Critique of Empire

The Dido Episode in Ercilla's La Araucana and the Critique of Empire Author(s): Karina Galperin Source: Hispanic Review,
Vol. 77, No. 1, Re-Envisioning Early Modern Iberia: Visuality, Materiality, History (Winter, 2009), pp. 31-67 Published by: University of Pennsylvania Press Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/40541412 . Accessed: 04/12/2013 16:23
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The Dido Araucana
Episode and
in Ercilla's
La of Empire
KarinaGalperin
the Critique
TorcuatoDi Telia,Buenos Aires Universidad
ABSTRACT This essay examinesthe Dido episode in Alonso de Ercilla's La Araucana.Set in theNew Worldbut referring to theMediterrawithotherdigressions nean context, thisepisode shouldbe read together of theSpanishEmpire, within thepoem equallycritical such as thevisions theOld Worldbattles of SaintQuentin of Bellonaand Fitnwhichfeature to thatof theArauand Lepanto.Ercillanot onlyassimilates Dido's story in the Mediterranean world:the canians,but also to thatof the "infidels" thisepisodewherea Arabsand the Ottomans. The geography underlying a territory virtuous alternative modelis locatedcovers problematiimperial in Europe.The just empire to contemporary Spanishconflicts callyrelated - related to placessuchas Cyprus, founded Tunis,and byDido in thepoem - parallelscontemporary NorthAfrica territories underMuslim control, hands.Thus, within the frame of the third takenfromChristian recently - thepartmostpessimistic about theSpanishproject partof theAraucana and the one thatjuxtaposes American and Europeanepisodesthe most theimplicit alliancesuggested between Dido and PhilipII's Europeaneneon bothAmerican and mieshighlights thefragility ofHabsburg domination distances himself from Mediterranean fronts. By doingthis,Ercillasubtly ofhis own monarch. thepolitical project
The Dido episode in the third part of La Araucana constitutesa strange moment withinAlonso de Ercilla's poem.1 Seeminglydigressiveand disconand referI wishto thank Elizabeth and Barbara Fuchsfortheir inestimable Wright suggestions version ofthisessay. enceson an earlier in threeparts,in 1569,1578, and 1509.Citations are tromIsaas i. La Araucanawas published linenumbers. Lerner's edition and,where necessary, bycanto,stanza,
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nectedfrom theNew Worldsurroundings wheretheconfrontation between takes place, it nevertheless allows the poet to Spaniardsand Araucanians female character ofclassical focuson themostfamous epic in orderto reflect issues in his own In this interwoven upon crucial poem. episode,elegantly between New Worldevents, Ercilladoes not present thefamiliar of portrait the Phoenicianqueen as depictedby Virgilin book IV of theAeneid, but he insteadendorses a pre-Virgilian tradition of Dido that historiographical in circulated across the Middle and the widely Europe Ages earlymodern theEpitome tothePhilippic periodthrough History ofPompeius Trogus bythe Romanhistorian from the fourth This version Justin AD). (probably century of Dido was first recordedin a fragment of the GreekSicilian historian Timaeusof Taormina(ca. 350-260 BC), and it circulated through Trogus's now lost PhilippicHistory(firstcenturyBC), which Justin'sEpitome In this"historical" whichinformed the characterization version, abridges.2 of the queen in book I of the Aeneid but fromwhich Virgil famously in book IV, Dido is not a womaninextricably linkedto unbridled departed desire and excessive lovebuta controlled leaderand devoted wife whowould rather commit suicidethanbetray thememory ofherdeceasedhusbandand thewell-being of herown empire. This alternative of Dido served rendering as the basis forher representation in workssuch as Bocaccio's Genealogia deorum and De claris and it was vastly mulieribus, gentilium popularin early modernSpain, as Lida de Malkielhas documented, as it where,curiously sound to us the "Defense of Dido" as the account of the chaste may today, - was as wellknownto writers is termed and readers as Virqueen'stragedy account of the lover.3 gil's suffering David Quint,one of thefewcritics who has concentrated on thispassage in La Araucana^ Dido withtheAraucanian pointsout how Ercillaidentifies heroinesof the amorous episodes intercalated in the poem and, through a connection establishes between and Araucanians, "the them, Carthaginians barbarianfoes of empire" (184). In the contextof this reading, the Dido
2. Fora fullaccountofthisalternative version of Dido, see Davidson.Similar with background, can be found in Lida de Malkiel dates, 57-58. slightly divergent as wellas forVirgil's indebtedness to it,see tradition, 3. For thispre-Virgilian historiographical Desmond24-33.Desmondalso traces in themedieval circulation ofthe"historical" keymoments Dido in Europe.FortheSpanish ofthe"Defense ofDido," see Lida de Malkiel 57-138. popularity I do notdwellhereon theanti-Virgilian content of thisepisode, whichis thesubject of another workofminecurrently in progress.
: the dido episode in ercilla's Galperin
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theanti-Virgilian stancethatQuintfinds episodemakesexplicit throughout to him,together withits constant the poem and that,according appeal to La Araucanaas an epic of thevanquished that identifies Lucan's Pharsaliay calls into questionthe values and the versionof the victors(182-85). My an workdrawson Quint forthe analysisof the Dido passage,providing and his view. that both differs from complements interpretation to refer to whichtakesplace in theMediterranean, ByusingDido's story, as a digression themetropolitan scene,Ercillaturnsthisepisode,presented intoa general to theChileanevents, connection evoked bybutwithno direct thestory of Dido, I aboutPhilipIPs imperial reflection enterprises. Through American events us to consider the South La Araucana invites propose, and conflicts withotherimperial Spain in theOld World, involving together In this in both scenarios. behave how sense, similarly Spaniards highlights withtheaccountsof thebattles theepisodeof Dido shouldbe readtogether withwhich ofSaintQuentinand Lepantoin thesecondpartofLa Araucana, At the same and ideological thematic it sharesa significant time,if affinity. withinthe poem Ercillaidentifies and contiguity by dintof moralaffinity - and through themwiththeAraucanians women Dido withtheAraucanian - through her he also identifies theepisode'sgeographical in general setting thatErcilla world.The geography of the Mediterranean withthe "infidels" and where he in this into his text places a anti-Virgilian digression brings linked with a territory covers ofUtopian counter-model Spanclosely empire the area. In thiscontext, in the Mediterranean conflicts ish contemporary archrivals of and to the Ottomans is made to relate of Dido Moors, figure in theDido arena.The new empirethatemerges Spain in themetropolitan on justice, North and based and to related Africa, Tunis, Cyprus, episode imbued in a is located of and the rejection greed consent, space heavily forsixteenth-century withpolitical and military Europein general meaning in particular. and fortheHabsburgs theliterary In thesamewaythatRicardoPadrnhas urgedus to consider in La of the Chilean and functions Araucana, territory background figurative and historiovalueoftheliterary we shouldalso keepin mindthereferential in thepoem (Padrn,"Love American Style"564). The geography graphical at first much more than occurs of Dido where the might signify story places of the from to readers. Far portraying voyage charinnocently glanceappear over whichthe literature and time,the geography actersfroma different refers in Araucana La is the of deliberately queen staged Carthaginian story considwhich Ercilla context to theconflictive proposes European alongside
2009 34 - Hispanic review : winter in thisepisodea territory By invoking already eringtheNew Worldevents. underOttoman after a fewdecadesof unstaalmostcompletely jurisdiction Ercillanot onlyassociatesthe Araucanians withthe ble Christian control, Islamic world a move that contributes to undercontemporary certainly the military and politicalcomplexity of the Amerindians in scoring ability - but also and moreimportantly thepoem he warnsboththereader and the monarchof how ephemeral and reversible are just achievements military albeitmorally when,withinthe poem, the Spaniardssecurea resounding over in the Chilean Indians Caete. Thus, withinthe questionable victory frame ofthethird to critics, themostpessimispartofthepoem according tic about the Spanishprojectand the one thatshuttles the most between - the implicit the New Worldand Europe identification between Dido, the and Islam strips the Spanishvictory in Chile of anydefinitive Araucanians, In character. the of Ercilla at Dido, triumphal episode pairs the triumph Caetewithnotorious Christian defeats overIslam,and in thatsense,as the end ofthepoemapproaches, he choosesto emphasize once againthefragility of contemporary domination it as much more by characterizing Habsburg and reversible thanone wouldexpectin a celebratory precarious epic.
