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Satire
Le sette "Satire", scritte dal 1517 al 1525 a parenti e amici nel corso della seconda stesura dell'"Orlando Furioso", col loro pacato andamento dialogico mostrano un Ariosto confidenziale e autoanalitico. Che si tratti di rivolgersi agli amici lontani in Ungheria, di ripercorrere i suoi guai passati come segretario sottovalutato del Cardinale Ippolito d'Este, di apprezzare il margine di autonomia che il nuovo lavoro gli consente, o ancora di chiedere consigli a Pietro Bembo per trovare un adeguato precettore per il figlio o infine di riflettere su vantaggi e svantaggi del prendere moglie, Ariosto sa trovare spunti di arguzia. E con lui la satira smette di essere predica e invettiva per assumere un andamento affabile, privo di enfasi.
128 pages, Paperback
Published March 28, 1990
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About the author
Ludovico Ariosto
1,194 books141 followersKnown Italian writer Ludovico Ariosto, or Lodovico Ariosto first published
Orlando Furioso
his primary epic comic poem, in 1516.
He best authored the romance. This continuation of Orlando Innamorato of Matteo Maria Boiardo describes the adventures of Charlemagne and the Franks, who battle against the Saracens, with diversions into many side plots. Ariosto composed in the ottava rima scheme and introduced narrator commentary throughout the work.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ludovic...
He best authored the romance. This continuation of Orlando Innamorato of Matteo Maria Boiardo describes the adventures of Charlemagne and the Franks, who battle against the Saracens, with diversions into many side plots. Ariosto composed in the ottava rima scheme and introduced narrator commentary throughout the work.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ludovic...
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
July 17, 2024
Great resource on the poet, but the poems...? A very prosaic (?) translation, and so I guess I came away understanding the content, but I feel like these poems were supposed to bite, and that just isn't there.
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January 25, 2018I am not the right person to review this. The satires themselves left me cold; the biographical and literary information in the substantial introduction to each satire was very useful and well presented.
I think the satires would be very rewarding for someone with substantial knowledge of Horace and Renaissance Italy. In his introduction to Ariosto Today editor Donald Beecher discusses how Ariosto excelled in the contemporary erudite practice of referring to classical works while experimenting around the edges in extending the scope of a classical work or style. The jacket flap of The Satires says:
I have read Horace, but I don’t have the kind of understanding that would allow me to identify and delight in Ariosto’s variations. And while I have a very vague knowledge of Italian Renaissance history, Ariosto’s poems left me cold in the same way that Dante does. I have to consult the notes about 90% of the individuals he names or alludes to. Their petty quarrels and peccadilloes, or even major sins, just don’t interest me. However, the reader of the collected seven satires, written over many years, does see the progression from eager glory hunter to disillusioned master poet.
As poetry about generic sinners, the satires are mildly amusing, in my opinion. Read during a pause between the two halves of Orlando Furioso, they couldn’t compare with that rollicking tale. So much for my level of refinement.
As noted, however, the biographical notes that precede each satire are very good. They fill in the brief life of Ariosto that is liable to be included in any introduction to Orlando Furioso. They probably provide sufficient information for the casual reader to bypass a full 400 page biography. For example, the notes describe what is known about Ariosto’s love life, to which he alludes in several cantos of Orlando. His mature love was for a woman who was married when he met her. She was then prevented from marrying him once widowed, because she would lose her income-for-life (usufruct) from the estate of her deceased husband if she remarried. This biographical sketch precedes a satire on women addressed to a bridegroom. It reads to me as a somewhat generic skewering of traditional female foibles, but at the time it may have been more original.
There is also an overview of his tenure as commissioner of the province of Garfagnana in the introduction to satire IV. Garfagnana was a province temporarily under the control of his patrons the Este of Ferrara, but it was a battleground in the constant maneuvering and warring of the Pope, the Italian states, the Emperor, the French, etc etc. The job of commissioner was a thankless task, in a miserable place, and Ariosto hated it. But he was, as always, broke, and had to serve. The satire is addressed to his cousin, and describes his travails.
Other introductions and satires treat his not infrequent trips to Rome as emissary from the Este to negotiate with the Pope over something or other. The penultimate satire is addressed to the elder, famous Pietro Bembo, who demonstrated the potential power of vernacular Italian as a literary language to the young Ariosto. Many years later, Ariosto requests Bembo’s help in finding a Greek tutor for his son. Satire VI discusses Latin and Ariosto’s own lack of Greek, but also humanism. The final satire is addressed to the secretary of Duke Alfonso d’Este, who had asked Ariosto to be his ambassador to the new Pope Clement VII. Ariosto replies, saying, please no, I’ve dealt with these promise-but-don’t-follow-through people in Rome before and I’ve served time in hard places for the Este; please just find me a nice little sinecure in Ferrara and leave me be.
I think the satires would be very rewarding for someone with substantial knowledge of Horace and Renaissance Italy. In his introduction to Ariosto Today editor Donald Beecher discusses how Ariosto excelled in the contemporary erudite practice of referring to classical works while experimenting around the edges in extending the scope of a classical work or style. The jacket flap of The Satires says:
Through a persistent, though subtle, comparison of himself with Horace (who served as his alter ego), Ariosto achieved in his Satires a devastating criticism of sixteenth-century Italian society in a condition of ethical, political, and religious disintegration, and he arrived at a full and detailed evaluation of his personal role as a poet within that society.
I have read Horace, but I don’t have the kind of understanding that would allow me to identify and delight in Ariosto’s variations. And while I have a very vague knowledge of Italian Renaissance history, Ariosto’s poems left me cold in the same way that Dante does. I have to consult the notes about 90% of the individuals he names or alludes to. Their petty quarrels and peccadilloes, or even major sins, just don’t interest me. However, the reader of the collected seven satires, written over many years, does see the progression from eager glory hunter to disillusioned master poet.
