by theverymention of Epicurus, money, Fortune and deceit.After the successful introduction of his inventio, the orator/dramatistthen needs to concentrate on thedispositio of the subject matter. This theschoolmaster does by tracing Filerino's and Fenelico's allegorical journeybringing them intocontact with the personifications of virtues and vices,with "picaros" and "pobres hidalgos" and other despicable folk.All thisleads up to a richbanquet which soon gets out of hand. The play finisheswith the apotheosis of Filerino's penitence provoked by the prospect ofa fearsome duel with the hidalgos.Inwriting his play, the schoolmaster had to keep inmind that therhetorician's task isthreefold: namely to instruct, odelight and tomove,



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380(docere, delectare, movere). While the firstpart, docere, makes up theinstructiveelement of the discourse, delectare and movere clearly haveto do with the sensibilities of the audience.As we saw, the main point of instruction in the Historia Fi Ieri i concerned a debate about peace of mind centred on Epicureanism andStoicism, two conflicting philosophies thatdivided Europe at the time.Aformidable subject forthe stage, especially when we consider the particular ccasion, the cast and the audience of the play. If he author were tobow even furtherto the dictates of the ars rhetorica he would, moreover,have to apply the stylistic rinciple of res et verba which stipulates that thesubject matter and the words to express it should, at all times, be inharmony with each other. That is to say, serious matters should beexpressed in solemn words and comic scenes should be presented inajocular style allowing forall the gradations inbetween.Conscious of the magnitude of his subject matter, the author of theHistoria Filerini indeed introduces his protagonist in impeccable Latinhexameters which do justice to his soul searching dilemma:

ut solet incertis, agitare fluctibus altierrabunda rates: clavo, stridentibus Eurisin cursu q. furentis aquae, rabido q. tragore. (fo. 5 r)

But so as to be clearly understood by all, these opening lines are immediately translated as:Qual nave combatida entre las ondasdel mar dudoso, en noche tenebrosavagaba sin saber por do camina. (ib.)In thisplay, Latin isonly an adornment and amajestic pause betweenaction and introspection.Where itreallymatters, that isto say, indoctrinal

teaching relieved by comic interludes, Spanish is used. The doctrinalteaching is ffered by Epicurus and his Stoic counterpart Desenga?o whostartthe debate ina few, easily understood Latinwords:Epicuro: O vitae rationem; quam sola

praescribit voluptas, placidissimamDesenga?o: O eggregiam haeresim; o intolerabilem

dementiam (fo. 7 r.)But soon the dialogue continues inSpanish for the benefit of Filerino andall who care to take note:



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381Epicuro: Antes que todo se acabeyel cielo de tise alabe

de haberte resuelto en lodo,goza de contento en todoeste tiempo que te cabe. (fo. 9 r.)

Meanwhile Desenga?o offers the alternate view which isno lessworrying:

Desenga?o: En ciego error and?is vos:Porque aunque el cuerpo se acabe

The Historia Filerini, however, was meant to be a cheerful play and so thetragic sense of lifegradually gives way to a more lighthearted treatmentof thematter. And here again, the choice inapproach isdetermined bythe rhetorician.When it omes to the second and thirdmandate of theart, i.e. to entertain and to move (delectare and movere), rhetoricadopted two dramatic moods from the Greek: ethos, pertaining toComedy and pathos pertaining toTragedy. The incorporation of the twomoods into the rhetorical artswas, of course, to perturb or please theaudience so as to heighten their receptiveness. The Historia Filerini usesboth the ethos and pathos laid down by the art: the story appeals tofeelings of sympathy forFilerino, "un muchacho de once a?os / que poralgunos enga?os / anda de s?enajenado" (fo.58 v), of disgust for "el viejoEpicuro," of laughter during scenes of drunken song and dance, of horrorforthe apparition of condemned souls, of fear and suspense watching thepreparation for a dangerous duel and, finally, of relief at the happyending.But, so as not to tire (or worse) bore the audience with too much"feeling," a certain amount of the ridiculum isadvised. This comic reliefrefreshes and restores ("a satietate vel a fatigatione r?nov?t"), dispersessadness ("tristes solvei affectus") or even distracts ("ab intentione rerumavertit"). Most importantly, though, variety isneeded to hold the audience's attention. Without the variatio or varietas, any delight, no matterhow intense,will turn into the dreaded taedium, as Cicero so aptly says:"voluptatibus maximis fastidium finitumest" (De or. 3,25). Unfortunately,the rhetorical, emphasis on variety, inthis,as in ther Jesuit ompositions,harms the unity and artistry f the play,which for that reason resemblesmore a variety show than realdrama. Scene after scene fills he stage, each

al alma inmortal le cabeotra suerte con que Dioscastigarla puede, y sabe. (fo.10 r.)