Dido and theWeb ofProphecy - thewarbetween The mainconflict in Ercilla'spoem and ArauSpaniards - occursat theNew Worldperiphery canians of Habsburg possessions, very farfrom the metropolitan center of the SpanishEmpire.However, both in and literary terms, political Europe occupiesa pivotalrole in La Araucana, one of the most transatlantic It did arguably poemsin theSpanishtradition. not go unnoticed thatbeginning withthe second part,withthe prophetic ErcillaincorFitn, episodesof thegoddessBellonaand theIndiansorcerer events that make what was in the New World porates intelligible place taking back home. With Bellona, Ercilla alongsideSpanish military enterprises to the a detailed account of theSpanishcapture of the French brings poem of Saint in a decisive and in thesusmoment Quentin 1557, city triumphant tainedwar between theHabsburgs and Francethatwould end in 1559 with the treaty of Cateau-Cambrsis and the resulting over Spanishhegemony With Fitn comes so a Christian over the Italy. Lepanto(1571), great victory Ottoman fleetthat a minister of Philip II, Cardinal Diego de powerful went so far as to it with thebiblical defeat oftheEgyptian Espinosa, compare
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Pharaohin theRed Sea (Parker toward theend o La Arau100-01). (Later, on Europeagain in recounting theannexation of cana, Ercillasetshis sight in It has been that the inclusion of these events 1580.) Portugal argued brings - and morally - Spanishvictoincontestable to thepoem themostresonant rieson themetropolitan a virtuous counterexample stagein orderto furnish from whichthepoet seemsto takeincreasing distance. to theChileanevents In thislight, La Araucanadoes not questionPhilipII's imperial projectin towardthe European its entirety (Ercillawould not feelany ambivalence 4 but onlyitsAmerican enterprises) projection (Lagos 179). The famousIndian amorousepisodesthatseason La Araucanafromthe For Ramona Lagos, it is precisely second part on supportthisviewpoint. in the revulsion withthe cruelty and greedhe discovers Ercilla'sgrowing in the him to look for alternative narratives of Chile that propels Spaniards thus ofAriosto or Boiardo.His empathy toward theIndianheroines fashion of the conductof his as a signof the poet's increasing functions rejection in thelasttwoparts and the of compatriots, resulting fragmentation writing But this disillusionment is his loss of heroicillusions. of thepoem manifests and notthewholeimperial sinceit affects partial onlytheChileancampaign ideology (Lagos 172-81). The Dido digression, as variouscritics have pointedout, is inseparable It is linkedto themboth from theamorousepisodeswithIndian heroines. David notes thatthe episodesof Lupher affinity. by locationand thematic of Dido's story. Lauca (32.32ff.)and Fresia(33.73 ff.)shouldbe readin light "to the side of a whose were he form panels triptych They designed, remarks, ancient,if non-Virgilian, panel is devotedto the impeccably huge central as she is thisseries, Dido" (308). But whydoes ErcillaincludeDido within theonlywomanin an amorousepisodein La Araucanawho lies outsideof
181. Padrnpresents an alternative interto Lagos'sviewin Epicand Empire 4. Quintsubscribes in La Araucana. to Padrn, evenifthemetropolitan oftheEuropean episodes According pretation areofa very different moralquality thanthosein Chile,thefundamental events pointis thatthe in themargins, whilethe moments as ifthey textinvites us to beholdcentral happened imperial the point of view fromwhichthe empireis viewed" {SpaciousWord remoteChile "provides that insists on "thepoem'sself-conscious insistence 198-206;quote on 205). Fuchs,forherpart, different events itnarrates arepartofa globalwhole"("Traveling theremote Epic"380). In a very theintroduction ofEuropean events whathe terms lineofinterpretation, for Nicolopulos through seeks to imbuetheperipheral and uncertain deedsin Chilewith "thewebofprophecy" metropolicolonialepic, a heroicpoem thatexplicitly tan imperial splendorin orderto create"a truly withthe mostcentral of imperial the mostremote spheres enterprise" (Nicolopulos, integrates
PoeticsofEmpire 65).
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and closely the New Worldcontext? Whydoes the poet invokethisfigure in relation connect to whom,besidestheir shared herto a groupofheroines and she is so alien?5 The on love, honor, emphasis fidelity, chastity, visibly in a almost obvious idenskillful which Ercilla establishes clear,natural, way has long occludedthe tification between his Dido and the Indian heroines detailthatwithin thisseriesof stories, above all, Dido reprenot-so-minor de Lerner has the literary sentsa dissonance.La Schwartz demonstrated natureof the Indian women in Ercilla'spoem. They are not characters individuals thepoet might havemetin theAmericas, as inspired byreal-life was once thought, but purelyfictitious creationsmodeled on prestigious female characters of classicaland Renaissance ( 615-25 ).6 Europeanliterature Dido- and in this sense theydo While the Araucanianwomen resemble - theyresemble a semantic constitute her in theway a copymirrors group And it is precisely thiskindof relationship, in meaning theoriginal. similar within thepoembutdifferent in origin and prestige, that we shouldtakeinto
Pastor Bodmer identifies thesequalities as thebasicvirtues oftheAraucanian heroines 5. Beatriz 6. Lupherdoes not denythe general of Schwartz de Lerner 's arguments but claims pertinence thatrelatively thatsomefemale werebased recent Indianheroines documentary findings suggest on real-life individuals. He callsattention to the"fundamental of theFresiaepisode, historicity" de Chile(1558) confirmed de losReinos bytheCrnica y relacin y verdadera copiosa byGernimo de Vivar(or Bibar),also an eyewitness of theAraucanian revolt (308). It has also been noticed thatErcilla modelednotonlyhis heroines butalso hisAraucanian warriors to convenaccording The meaning of this,however, tionsof Europeanepic and chivalric fiction. has been diversely ForAdorno, thiswayof representing Indiancharacters but also interpreted. (practiced byErcilla authors of fiction ofhis time)addressed Ercilla's needto find a commonlanguage with byother hismetropolitan in order to convey hisadmiration readers fortheAraucanians. Butmoregenerof theAraucanians Adornoregards thismediated characterization as a waythatErcilla conally, trolsthe interpretation overhis characters themto theconventional and schematic by limiting of epic and chivalric fiction and stylized of the (17). The Occidentalized patterns representation Araucanians hasbeengiven and Pastor Bodmer. ForCevallos, opposite interpretations byCevallos Ercilla theAraucanians as valorous in order to highlight thepower and honorability ofthe depicts far from thecharacterization of Bodmer, (1-6). ForPastor Spaniards beinga signofEurocentrism, theAraucanians fiction "is a literary thatexpresses Ercilla's determiEuropean following strategy nation to defend ofa different thesuperior nature culture" (230-40; peopleand thevalueoftheir article on theAmerican oftheamorousepisodes 235).In a very quotefrom interesting reception of La Araucana, showshow Oa rewrites and vigorously corrects Ercilla's Nicolopulos idealizing oftheAraucanians from thepointofviewoftheencomenderos. that affirms portrait Nicolopulos classofthe1590s . . . , Ercilla's successful poetsoftheencomendero "amongthePetrarchist highly of theindigenous womenas chasteand articulate who literary representation speaking subjects dominated the privileged codes of Petrarchist/Garcilasist discourse was interpreted as a direct assault on therhetoric ofdehumanization thatunderlay theeconomic foundation ofthecolonizer'saristocratic and Responding" 227-47;quotefrom 243). lifestyle" ("Reading
(226).
