Los comentaristas de Ovidio en la "General Estoria II", caps. 74-115

Abstract

The allegorical glosses of Arnulf of Orleans and Johannes of Garland constitute the basis of the hermeneutical chapters of the General Estoria II, in which Alfonso X developes his explanation/ of the Ovidian myths that he reproduces in his versión of the Metamorphoseon. After reviewing the most important facts known about Latino-Medieval commentarists, and briefly recalling the importance of the technique of allegorical interpretation to the acceptance by medieval Christian culture of the literary works of pagan Antiquity, we focus on the chapters of the GEII that allegorically interpret those chapters that transfer content from Book IV of the Metamorphosis, demonstrating how, in what places, and in what order the exegeses of Arnulf de Orléans and John of Garland are integrated into the Alfonsine work. Finally, the glosses relating to the transformation of Pyramus and Thisbe, Hermaphrodite, and of Ino, Athamante, and Ino's duermas are analyzed in greater detail. By comparing Alfonso's text with its models, it is possible to arrive at a greater understanding of the tales taken from the Metamorphosis in the historiographic work, the way in which Alfonso's team of scribes confronts their sources and the manner in which they use thern, the ways and order in which they are incorporated into the exegetic chapters, the motives underlying the selection of some sources over others, the origin of the Alfonsine team's familiarity with the Aliegoriae and the Integumento, the repercussions of the incorporation of this type of exegetic chapter side by side with the Ovidian material, and other matters related to the formal and thematic originality of the General Estoria.