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382one an illustration of the rhetorician's disputado on the rightand, morespecifically, thewrong ways to achieve happiness.Even so, the Schoolmaster consciously worked towards a proper ordering (dispostilo) of his various arguments (argumenta). Consequently Actilbrings us to a climax in the Play with the humorous portrayal of anEpicurean summum bonum in the form of a lavish banquet. Here theauthor intentionally plays on the feelings of a young audience byhighlighting the feast not with the traditional presence of voluptuousbeauties but intermsof an eleven-year-old's idea of ultimate happiness:the sheer delight of getting one's teeth into a gorgeous cake.

Epicuro: Pues cuando el gusto se hallacon un pastel en batalla,O, ?qu? deleite se siente,cuando ya el traidordel dienteleva quebrando lamallaFallado: All? losojos tambi?ncontemplan un recamado;unos altos de brocado,y unas labores que venhacerse en el hojaldrado.

Epicuro: Pues ya el o?do dir?aque siente una melod?aal crujirde hojaldradoy un son muy m?s delicadoque el son de la argenter?a.Fallado: O, pasteles soberanos;Enning?n sentido cabeque dignamente os alabe:mas benditas tales manosde aquel que haceros sabe. (fo. 42 r)

Meanwhile, the older generation in the audience isnot neglected asthe description of the banquet isaccompanied by an enumeration of thevarious European coins in use and the famous wines enjoyed in theregions of Spain.There can be no doubt that the Schoolmaster has something foreveryone in his audience. He also engages his listeners in a game ofspotting references, quotations and even insinuations to local mores.Distance intime prevents us fromdetecting many of the hidden allusionsbut some of the literaryreferences are stillalive today.11Among these wehave an extensive reference to Lazarillo de Tormes inthe portrayal of thetwo "pobres hidalgos" who dominate the scene inAct in. ne of them



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383is introduced as "un pobre hidalgo de losde platillo alzado" who confesses to theweakness of themodel:Pelargo: Y es cierto donosa historia

blasonar de caballeroy ser un pobre escuderocargado de ejecutoriay livianode dinero. (fo. 70Y as? por remedio tomotratar con gente de tonoypor cumplir con lasgentestraigo siempre un mondadientesporque parezca que como ... (fo. 71 r)

The second hidalgo completes the picture by referring to his troubleinkeeping a servant:?Hora no es cosa galana

Que nunca me dure el pajearriba de una semana? (ib.)

The fact that the better part of Act in isdedicated to the comic relief ofthe pennyless knights not only means that Lazarillo de Tormes was aliveand well in the eighties but also that the satirical vignette, with itspokeat the hidalgos in Jerez, struck home with a vengeance.After the rhetorical ethos in the 2nd and 3rd Acts, themood changesradically in the 4th. Pathos sets inwith "presagios tristesde lamuerte"such as thewhite moon's "rostro en luto" and the gruesome convocationof crows, ravens and the desert's vultures who come to the "olor delcuerpo muerto." The chorus then implores

Ay triste Filerino, guarte, guarte,que ya descarga el golpe riguroso.ya el ronco estruendo del sangriento Martehace un rumor confuso, y temeroso (fo. 83 r.)These dark predictions are followed by the apparition of condemnedsouls fromAntiquity such as Alexander theGreat, Croesus and Heliogabalus who, too late, realize theirmistake. But Filerino isdeaf to all theseadmonishments and when the hidalgos rob him of his last penny, heswears to take his revenge in n uneven duel. "Tocan cajas de guerra," theaudience holds itsbreath: is the boy going to die? But no, themood ofethos returnswith the allegorical intervention of Time who convinces



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384Filerino thatmaking peace isno signof cowardice, "antes mayor valent?a/ porque os venc?is a vos mismo" (fo.99 ).On this happy note Filerino"abrenuncia del mal mundo" to enter the Society of Jesus.