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whatErcillais doingwhen,latein La Araucana, accountwhenexamining he decidesto connect twosuchdisparate worlds. observes their shared that, values,itis Dido's characQuintrightly beyond in as a barbarian relation to the terization SpanishEmpirethatlinksherto of the amorousdigressions. the Indianheroines The heroines of theseepiif and even crafted sodes, models,insistently European literary following refer to therealmoftheAmericas. deliberately Theyare Chilean,they figure in the textby virtue of theirrelationships withAraucanianmen,and their in the New World.Thereis from the Spanishpresence stories result tragic in about Dido, however, besidesthelocationof herstory American nothing remarks whenhe mentions the"no thepoem,a detailthatthepoet himself wherea Spanishsoldierrecallsher (32.48.3).In literary pensadacoyuntura" us to the mostprestigious tradition she directs terms, Europeanliterary by to theAeneid, the classicalepic most revered virtueof her relationship by In historical Dido brings withher Renaissance authorsand readers. terms, with the oftheRomanEmpire and itsrenowned thecontext rivalry Carthagito Ercilla, Dido pullsthereader terms nians.In historical away contemporary Mediterranean realm.In thissense, fromSouthAmericato the conflictive focusedon Ercilla'sinclusionof Dido withina seriesof storiesexclusively and also thedoublepurposeof linking themtogether native heroines fulfills scheme withof them within the same structural them apart, placing setting Ercillaplacesthesestoto pointout their differences. out failing Or, better, becausethisdoublebond allowsthepoet riesin thesame groupspecifically alien. In thisway, themto two worlds, to two places so seemingly to relate heroines to Ercilla's thejuxtaposition of Dido and theAraucanian responds solicited desireto linkthe South Americanevents(and judgments by the a broader context. Once we see Spain's Spanishconquest)to geographical fromSpain's Old Worldstruggles, we as beinginseparable Chileanconflict in Chileas partof a wider theSpanishpresence are theninvited to consider We can therefore readtheepisodeof Dido as partofthe imperial enterprise. as Nicolopuloscalls it (PoeticsofEmpire65-117). "web of epic prophecy," AlongwithBellona's and Fitn'svisions,the Dido episode insistson the theperiphery withthecenter whenenvisioning theSpanish needto integrate it the dark side of And like these also visions, imperial project. highlights into the at its most Before episodeof empire gloriouspoints. goingdeeper once again the battlesof Saint Quentin Dido, then,it is worthexamining and Lepantoas theyappear in La Araucanain the visionsof Bellona and Fitn.
2009 38 - Hispanic review : winter ofNicolopuloswho placesthebattles Recent withtheexception criticism, within the tradition of the "encomiastic of Saint Quentin and Lepanto of"imperialist has characteristic 65-117), epics" (Poetics ofEmpire prophecy" called into questionthe seemingly nature of the narrations of celebratory thesecombatswithin thepoem. Fromvariousperspectives, authors such as how theseprophetic moments(especially Quint,Fuchs,and Padrn stress a rather dimviewoftheSpanishempire. ForQuint,Ercilla's Fitn's)express of theVirgilian and Lucan modelsthroughout his purposeful juxtaposition narration of the battlegenerates and identificacontradictory problematic in Lepantoand theAraucanians suchas theone between theSpaniards tions, in Chile(157-59).Fuchsemphasizes thefact thatbydintofconcentrating on Fitn avoids the the outcome of the war Chilean Lepanto poet showing and Empire of (Mimesis 39-46). Hence, she reads thisepisode as a failure in which visualizing classical epic prophecy, the future"would lead the readersafely fromthe timeof the narrative to the gloriouspresent of the the acquisition of future (44). Insteadof anticipating poet's patron-ruler" Fitnlimitshimself to enumerating and territories, (and showing)present a strong "Wherethereader ofSpanpastpossessions. expect might prophecy ish conquestin thevariouslands described," Fuchsconcludes, "Ercillaprovidesinsteada non-committal listof place-names, withfewverbsattached" in thisepisodeseveral detailsthatallow (46). Padrn,forhis part, pinpoints him to read it as a parodyof geographical aimed at uncovering panegyrics of empire"(SpaciousWord "thehollowness rather thantheglories 206). All thesereadings, takeforgranted thatit is either thestructural however, frame of theseepisodes,or their to cartography, or thecharacrelationship tersthrough whichwe gain access to the battles, or even theseepisodes' of the Chilean events that allowsus to interpret problematic representation In fact, themas critical moments. evenPadrn,a critic who most imperial the dissident character of thevisionof the Indian sorstrongly emphasizes describes theaccountofLepantoas "Ercilla's mostexultant celebration cerer, in theOld World"(SpaciousWorld ofSpain'simperialism 202). Nonetheless, I believethatthe SaintQuentinand Lepantoaccountspresent as critical a in of the victories as Ercilla's view of violent perspective Spanish Europe in the Americas. Not onlydoes Ercillanot regardthe Spanishimposition as luminouscounterexamples to theominousbrutality of Europeanbattles - perhaps theChileanstruggles, butrather as a consequence ofhisown expe- he can envisionSpanishmomentsof gloryin riencein the New World the all-darkening lens of the SouthAmerican events. Europe onlythrough
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the Chilean war and its horrors push Ercillainto a critical, Progressively, victories as eviindeedintoan antiwar positionthatviewseventhegreatest In thissense,at leastbeginning denceforthevery weaknesses of thevictors. to generalize Padrni withthesecondpartofthepoem,itwouldbe correct thatin thesorcerer's mappointabouttheepisodeof Fitnwhenhe affirms of with all its becomes the point view brutality, pamundi"[t]he periphery, to consider thecenter"(SpaciousWord from whichwe are invited 205). And in and it is as if the accounts of Saint at least Quentin Lepanto, certainly, a projection of Ercillacould not avoid seeingin the Europeanenterprises his global Spain's New Worlddeeds.What he sees in SouthAmericataints drive the and endeavors: the same flaws of all Spaniards, imperial perception in from their conduct either results thesamedestruction place. a celebraThe battle ofSaintQuentinin canto18ofLa Araucanapromises It is thus II's success. account of anticipated bythe Philip great military tory ofthecanto: poetat thevery beginning Culserel atrevido que presuma el valorvuestro reducir y grandeza breve a trmino suma, pequeoy estilo tanta alteza? (18.1.1-4) y a tanhumilde a untilstanza15,whenafter seemsto hinder thistriumphant spirit Nothing This the reach arduousfight Spaniards climax, however, finally victory. very and as one would expect,by poetic praiseof the bravery is not followed, on the while the indeed to focus of the victors. Instead, poet pauses dexterity whathe sees is not glory but greed,the same evil thatErcilla vanquishers, thepoem in theSpaniards denouncesthroughout engagedin theAmericas. ascertain their As soon as they victory, sinhacermsgolpe, arremetieron, vuelto en codiciaaquel furor sangriento, saco de la tierra, al esperado de guerra. de la comngente (18.17.5-8; myemphasis) premio would be If thelast two linesinsinuate a justification all, plundering (after with their insisan habit of the but stanzas, war), accepted following nothing soldiers of the tence on the destructive Spanish any tenacity greed,deny
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and indiexoneration. The poetcontinues possible byobserving anonymous in for vidualfighters their unbridled search booty: Quinlas herradas puertas golpeando los cerrojos reforzados; quebranta quinporpicasy gmenas trepando entra porlas ventanas y tejados; ac y all rompiendo y desquiciando, sinreservar reservados, lugares las casasde altoa bajo escudriaban sinparar, corriendo andaban.(18.18.1-8) y a tiento, Attention to theviolenceof themovements the ("golpeando,""trepando"), destructive of the actions los reforzados," potential ("quebranta cerrojos on thepartof "rompiendo y desquiciando"),and thetotallack of restraint the triumphant reservar characterize the ("sin reservados") troops lugares of the on his victorious a and poet compatriots, descriptive seemingly gaze itsdisapproving bent.7 His censure is objective betrays gaze thatnonetheless in thetext'ssurprisingly not explicit but it can be felt on the long dwelling whichcontinues fora fewmore stanzasas if the poet displayof violence, couldnotpullhishorrified theSpanish and itspainful eyesawayfrom pillage as the force of the Here,greedreappears consequences. vanquishers: driving as la fiera vitoriosa, gente con prestas manosy con piesligeros,
de la golosapresa codiciosa
abrepuertas, ventanas y agujeros sacandodiligente y presurosa camasy rimeros. cofres, (18.20.1-6; tapices, myemphasis) The rhyme the pairing"vitoriosa"with"codiciosa" when characterizing thewayin which, at themoment underscores of celebration, the Spaniards his readers a of the victors offers marked moral weakness. poet portrait by
to notehow Ercilla thevanquishers identifies as "gente 7- It is interesting espaola"eventhough ofthesoldiers who fought forPhilipII in SaintQuentin wereSpanish. onlytwelve percent Fiftythree wereGerman, twelve and twenty-three camefrom theLow percent percent English percent Countries. Therewas no Spanishcommander-in-chief to thetroopsas a (Kamen152).Referring in wholeas beingSpanish, allowsthepoetto associate moreclearly thisgreedmanifest however, SaintQuentin with theomnipresent thattheSpaniards in SouthAmerica. greed display
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amorousstories setin the Furthermore, justas he does in theintercalated thewomen, turns his compassionate Ercilla New World, eyestoward quickly in who becomea synecdoche forthevanquished in thiscase French women, the Spaniards'appalling Saint Quentin.Throughthem,the poet expresses in the introduction thatErcillademandsof all victors lack of mercy, mercy shownto thesewomen to the episode of Dido. The poet findsthe cruelty reprehensible: utterly clamores No los ruegos, y querellas, cielospenetraban, que los distantes doncellas de viudasy hurfanas codiciamoderaban; la insaciable sinpiedadporellas, antes, rompiendo se arrojaban, a lo msdefendido haba que mayor ganancia creyendo se haca.(18.21.1-8) dondemsresistencia The emphasison the cowardlyabuse of the weak ("viudas y hurfanas doncellas") and the moral distancebetweenhimselfand the Spaniards in a masterly whichhalf-conceals way his dissent impliedby "creyendo," ofthe a dreadful critical withthevaluesofhis compatriots, picture complete in Europe forthe same imperialcause as those in Chile, soldiersfighting about how the The finalremark whomthey significantly. beginto resemble his soldiers the French an order before had issued cityurging entering king "las mujeresy casas de oraciones"(18.23.4),an orderthatthey to respect The poem matters theirfirst instincts, verylittle. obey onlyby repressing inflicted focus to the redirects its by PhilipIFs solsufferings immediately rather forthevanquished to feelcompassion thereader thusdisposing diers, ofdubiousqualities: withvictors thanidentify lastimosos A todaspartes gritos en vanoporel aireresonaban franceses temerosos y los tristes se arrojaban. armas en las contrarias (18.27.1-4) As we can see, then,the accountof Saint Quentinfinishes veryfarfrom mindofthe in the What it leaves celebration. of panegyrics imperial poetical Ercilla does not of buttheundeniable audienceis nottheglory misery Spain.