As poetry about generic sinners, the satires are mildly amusing, in my opinion. Read during a pause between the two halves of Orlando Furioso, they couldn’t compare with that rollicking tale. So much for my level of refinement.
As noted, however, the biographical notes that precede each satire are very good. They fill in the brief life of Ariosto that is liable to be included in any introduction to Orlando Furioso. They probably provide sufficient information for the casual reader to bypass a full 400 page biography. For example, the notes describe what is known about Ariosto’s love life, to which he alludes in several cantos of Orlando. His mature love was for a woman who was married when he met her. She was then prevented from marrying him once widowed, because she would lose her income-for-life (usufruct) from the estate of her deceased husband if she remarried. This biographical sketch precedes a satire on women addressed to a bridegroom. It reads to me as a somewhat generic skewering of traditional female foibles, but at the time it may have been more original.
There is also an overview of his tenure as commissioner of the province of Garfagnana in the introduction to satire IV. Garfagnana was a province temporarily under the control of his patrons the Este of Ferrara, but it was a battleground in the constant maneuvering and warring of the Pope, the Italian states, the Emperor, the French, etc etc. The job of commissioner was a thankless task, in a miserable place, and Ariosto hated it. But he was, as always, broke, and had to serve. The satire is addressed to his cousin, and describes his travails.
Other introductions and satires treat his not infrequent trips to Rome as emissary from the Este to negotiate with the Pope over something or other. The penultimate satire is addressed to the elder, famous Pietro Bembo, who demonstrated the potential power of vernacular Italian as a literary language to the young Ariosto. Many years later, Ariosto requests Bembo’s help in finding a Greek tutor for his son. Satire VI discusses Latin and Ariosto’s own lack of Greek, but also humanism. The final satire is addressed to the secretary of Duke Alfonso d’Este, who had asked Ariosto to be his ambassador to the new Pope Clement VII. Ariosto replies, saying, please no, I’ve dealt with these promise-but-don’t-follow-through people in Rome before and I’ve served time in hard places for the Este; please just find me a nice little sinecure in Ferrara and leave me be.
March 24, 2024
Haven’t I previously read The King of Court Poets: A Study of the Work, Life and Times of Lodovico Ariosto and Life and Genius of Ariosto, besides all explanatory notes and prefaces, I would not be able to catch a thread of Ariosto’s epistles, for they are quite intimate and if reader isn’t, even basically, acquainted with the details of his biography, the following of the content will be a problem. I declare that on account of my foul experience regarding this book, which I begun to read twice and perplexed left over after the first satire. After detailed exploration of aforementioned books, my eyes had opened wide.
These seven epistles reflect all of Ariosto’s states during his marginal decade. All are addressed rather to some among his next of kin or his intimate friends. Thus, in the first he vindicated his disloyalty to Cardinal Ippolito in III and VII he is mirroring his hope in Pope Leo X and disappointment, respectively. The V satire is the most praised among the critics and guides, and I would add – the most intimate, for Ariosto is confessing his experiences regarding the marriage and women to his cousin Annibale Malaguzzi. In the VI satire, there is another poignant moment when Ariosto is addressing to Pietro Bembo, pleading him to teach Greek his son Virginio. On that account he utilises a lot of mythological allegories akin to the 3rd Satire.
Albeit is considered and are the kind of Ariosto’s autobiography, these satires are not sat as a comprehensive and complete biography for they do not explain much but the facts that Ariosto decided to elaborate, and they cover merely marginal decade of his life. Thus, my cordial recommendation for all who would like to dig deeper into Ariosto’s life to read Life and Genius of Ariosto and The King of Court Poets: A Study of the Work, Life and Times of Lodovico Ariosto respectively, and then, as a strawberry on a top – these Satires.
These seven epistles reflect all of Ariosto’s states during his marginal decade. All are addressed rather to some among his next of kin or his intimate friends. Thus, in the first he vindicated his disloyalty to Cardinal Ippolito in III and VII he is mirroring his hope in Pope Leo X and disappointment, respectively. The V satire is the most praised among the critics and guides, and I would add – the most intimate, for Ariosto is confessing his experiences regarding the marriage and women to his cousin Annibale Malaguzzi. In the VI satire, there is another poignant moment when Ariosto is addressing to Pietro Bembo, pleading him to teach Greek his son Virginio. On that account he utilises a lot of mythological allegories akin to the 3rd Satire.
Albeit is considered and are the kind of Ariosto’s autobiography, these satires are not sat as a comprehensive and complete biography for they do not explain much but the facts that Ariosto decided to elaborate, and they cover merely marginal decade of his life. Thus, my cordial recommendation for all who would like to dig deeper into Ariosto’s life to read Life and Genius of Ariosto and The King of Court Poets: A Study of the Work, Life and Times of Lodovico Ariosto respectively, and then, as a strawberry on a top – these Satires.
December 26, 2019
Un po' difficile da seguire quando parla del suo tempo, ma è sempre attuale. Letto in coda a "Viva il latino" si incastra bene, con la sua aurea mediocritas oraziana.
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January 15, 2026Ludovico ma vacci giù pesante con ste satire…troppo democristiano
March 16, 2023
Io adoro l'Ariosto, con quella vena ironico-malinconica. Mi ritrovo molto in lui. Quindi sono di parte nel mettere 5 stelle alla sua bella raccolta di Satire. Mi spiace per chi desiderava leggere una recensione più tecnica... 😉
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews