Le mythe antique dans l'oeuvre de Pontus de Tyard (review)

Heidi Marek's study undertakes an extremely thorough examination of the works of Pontus de Tyard through the identification of a system of classical mythology that supports an intricate, comprehensible interior unity. Drawing on a large body of scholarship, the author demonstrates Tyard's application of Platonic thought, mathematical and philosophical treatises, and classical imagery in his writings throughout his long career.

Tyard's personal interpretations of the mythic figures of Ixion, Endymion, Narcissus, Orpheus, Mercury, Pygmalion, and Prometheus, in particular, arise from a blend of familiarity with French and Italian paintings, engravings, emblems, use of Pythagorean formulas, and from his philosophical understandings of fifteenth- and sixteenth-century literary and artistic traditions and productions.

Explaining and mapping connections between Tyard's use of these and other mythic figures and illuminating the poet's specific sources, Marek deftly leads the reader to a greater comprehension of the Erreurs amoureuses and the Douze Fables de fleuves ou fontaines. Stressing that these poetic texts should be seen as their author intended, as a large Platonic allegory, Marek's research is solid, and her ability to weave a guiding thread throughout the dense tapestry of images and references will make her book a valuable addition for all Pontus de Tyard scholars as well as those interested in a myriad of details which link common classical and Renaissance themes in writing, painting, and architecture.

Marek's book is divided into three parts: part 1 examines the function of myth, part 2 explores the classical myths in Les Erreurs amoureuses, and part 3 investigates classical myths in painting and poetry with reference to those featured in the Douze Fables de fleuves ou fontaines. In part 1, Marek charts the use of myth and allegory from antiquity to the Renaissance, taking pains to examine the significant model of Tyard's translation of Léon L'Hébreu's Dialoghi d'amore. From a widespread discussion of general interpretations and specific examples, Marek analyzes Tyard's use of myth in such philosophic works as Solitaire premier, L'Univers, and Mantice, among others.

Part 2 tackles Tyard's Erreurs amoureuses through a close examination of the twin guidewords erreur and fureur and on their multiple meanings. Plunging into the labyrinth of images, allusions, symbols, and themes that mark Tyard's work, Marek highlights the use of Ixion, the Chimera, Medusa, and Semele as a connecting series of examples which allow Tyard to establish an organizational structure for the Erreurs, where the circle and the sun are dominant images. Next, Marek turns her scrutiny to the Continuation des Erreurs where she includes the Tierce partie in her examination of an overarching unity which structures the entirety of the Erreurs. Marek identifies central myths and symbols of Endymion, the moon, and shadows and links their framework to Saturn and to creative melancholy, establishing that the progression from sunlight to shadow and from erreur to fureur solidifies a positive movement for the je lyrique. In promoting the governing myth of Narcissus through a variety of interpretations, Marek demonstrates how Tyard achieves an overall synthesis in each of his volumes of the Erreurs amoureuses.

In part 3 Marek's contemplation of the Douze Fables de fleuves ou fontaines presents her theory that the entire section functions as a metaphor for poetic creation. In this fascinating conclusion to her study Marek discusses possible timeframes for Tyard's creation of the Douze Fables (1585), which first appeared more than thirty years after the first edition of the Erreurs and brings to light philosophical texts and mythological variants that informed Tyard's earlier writings. Marek discusses possible links between the poems in this series and iconographic displays at the Château d'Anet and further points out to readers Tyard's observance of the tradition of the poema pictura loquens and of the tradition of the École de...