- hispanic review : winter 2009 42 f closetheepisodewiththeechoesofa resounding butwiththeshame victory and brutal of unjustifiable plunder. whenat theend of thisambiguoustriumph As Padrnacutely observes, ofconquests Bellonaattempts to showthepoeta vastseries byPhilipII, thus to "seduce the poet away fromhis Americansubject matterand trying toward thecomposition of a metropolitan on highlightepic,"Ercillainsists his American locus of enunciation Word This insistence 203). (Spacious ing is crucially because this geographical locationhas politicaland important moralmeaning. Seen from theAmericas, SaintQuentinno longer appearsas a uniqueand exceptionally occasionin whichSpain displays forthe glorious restoftheworldthevirtues thatmakeitworthy of a great it Rather, empire. becomes one more eventin whichErcilla'scompatriots distinctly display - likemanyother - thestark once again timesin theNew World deficiencies thatexplainwhythe HabsburgEmpirewill neverdeservethe grandeur of Rome. similar occurswiththe accountof Lepanto.The narration of Something thebattleis long (it occupiesthewholeof canto 24), and it includesmany characters admired we haveseen,was portrayed by thepoet.SaintQuentin, as a combatof mostly dominated and soldiers, anonymous bylow passions, of a under the orders virtuous who could contain fighting king onlypartially his unrestrained troops.This is not thecase withLepanto.Lepantois representedas a collective deed withmultiple commendable actorsidentified by name.Thissection ofthepoem,as wellas Herrera's Relacin de la guerra 1572 de Cipre on whichErcilla's accountis y sucesode la batallanavalde Lepanto mentions one one the illustrious on of board thefleet based, personalities by of the Holy League (as the alliancebetweenSpaniards, and the Venetians, in State that this battle was and also on board the Ottocalled) Papal fought man formation.8 The military thatErcilla stature ascribes to thiscombatcer8. Among soldiers identified for theremarkable for their themselves, (remarkable byErcilla family or for their we find Don Juan de Austria, son ofCharles V and commanderposition) illegitimate in-chief of the fleet of the Holy League;JuanAndreaDoria, son of the distinguished Genoese admiral Andrea Doria and,according to Braudel, in no smallpartresponsible forthetriumph at theVenetian with MarcoQuirini, for theproviLepanto; responsible Agostino Barbarigo, together sion of sixty to thefleet of theallies;Don Alvarode Bazn,Marquisof SantaCruz,"hijo galleys D. Alonsoque reconoci de aquel famoso la Goletacuandola gan el emperador," in Herrera's of Sicily; and Sebastin words;Marco Antonio Colona,viceroy Veniero, captainof theVenetian fleet. The Turkish fleet includedequallyrenowned of figures. Amongthemare Siroco,viceroy Mehemet to Ercilla; and EuldjAli (Ochal), Alexandria; y granmaestro" Bey,"corsario according a Calabrian who becamekingofAlgeria between was responsible forthe 1568and 1572, renegade
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troopsin this tainlyfarexceedsthatof Saint Quentin,and the Christian as theSpanishsoldiers are in no waysubject to thesame moralrebuke battle and ultimately in France.Theyare heroesembarked on a holy,memorable, the account of Lesuccessful actionagainstan infidel opponent.However, in offering an unqualified celebration. pantodoes notsucceedcompletely At thispointin thepoem,by the end of the secondpartof La Araucana confrontation withthe Chilean rebels,Ercillano and well into the fierce withanymilitary enterwholeheartedly longerseemscapableof identifying be. instance of destruction how its cause no matter may Any prise, legitimate morethanthemostresonant and deathmoveshimand claimshis attention Thus, almostat the exact middleof canto 24, in the midstof the victory. his gaze to the "airada gente"(24.49.1),to thenameless Ercillaturns battle, commandundertheorders oftheillustrious who fight and obscuresoldiers of heroicdeeds,as he does in ers.Ercilladoes not see themas protagonists are the case of the high-ranking combatants, among whom the Christians When the from the evil. from the Ottomans, good clearlydistinguished - and in thisLa Araucanadeparts from Herrera's on thelow ranks focusing - Ercilla as wretched all and Ottomans account alike, soldiers, Spanish presents who a violence of enormous wrath, bitterly possessedby despicable objects in dreadful hand-to-hand combat.Dead bodies coverthe bloodysea, fight the withfurious reckless menattack each other spearsflying through energy, soldiers: air pierceenemy sbito la marde sangre cubierta, la gente muerta comenz a recebir (24.49.7-8) *** sinsosiego: se acometen y ofenden unoscayendo mueren ahogados, a fuego a purohierro, otros otros (24.50.2-3)
* * *
en el bajelcontrario Quinporsaltar eraen mediodel saltoatravesado; sintiempo al adversario quinporherir de su furor llevado.(24.51.1-4) caa en el mar,
in the Turkish fleet after its defeat of Tunis,and playeda keyrole in reconstructing recapture see Braudel 1110. ForDon lvaro ForDoria and Barbarigo, Bazn,see Herrera 1102, 319. Lepanto. Haedo's Topografa de Argel) information from e historia ForAli Pash (with , see Johnson general Randel. 120-21. ForHerrera's see Gaylord Relacin,
44 *
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to Lucan in exposing the readerto of thedescription, similar The brutality in in from Herrera's account ofa battle of comes thebloodyreality war, part con ostinadadureza de which,as he says,"en todas partescaan muertos Davis pointsout how Herrera, corazn" (359).9But onlyin part.Elizabeth all emphasis on thedreadof hand-tounlikeRufoin hisAustriada, eschews notonlyexhibYetErcilla handcombatin his accountofLepanto(70-77).10 hisnarration at thispoint, the itsthehorror ofwarbutevensuspends forcing himin lamenting theunfortunate liveslostto violence. reader to accompany the dead soldiers takes overtheprogress of for priority Unexpectedly, regret a dynamic The accountofLepanto, otherwise theglorious battle.11 narrative, takesherean anomalouspause: viendo Cul seraquelque no temblase del mundoy la totalruina, el fin a un tiempo tantas pereciendo, gentes bombarda culebrina? tanto can, y El sol los clarosrayos recogiendo, de colorsanguina, con fazturbada las negras nubesse esconda, entre de aquel da. (24.52.1-8) porno verel destrozo fourlines engagesthe readerwithan The rhetorical questionin the first with the sceneofdestrucinvitation to behold, poet,thedevastating together