Obviously, the argumenta all obey the overriding principle of theJesuit'sutilitas causae. Formodern readers, all this istoo predictable andnot the stuff fwhich good theater ismade. For contemporary audiencesthough, these plays were hugely popular and very satisfying from boththe producer's and the performer's point of view. The reports that theColleges sent toRome on the successful performance of these plays oftenmention how "moved" the public was and how the College hoped toreap the benefits.One of the reasons why the Jesuitssucceeded sowell inwhat they setout todo was that their Schoolmasters simplyapplied rhetorical preceptsfor the effective use of their argumenta. Of these the aptum (translatedfrom theGreek prepon and also referred to as accomodatum, decorumor quid deceat), isperhaps themost importantant, aptum (appropriateness) being the interaction between all parts of the discourse. It relatesthe speaker to subject matter, subject matter to audience and audienceto speaker. It etermines the utilitas causae, the res, locus et tempus, theres et verba, and the five parts of the inventio, dispostilo, elocutio,memoria and actio.The Historia Filerini proved to be eminently apta both in serving theJesuit tilitas causae as in its es, locus et tempus, inthiscase Epicureanism,in Jerez, in the eighties. Aptum as well is its inventio: the plot; itsdispostilo: the ordering of scenes, and its locutio, memoria and actio:the acting and staging which engaged a large number of the studentpopulation.Discussing thisprinciple, Cicero, inhis De oratore, says: "As inreal life,we should always consider what isappropriate ('quid deceat') inall partsof the discourse: what fits the subject matter, the characters of thespeakers and of the listeners ('quod in re ... positum est, et inpersoniseorum qui loquuntur, et in eorum qui audiunt', De or. 69)." What isstrikinghere is the inclusion of the listeners: "... et qui audiunt." At thesame time, this isnot so surprising since all rhetoric isabout theway thediscourse is received.

Involving the listener, of course, isparticularly important in drama.There isno doubt that the ars rhetorica, as practised insermons and inthereligious plays of the sixteenth Century, was an important factor in thedevelopment of the theatre. Some of the Prelopistas had learned the artat school, others may have watched a JesuitPlay at one of the College's"Open Houses," but all of them applied the precepts of this eminentlypractical art to some degree. Cervantes, Juande laCueva, theValencians,tomention only the "survivors," all set out to instruct,please and move



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385their audiences. However, in their zeal to present the rerummagnitudo,the Tragedians overstressed the res et verba of their discourse andunderestimated the sensibilities of their audiences. Conscious of theirsublime mission, they strove to elevate their listeners rather than to comedown to their level.12 hat they failed to consider, then,was the principleof aptum, the interaction of all the parts but especially of subject matter,speaker and listener.There was one particularly gifted pupil of the Jesuitswho realized thebeneficial implications of the Ciceronian aptum for the stage. This wasLope de Vega who is reputed to have written his firstplay at the age oftwelve. His play has not, as yet, been found or identified,but Lope's earlytraining at the hands of the Jesuits omes eloquently to the fore inhisArtenuevo de hacer comedias en este tiempo.Inspite of itsquasi-satirical tone, Lope's advice on how tomake theatreisearnest and, he claims, based on experience. How much thisexperience isconditioned by his classes in rhetoric can immediately be felt inthe opening linesof his treatise: "M?ndanme... que un arte de comediasos escriba que al estilo del vulgo se reciba." With thesewords Lope voicesthe rhetorician's ever present concern for the proper reception of themessage and the all important role of the listener.In fact,a careful reading of theArte nuevo ... reveals Lope's deep debtto an ars rhetorica which he had practised at school. His revolutionaryadvice on subject and language obviously refers to the unity of res etverba, his suggestions on how towin the audience's goodwill illustratethe aims of benevolentiam parare while his admonitions on how to avoidboredom remind us of the rhetorician precepts on taedium.Indeed, Lope's success as a playwright may well have been due to hisperception of an audience's tastes and sensibilities as prescribed by thears rhetorica. Interestingly enough, Lope's concern for his audiencewould also make him the firstexponent of to-day's theories on receptionaesthetics.

University of Calgary

NOTES* An earlier version of this essay was presented as a paper to the annual meeting ofthe British Hispanists, University of Exeter, 1984.1 The bibliography on the topic is immense and ranges from studies on individual

colleges to research incurriculum and instruction. For the latter, see Monumentahist?rica Societatis lesu, Monumenta paedagogica, new series, ed. Ladislaus Lukacs