in Lucan an inclination to describe a kindof warwhere"horror is real;the 9. Quintidentifies in the goryfacts of civilwar,to violatea Virgilian poet wantsto rub the noses of his readers of battlein theAeneid, now seems,in contrast, to decorum forall thebloodydescriptions that, haveaestheticized warand politics" (140-47;quotefrom 143). differs frommine,ErcillasharesthistraitwithHerrera 10. For Davis, whose interpretation (70-77). of the humancost of triumph on the nightof 11.Herrera does includea horrific description at Lepanto:"pareciael marardiendo en llamasun montede fuego, y en todo el espacio victory llenode cuerpos de infiel muertos de la batallase vio teidoen sangre y despedazados y cristiana, de bajelesrotos,de fuegos, de remos, de astasy armas,que ningn variasmaneras, y cubierto ni ms dina consideracin de la miseriahumana." suceso se pudo ver de mayorterribilidad, a delighted enumeration of Turkish lossesfollows. Herrera sees in the Ottoman Nevertheless, recibi tangrande con casualties a clearsignofjustice: herida, "[N]unca aquellaferocsima gente ifErcilla and Muslim la cual pag en un da todoslos daos hechos."Besides, Christian regrets relevant: in equal measure, Herrera deemsthedistinction "apenas se pudo creertanta suffering multitud de bajelesserrotos (Herrera 370). Losses y presoscon no igualdao de los vencedores" theTurks. affect theSpaniards butcelebrated whenthey affect areto be regretted onlywhenthey
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tionresulting from thebattleand to sharethepoet's distress. The last four lines,fortheirpart,assignto naturethe poet's reaction.The horrorand shame feltby the sun belong,in fact,to the poet. And theythreaten the narrative of the account. Like the Ercilla would rather remove sun, continuity - it is from theghastly and stopwatching, himself evenifhe knows spectacle - thata greatChristian in thefirst stanzaof thiscanto thusanticipated vicwaitsat theend.12 thestory resumes itsagilenarrative Although quickly tory the final defeat of the Ottoman never enemy quite succeedsat disrhythm, in fact, this somber moment of horror and the pelling grief onlymoment, in whichLepantomovesthenarrator whichcontinues to haunttherestof Its shadoweclipsesthecelebratory that conventhenarration. spirit generic ofthisprophetic vision. tionswoulddriveus to expect on avoidingany The conclusionto the accountof the battlealso insists because the time Ercilla is composof perhaps by expression triumphalism, become agonizingly evident ing the secondpartof thepoem it has already a gloriousone thatLepanto,to quote Braudel, had been "a greatspectacle, even,but in the end leadingnowhere"(1103).Focused on the last military de Ausactions(Ochali'sflight and thesubsequent persecution byDon Juan comes and toward the end of the canto tria,Bazn, Oria), premavictory to Ercilla.As soon as the Ottomanssurrender, turelyand incompletely thepoetto witness and singtheglories oftriumph instead ofallowing (letus thatHerrera's accountcloseswitha song"en alabanzade la divina remember del seordon Juan"),Fitnunexpectedly stirs theair por la vitoria majestad of his crystal ball witha rushand makesthe visionof Lepantodisappear, In thissense,theepisodeofFitndisplays thesameprefforever unfinished. in erenceforopennessand provisional closurethatJaime Concha identifies as one of thethree theendings partsof thepoem and thatQuint reads yet withwhichErcillahighlights thetenmoresignof theLucanesquetendency character of victories.13 tative, imperial contingent
es ya llegada 12. The cantoopenswith thefollowing lines:"La sazn,granFelipe, /en que mivoz, It is worth that de vos favorecida, /cantela universal however, y gran jornada"(24.1.1-3). noting, thatErcilla attaches in thisepisodeto thisfirst stanzaalso anticipates theenormous importance thathis voicewillsing"la the negative octavarealby stating aspectsof war.He closesthisfirst otomana derrocada fuerza soberbia / /su martima /los varios destruida, hados,diferentes suertes,
el sangriento destrozoy crudas muertes"(24.1.5-8; my emphasis).
of thethree "de una concepcin thattheendings 13. Concha observes partsof thepoem differ en su aspectode detencin del desenlace como extremidad provisional, y ponennfasis orgnica manifests an enormous to de estadosuspensivo de la accin."For Concha,thisstrategy capacity
- Hispanic review : winter 2009 46 < claim about the pessimistic It is possibleto interpret, then,the repeated and dark character of the last two partsof La Araucanafroma different The reasonforthissombermood maywell lie in Ercilla'spersonal angle.14 whenstating thatthepoem in theNew World,as Lagos suggests experience whenthe poet becomesan eyeits epic disillusionment beginsto manifest witness to theevents he narrates (172-74).But it could also lie in thedismal in which thelastparts ofthepoemwerefirst written Continental atmosphere in Madridin 1589, a and read.The third partof La Araucanawas published a after what Elliot identifies as between "the point triumphant year turning twoHabsburgs and thedefeatist, disillusioned Spainoftheir Spainofthefirst in no small measureas a resultof the stunning defeatof the successors," "Armada invencible" {Imperial Spain 288). In dramatic fashion,1588 the processof successive failures suffered emblematizes military by Spain failures that weakened toward theend ofthesixteenth century, progressively an empirethatdecadesbefore had been thought of as invincible. This prowhen the second partof the poem was alreadyin progress cess,however, was written and publishedin 1578.The decade of the 1570s, triumphantly of Lepanto,was comingto a close withthe withthe victory inaugurated of thebattle'sultimate futility. Undoubtedly keyto disheartening discovery morale and that the Ottomans could the feeble Christian boosting showing be defeated, an icon ofthesuddentriumLepantofora longtimeremained Mediterthat the after theunexpected phalism captured Spanishimagination in thewake The downpourof texts about thebattlewritten raneanvictory. this event held ofLepantoattests to theenormous value that symbolic single to that of another enterin theSpanishmindformany similar military years, 15 ofTunisby CharlesV in 1535. However, prisekeyto thisessay:thecapture after the Ottoman of not long after reconquest Tunisin Lepanto,especially
in turn, a clear"proyeccin de la historia absorbnewmaterials. Thiscapacity, evidences expansiva and confusion, and replace del Imperio"(43). According to Quint,theseendings express futility ofcyclical theVirgilian modeloftriumphal closure with that Thus,"[w]ithitsnonendrepetition. arefighting an unwinnable sensethattheSpaniards war,thepoemand ingsand theconcomitant butunconquerable Araucanians" toward thesideoftherepeatedly defeated, (159-68; poetincline 168). quotefrom claim.ForDavis,thesecondand third reverse with thisgenerally shared 14. Davisdisagrees parts and tilt thebalancetoward the thedynamics ofthefirst, which had beenfavorable to thenatives, view of the entire Davis findsin theselast two parts"an increasingly Spaniards. panegyrical of Lepantoand SaintQuentinin themmanifest and theinclusion Habsburg imperial program," thisideological (23). position on Lepanto, see Lpez de Toro.I owe thisreference to Elizabeth 15. Fortheaccounts Wright.
: the dido episode in e rc il la 's la araucana Galperin
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it became painfully 1574, apparentthatthe "granbatalla naval" neverdid control oftheMediterranean Sea. Presentsecurefor Spainthemuch-desired in ofLepanto: almost their bleak historians unanimously diagnosis agree day limited conof the sixteenth had Christian thegreatest century very victory Butthisverdict was notaliento someofErcilla's crete effects.16 contemporarfromhis poem. The wholly as can be inferred ies nor to the poet himself, thatmanySpaniards continued to schemedurunrealistic imperial projects looked the of half of the under the first 1570s impulse Lepantoalready ing numberof sixteenthchimerical and deliriousto the eyes of a significant letter the devastating In thissense,it is worthmentioning critics. century in on November French ambassador Saint-Gouard written the 26, 1574, by Porto Farina and on theSpanishplansto attack whichhe comments Bizerta, "I it whenI see it" (Braudel laconic shall believe a and with skeptical Algiers in the second that the disillusionment It seems true,then, 655). displayed own New World a result of Ercilla's and third partsofLa Araucanais partly in Spain on the the mood But the affecting dejectionpartially experience. Ercilla saw in the combined with what its role also played Continent and, and critical New World,projectedonto the poem a lugubrious image of enterprise. imperialist Habsburg
Mediterranean Context Dido and the

theepisodeofDido reintroduces A fewcantosand morethana decadelater, of the Europeanwar into La Araucana.The way thisepisode the context less explicit thanthoseof the visionsof Bellona and Fitn. is far proceeds an ancient Here,Ercillaappealsto theOld Worldsetting through geography which one can behind with saturated conflict, actually imperial already
was in boosting how important thisbattle who nonetheless remarks 16. Braudel, Spanishspirits, the famous thatonlythree also observes battle, "Spain was morealone thateverin yearsafter ChrisElliotacknowledges thatLepantowas thegreatest in theEast" (1141). heradversary facing buthe considers itspolitical ofGranadain 1492, Islameversincetheconquest tianvictory against a single to winfortheChristians and military "Lepantofailed consequences utterly disappointing: Evenifthe withthisinterpretation. Divided128).Hess,forhis part, agrees yardofland" {Europe thatLepantohad put an end to the and especially initially PhilipII, thought Europeanleaders, after theOttomans rebuilt their and Papaljudgments, to Spanish Ottoman threat, navy "contrary basinthrough Mediterranean to project their . . . and proceeded thebattle powerintotheeastern ofTunisin 1574"(122). therecapture
48 f- Hispanic review : winter 2009 therealstageof confrontation between Christian and Islamicforces glimpse in early modern Europe. two Chileanevents: Ercillalocatesthe episodeof Dido between after the in Caeteand beforethe execution Araucanian defeat of the Indian leader to the Spanishcamp after thebattle, the poet offers Caupolicn.Returning the"true"story soldiers of Dido to his fellow to helppass thetime.Reacting to a comradewho impugns Ercilla's and chaseulogyof thequeen's fidelity he setsout to correct whathe considers the distorted versionof Dido tity, in book IV of hisAeneid, thatVirgil whichhad originated thefalse presents The taleis long.Comprising 102stanzas legendcitedbytheSpanishsoldier. it constitutes thelongest within the (32.43-33.54), digression poem (Lupher betweenCaete and the 307). Its length, textually justified by the distance thesingular attached to itbytheauthor. camp,also highlights importance This alternative, version of in the of non-Virgilian story Dido is narrated minutedetail.In thisaccount,Dido is no longerthe queen inflamed with love forAeneaswhosepassionleadsto thedoubledestruction ofherempire and herself. Aeneasdoes notevenexist("vemospor los tiempos Here,where haber sido / Eneas cien aos antes que fue Dido" 32.46.7-8), the story widowwho foundsa peaceful, revolves arounda virtuous female vast,and and who endsup committing suicidein orderto bothsafeguard justempire, herkingdom and preserve herfidelity to herdead husband.The particulars of thistale,especially itsgeographical are important and concerning setting, on its telling.After her mightexplain why Ercilla dwells so thoroughly brother in murders Dido's husband Sichaeus order to seize his Pygmalion to feelno resentment, asks herbrother to shelter wealth, Dido, pretending herat his house in a distant land. ObsessedwithSichaeus'sgold,Pygmalion on thefactthathis sister would bringalong agreesto therequest, counting herconjugalriches. before theship,she loads it withbags Instead, boarding fullof sand thatPygmalion's ambassadors believeto be gold. Mid-journey and in front of the ambassadors' astonished and resigned gaze, the queen decidesto getrid of thebags,blamingthemforthe deathof her husband. Shethenredirects hercoursetoward and recruits there Cyprus, eighty virgins forher future She her course once empire. changes again towardTunis, whereshe foundsCarthage without a fair any bloodshedafter negotiating for the land with its inhabitants. native a thereafter, price Shortly neighborhe warns, he ingkingcalledIarbasproposesto Dido. Ifshe does not accept, willwage war againstCarthage. After a seriesof dilatory moves,the queen killsherself in front of herpeople ("mueropor mi puebloy guardoentera /
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amorla feprimera" thuspreserving herkingdom con inviolable 33.49.7-8), to Sichaeus. and also herloyalty thistalewithwhatcomesbefore and after is semantic, The thread linking the and Ercillamakesa deliberate effort to enablehis audienceto perceive of In fact, eventhough theepisodeof Dido occupiesthelength connection. in it nonetheless as a divided two halves an entire canto, appears diptych, of canto33). It sharescanto32 with (thesecondhalfofcanto32 and thefirst thenarrathestory of Lauca and 33 withthatof Caupolicn.Whattriggers tion about Carthageis Ercilla'sencounterwith Lauca, a fifteen-year-old womanwho hasjustlostherrecent husbandin Caeteand who, Araucanian the to an unbearable poet helpherput an end to her grief, begs possessed by The linkbetween Dido and Lauca (underscored bythepoethimyounglife. The figure of Dido is meantto self) restson theirsharedconjugalfidelity. to the poet enhancethe virtueof the Araucanianwoman,who according in virtue theclassical character evensurpasses ("pues no guardla castaElisa In thissense,as pointed a su marido"[32.43.7-8]). Dido /la fecon ms rigor amorous theseriesofinterpolated out before, theepisodeof Dido integrates to a add thematic in thefashion of theItalianromanzo, stories that, variety the usual martial war and otherwise dominated replace temporarily by poem The on femalecharacters. withlove storiescentered (masculine)incidents oftheIndianleaderCauthecapture linkof thisepisodewithwhatfollows, and is very different and execution, impalement policnand his subsequent less obvious. Here, the implicitassociationsuggested by the text is not butbetween twopolitical as amoroussubjects between twowomenidentified of embodiment of theirpeople,one as the perfect leaderswho die in front the barbarism of the other and virtues, Spanish manifesting public private inflicted on him. Thus, the extraordinary brutality conquistadors through thatofCaupolicn,claimsbyits theepisodeofDido, immediately preceding that is not restricted to the Phoenicianqueen as a location a reading very on thepolitical, "masculine" amorousfigure. Instead,it also insists female, of the episode as a whole. It is of the character dimension and, therefore, in thisrespect, Ercillaplaceson Dido's political worth theemphasis noting, main move had been to his classicalpredecessor. naturein contrast Virgil's in largepartfrom Dido as queen of book I (a Dido stemming to transform La tradition the same pre-Virgilian informing Araucana) into the Dido as to Dido as queenin abandonedloverof book IV. In book IV, Virgilrefers to as the nineteen times she is referred instances to seven compared only calls her Reina, a queen in Ercilla'sepisode.The Castilianpoet insistently
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of her persona,in over and over again the public character emphasizing whichprioritizes and immortalizes Dido as contrast to theVirgilian version, withCaupolicn,it in turn a woman in love. As forDido's identification ofthenative feminization leaderaroundthemoment reinforces theinsistent himverbally Fresiaturns intoa mother ofhisdeath.17 His very wife byhandat what she be the their child over to to him,indignant judges cowardly ing conductofherhusband: Toma,tomatuhijo,que erael udo con que el lcito amorme habaligado; dolory golpeagudo que el sensible estosfrtiles pechoshansecado.