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386SJ. (Rome. 1965-74). See also F. Charmot, S.J. La P?dagogie des J?suites, sesprincipes, son actualit?. (Paris, 1943).2 E. Purdie, "Jesuit Drama/' inThe Oxford Companion to the Theatre, HartnollPhyllis, ed., 3rd. ed. (London, 1967); Allardyce Nicoli, World Drama (London, 1976),190-94; Jean Jacquot, ed., Dramaturgie et soci?t?. Rapports entre Toeuvre th??trale,son interpr?tation et son public aux XVIe et XVIle si?cles, vol. Il (Paris, 1968). ForSpain, see JustoGarc?a Soriano, El teatro universitario y human?stico en Espa?a(Toledo, 1945); L.E. Roux, "Cent ans de l'exp?rience th??trale dans lesColl?ges de la

Compagnie de J?sus en Espagne: deuxi?me moiti? du XVIe Si?cle," inDramaturgieet Soci?t? ... 479-523; Nigel Griffin, Some aspects of Jesuit School Drama, 1550-1600with special reference to Spain and Portugal, unpubl. doct. thesis (Oxford, 1975); id.Jesuit School Drama: A checklist of critical Literature (Grant and Cutler ResearchBibliographies and checklists, XII: London, 1976).3 A large number ofMS plays isextant in the Colecci?n de Cortes of the Academiade laHistoria, Madrid.4 Marc Fumaroli, L'Age de l'?loquence, rh?torique et 'res literaria' de la Renaissanceau seuil de l'?poque classique (Gen?ve, 1980).5 Throughout this essay the Latin terms refer to classical precepts as brought togetherinHeinrich Lausberg, Handbuch der literarischen Rhetorik, eine Grundlegung derLiteraturwissenschaft (M?nchen, 1960), translated into Spanish asManual de ret?ricaliteraria. Fundamentos de una ciencia de la literatura (Madrid, 1966).6 Of the many Plays contained inMS 384, Nigel Griffin has published the TragoediaJezabelis and Achabus under the title Two Jesuit Ahab Dramas (Exeter, 1976).

7 The play occurs in two separate MSS of the Colecci?n de Cortes: no. 398 and 399.All quotations are from the latterwhich is in a much clearer hand and seems a faircopy of the former. The spelling has been modernized in this essay. An abstract ofthe play can be found in JustoGarc?a Soriano, El teatro universitario ..., 189-202.8 See: William Hamilton Baird, The Tenets of Stoicism (Toronto, 1973) and J.M. Rist,Epicurus: An Introduction (Cambridge, 1972).9 Epicurus has come to us through the writings of Diogenes Laertius and Cicero. Theformer firstappeared inprint inVenice, 1475, followed by Fr?ben's first dition inBasel, 1524. In the period surrounding the composition of the Historia File?ni wehave the Epicuri loci a Cicerone interpretati (Paris, 1557) and an edition by JohannesSambucus published by Plantin in 1566; another edition, especially commissionedby the Pope from Thomas Aldobrandinus appeared inRome, 1592 followed by theanonymous Physica et meteorologica published in Leiden, 1595. Then, nothingmuch seems to happen until Pierre Gassendi, a French cleric, opens the debate withhis De vita etmoribus Epicuri libri octo (Lyon, 1647) and H. Grotius' Sententiaeepicureorum de fato (Paris, 1648). The controversies caused by these books speakeloquently from subsequent titles such as Animadversiones indecimum librumDiogenes Laertii qui est de vita,moribus, placibusque Epicuri, 3 vols (Lyon, 1649),and Gassendi's major work, the Syntagma philosophiae Epicuri, cum refutationibusdogmatum quae contra fidum Christianam ab eo offerti sunt (sic) (London, 1668 andAmsterdam, 1684), followed byOmeisius' Epicuri ab infami dogmate quod summumbonum constat inobscena corporis voluptate defensio (1679).10 See on this issue J.S.Spink, French Free Thought from Gassendi to Voltaire (London,1960), Chapter VIII, "The Rehabilitation of Epicurus", 133-168; Joseph A. Mazzeo,Renaissance and Revolution, (London, 1967), chapter VI, "The idea of progress,"275-336.



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38711 As far as other plays are concerned, JorgeManrique's Coplas are reproduced in the

Tragoedia Jezabelis (MS 384, fos. 32-45) and Fray Luis de Leon's Vida retirada isparaphrased in the Triunfo de la fortuna by Father Villacast?n (MS. 385, fo. 46-69) andthe Entretenimiento which follows the Historia Eilerini.

12 See my forthcoming "The Search for a Formula, Spanish Theatre at the end of the16th Century," inCritical Approaches to Renaissance Comedy, D.A. Beecher and M.Ciavolella eds., Wilfrid Laurier University Press.

Los jesuitas como maestros de la retorica y el drama. 1986.pdf

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