cralet que ese membrudo Cray cuerpoen sexo de hembrase ha trocado.(33.81.1-6;my emphasis)
notevery detaillinkstheepisodeof Dido to thoseof Lauca and However, other distanceseparates Caupolicn. Among things,a vast geographical them.The latter twotakeplace in SouthAmerica whiletheformer to brings in thetexttheMediterranean remote terms of the main action of La world, Araucanabut quite familiar to Ercilla'sreaders back home by virtue of its of and its a source concern. As Elliot proximity being contemporary political "the growing theadvanceof theOttoman observes, dangerto Europefrom in theearlymodernperiodEurope'spolitical and espeTurks"defined life, ciallySpain's, in a profoundway,much more profoundin factthan its and theNew 79). A signof encounter withtheAmericas (Elliot,Old World thisis theextraordinary of texts on theOttomanEmpirepubproliferation and lishedduring thoseturbulent the number of gazettes, impressive years, and other "news items" information about the Mediterraavvisi, circulating as evidenceof the keen interest with nean,whichOttmarHegyiinterprets whichtheEuropeanpublicfollowed the conflict withtheOttomanEmpire - evenSpanAfrican forces and theNorth (218-19).As forbooks,European - readers ish were fascinated withworkson the Ottomansand Asia (their
and thewayin whichthisepisodemakeshim "a virgin bride 17. For Caupolicn'simpalement " "LoveAmerican 575. beingdeflowered bythe'aguzadopalo penetrante,'see Padrn, Style"
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between number was no comparable 1480and 1609),whilethere multiplied on thenewly fortexts discovered American lands.18 curiosity oftheAfrican to turn the attention oftheSpanish Thejourney queenhelps the of reader to zone concerns near thehomemetropolitan contemporary a story thatencourages an association between land through past and preswas also a site of ent. As in Ercilla'stime,Dido's classicalMediterranean The earlier confrontation between Carthaginians and imperial rivalry. thepresent conflict between and the Ottoman Romansrecalls Empire Spain Even though it was witha similar place in thesame region dynamic. taking African enewho mostmemorably identified Dido withRome'sNorth Virgil Davidson reminds us that"refermies and withthe East in general, James tendto appearin thecontext ofgreat encesto Dido and Dido's story hostility to Carthage" Ennius, Naevius,Cato,and Timaeus,theRomanwriters (69).19 of Carthagein 146 BC, are all who mentionDido beforethe destruction is thegreat and forthemCarthage aboutthePunicWars, (jy). enemy writing withtheEastalso underlies the substratum and theassociation Thisbellicose Carof Dido in La Araucana.Ercillacloses thisepisode by recalling story "vino a ser tan temido status as a threat to Rome: future / poderoso y thage's a Roma en su le en un / puso tiempo mayorgrandeza grantrabajoy que of La Araucana^ Rome estrecheza" (33.53.6-8).But of course,in thecontext forSpain,in thesame waythat is onlysignificant as a pointof comparison ifit shedslight in whichthispoem is so on thepresent thepastonlymatters In thisway,theclassical Mediterranean confrontation anchored. tenaciously conflict to the more contemporary betweenRome and Carthagerefers and Ottomans on thesame stage:Romebecomesidentibetween Spaniards this sort of historical fiedwithSpain and Dido withIslam. Furthermore,
books thatresearch on thisperiodin Francerecords that"fourtimes as many 18. Elliotobserves In thesameway, therest ofEurope'sinterest to theTurks and Asiaas to America." weredevoted ofthefirst in America was mainly limited to specialists. Up to thepublication partofLa Araucana^ reticence and theSpanishepic a significant abouttheNew World, evenin Spainauthors display and theNew12-13). other locations suchas Italy and Africa dealswith {Old World of Virgilian see withthePunicWarsas a commonplace criticism, 19. For Dido's identification in theAeneidbetween Dido and whereshe observes the connection Desmond31-33, suggested in Romeas "a feminine, oriental threat LikeDido, Cleopatra was perceived sexualized, Cleopatra. withtheEast,Davidsonpointsout that to centralized Romanpower."As forDido's connection - "thearcheofVirgil, Macrobious and Servius, considered Medea thetwoancient commentators - as themaininspiration Eastern woman" fortheVirgilian ofthewildand barbarous queen type (77-78).
2009 52 - hispanic review : winter withthenewrolethatRenaissance translation is also consistent epic assigned to accomin therepresentation ofdifference as partofitsattempt to religion context.As Tobias Gregory modate classicalepic to the new monotheist and forms theconsistent distinction between true false "The affirms, religion heroesand in Renaissance the line dividing axis of difference epic poetry, us and them" (14). Even if only by literary allies and others, adversaries, the then,readersof La Araucana would have easilytransposed training, ancientrivalry betweenRome and Carthageto the present-day struggle betweenChristianity and Islam. And if,as Desmond asserts, Virgilturns reminder thatthe narrative of Roman dominance Dido into "a purposeful in theMediterranean was not a seamlessmyth of uncontested development Dido's associationwiththe Muslim world and expansion" (32), through Ercillaexpresses an analogousidea regarding Spanishdomination. The connection between the Carthaginians and the Ottomansis implied In the Dido episode, Ercillainvitesthe most starkly through geography. acrosstheeastern half oftheMediterrareader to follow Dido on herjourney nean Sea, a territory thatwas underTurkish control towardthe end of the thatErcillabringsto the textthrough the Mediterranean Therefore, 1570s. withconflict and at thatmoment Dido is a place long-saturated particularly in the minds of Spaniards since most of this territory had threatening been lost. It is a that allows the Mediterranean, then, recently metropolitan reader to imagine thevirulence and possibleoutcomeofthewarbetween the and theAraucanians in thedistant SouthAmerican terriSpanishcolonizers in of a and more familiar conflict. terms tory nearby In contrast to Virgil'sDido, sedentary and fixedin Carthage, Ercilla's to which Dido Dido faithful to the pre-Virgilian tradition, according - spendsmostof thenarration means"thewanderer" on themove (Davidson 65). Untilshe leavestheshipin Carthage, thetextmakessureto remind us of hertireless motionthrough references of diverse geographical specificis notedin a way thatpointedly the fleet's movement conity.Sometimes trasts thisDido to Virgil's static queen: La navecon sereno movimiento el llanoy sosegado marcortaba. (32.76.5-6) *** da Aquellanochey el siguiente corri con viento la armada.(32.77.1-2) prspero ***
: the dido episode in ercilla's Galperin as la va de la frica al poniente con favorable viento (32.91.5-6) navegaba. *** La reina viento en popa navegaba, del poniente, comodije,la vuelta con sus naves tocando y galeras comarcas en algunas (33.4.5-8) y riberas.
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become more preciseand startpointingto But verysoon the references in factfarmore readers ofLa Araucana, to sixteenthcentury placesfamiliar from locations. familiar to themthantheSouthAmerican Departing Tyreat Dido moveswestward and soon stops end oftheMediterranean, theeastern coastal shecontinues to thewesttouching in Cyprus. Fromthere, unspecified detailed ends her with the the and journey following finally pointsalong way, description: geographical bordeando Torciel cursoa la diestra de las vadosasSirtes recelosa, de Licudiaatravesando, y a vista corri la costade frica arenosa; a tierra tierra navegando, y siempre el Ciervo y Lampadosa, pas porentre en salvoa Tnezcon la armada, llegando allguiada.(33.5.1-8) decreto porel fatal intensification betweenCyprusand At this momentof topographical over whichDido navito visualize the Ercilla incites his audience Tunis, map Djerba ("el Ciervo"),and Tunisare gates.On thismap,placeslikeCyprus, such as Malta and Tripoli,extremely while others referenced, explicitly to Spain in its struggle important againstthe Ottomans,are suggested Whenwe aretoldthat detours of the the queen's journey. particular through towardthe African at the sightof Licudia in SicilyDido returns coast,her thatwouldtakeherto Tripoli passbyMaltain a direction shipmustforcibly the coast she turnswestagain,navigating wereit not thatbeforereaching The direction to land in Carthage. shoreline finally alongtheNorthAfrican to the west, of Dido's voyage,fromthe easternend of the Mediterranean allies its North African the and identifies her with Ottoman Empire already the same places Europe expected and through sinceby thissame direction
- Hispanic review : winter 2009 54 f threat. As HenryKamenobserves, thecomingof theTurkish "[I]n theeastnavies relentless the Turkish continued their ern Mediterranean push westforthis identification between wards" (155). But, even more importantly Dido and Islam,the territory outlinedin thisepisode invokessome of the to mindfortheSpanishreader themostunequivonamesthatby1589 bring failure in achieving a longed-for controlof the cal signsof the Christian where Dido at the end of canto Mediterranean. 32, had been stops Cyprus, since1489but was invadedand conqueredforgood underVenetian control in the Ottomans the summerof 1570as partof a fierce and successful by in to seizecitiesand islandskeyforcontrolling commercial routes campaign The Christianloss was significant not only the easternMediterranean. becauseitimplied a traumatic blowto Venicebutalso becauseitstruck Spain Romeand VeniceblamedDoria,PhilipII's admiral with closeness: particular in chargeof thefleet sentto aid Venice,fortheresounding defeat (Braudel "las 1068-87).Malta,theislandcloseto whichDido's shipspass after eluding was fora longtimea primeand feared for a Turkish vadosasSirtes," target "The name of Malta naturally attack.As Braudelaffirms, came to mind assault" (1014).These fears whenever therewas any questionof a Turkish in of an materialized when Ottoman forceinvadedthe 1565, finally May island,and even thoughit was expected,the news of this invasion"hit Malta resisted and in the end Europe like a hurricane"(1014). Although in Christian assault was remained the Ottoman received as a painful hands, a threat theTurkish forces continued to be for reminder of how dangerous and Kamen 157). (Braudel 1014-26; Spain Italy "Ciervo" (Djerba) and "Lampadosa" (Lampedusa), the two islands on herwayto Carthage, also invokeSpain's between whichDido navigates Islamic rivals. thesite before its Mediterranean Djerba was itself impotence the reader'sattenand it especially directs of unsuccessful actions, military was destined tion to Tripoli,the place wherethe 1559military expedition And reinforces this even thoughit ended up targeting Djerba. Lampedusa in front of it. The to Tripolibyvirtue of itslocationright oblique reference overstated. Next to it was of cannot be importance Tripoli probably Algiers, Berberstatein NorthAfrica, after the corsair the mostpowerful especially of it in 1556. FromTripoli, who also controlled Dragut, Draguttookcontrol the coast from to Catalonia and Valencia, assailed Djerba, European Sicily such as the Duke of Medinaceli,viceroyof Sicily, and verysoon figures The conquest ofTripoliwas thenconsidered essenstarted to plota reaction. in thewestern on commerce Mediterratialin orderto end Dragut'sthreat
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at capturing bothTripoliand Djerba nean. However, the Spanishattempts in a memorable The attackon Djerba in 1560culminated failedmiserably. that Kamen considers "the disaster ever suffered catastrophe bySpain biggest feasible not and itsallies" (156).And theplansto occupyTripoli, seemingly abandoned.20 to Braudel, theresult was werequickly According longbefore, Islam won "the battle for the domination of the central Mediterraappalling: "whereTurkish rulehad had such a narrow nean" and Tripoli, escape,was now morefirmly heldthanever"(985). coastoppositeof Sicily(referred to in thepoem as "la costa The African to a spaceofconsolidated Islamicdomination. de frica arenosa")also refers name on thispoeticlistand in the Dido episodein But the mostresonant is Tunis,bothbecauseoftheprominent place itoccupiesin thestory general material and symbolic ofDido and also becauseoftheenormous importance La Goleta,in withitsneighboring it held fora long time,together garrison In 1535, V Charles and economiclifeoftheHabsburgs. themilitary, political, to conquerTunisand thusput an end himself decidedto lead an expedition on the Mediterranean the Berber attacks to thedevastating region.In 1534, named admiral of the sea Suleiman the famouscorsair Barbarossa, by Mag- an ally of CharlesV who governed had deposed Mulay Hassan nificent, - and the Islamic menace became extremely serious.But whatwas Tunis was thepreservation of a sortof at stakein CharlesV's expedition actually which and Islam. This campaign, balancebetweenChristianity geopolitical of and Castile the cream of the (the poet nobility Italy,Flanders, gathered Garcilaso de la Vegatookpartin thisadventure), initially yielded promising Tunis and La Goleta.But the optimism results: the Spanisharmycaptured himvanished. Barbarossa victories incited quickly bythesemuch-publicized soon was seen before thefallof Tunisand very selfmanagedto escaperight CharlesV Minorcaand theSpanishcoast.And when,in 1541, againassailing a whathe had achievedin Tunis by capturing set out to complete Algiers, As JamesTracy stormwreckedhis fleetbeforereachingits destination.21 and the "The prestige explains, gainedat Tunis was wiped out at Algiers, Mediterranean was not made safe conventional wisdomis thatthewestern - if untilthegreat at Lepanto(1571) forEuropeanshipping Christian victory as a great of Tuniswas interpreted eventhen"(313).In itstime,thecapture
to capture see Braudel 20. FortheSpanish 973-87. attempts Djerbaand Tripoli, 21. Fortheconquest ofTunisbyCharles V, see Tracy 145-49.
2009 56 - Hispanic review : winter with victory(partly because Charles V promoted this interpretation as "a defining feature of Habsaccounts, coins,and images)and remained well into the of his son and even his selfburg understanding reigns grandson" (Helgerson of 1570theTurkish 26), in spiteof thefactthatin January of Algiers, thecity, Uluj Ali,reconquered by thenin thehandsof governor V's son of Charles Hamida, protegeMuley Hassan (Braudel1066Muley 22 eco67). By thistime,the Spaniardshad come to realizethe exorbitant were putting on the nomic pressure thattheseNorthAfrican possessions as Richard Hel(Braudel858-59).And thispartly Spanishtreasury explains, therelieved reaction withwhichthecaptivecaptain remarks, gerson acutely - and definite - conquest in Don Quijote welcomes thenewsabouttherecent
in 1574, ofTunisbytheOttomans after an ephemeral at thehands reconquest in 1573.23 to Elliot, "WiththefallofTunis, ofDon Juan ofAustria According II of Mediterranean and after thisevent, had had Philip enough campaigns," fromTurkish hands controlof its Spain abandonedall hope of snatching eastern Divided 129). part(Europe All theseplaces,crucialforthe imperialprojectof the Habsburgs, also themainlocus of interest in La Araurelatein otherwaysto theAmericas, feasible cana. To begin with,the Tunis campaignhad been economically thanks to the gold comingfromthe conquestof Peru and to the Genoese American men bankers whosefinancing camefrom gold,whilewe see crucial in in theNew Worldenterprise later this Mediterrainvolved reappear years neancontext. HernnCorts, forexample, was partofthe1541 camimperial Kamen But the to 22, 73,j6). imperial (Tracy 173; imagethat paign Algiers and project onto theSouthAmerican theseMediterranean locations express is less an on which La Araucana takes place imageof victorious might stage The of the Spanish thanof constant and sustained vulnerability. instability pace with which the cities,enclaves,and possessions,the almost frantic in thisepisodepass from one conquering hand to another, islandsinvoked since all of them, warn about the impossibility of celebrating any victory
his victory see 22. For CharlesV's sustained effort to immortalize both textually and visually, 25-26. Helgerson theOttoman of Tunis,thecaptive 23. Regarding y capture captainsays: a muchosles pareci, as me parecia m,que fueparticular que y merced que el cielohizo a Espaaen permitir gracia se asolaseaquellaoficina y aquellagomiao esponjay polillade la infinidad y capa de maldades, la memoria de dineros se gastaban, sin servir de otracosa que de conservar que all sinprovecho CarlosQuinto, como si fuera menester de haberla del invictsimo parahacerla ganadola felicsima la sustentaran" como lo es y ser,que aquellaspiedras eterna, (Cervantes 457).
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revealthemselves as transitory and seen from a widertemporal perspective, on a different level a feature thathas reversible. This, in turn,reproduces in the in been identified the structure of the account of poem very already in and the of the three the tenacious Lepanto poem's parts, emphasis endings ofbothnarration and history and theensuing concluon theincompleteness remains an open book" (Quint168). sionthat"nothing is settled and history One could saythatin theepisodeof Dido as wellas in theso-called"web of be it in Europeor ofLa Araucana, reached anytriumph byarms, prophecy" in theAmericas, and therefore based on and supported anyempire byforce, And in thissense,the but also practical not onlylackslegitimacy efficacy. - as we shall soon see - will be erectedas an empirethatDido will found in La Araucana,and to PhilipII's imperial alternative projectas presented with consensus and willreplacemilitary imposition negotiation. and Ercilla does not establishan explicitrelationbetweengeography does in the case of Fitn. empirein the Dido episode,as he so patently a landscapeclose to thereader but herehe limits himself to evoking Rather, connecwithout defamiliarized distance, political anyapparent by temporal worldofErcilla's Buthe does notallow tionto thecontemporary readership. He makessureto "translate" thedistant to be complete. thedistance geogralandscape by anachronistically using modern phy into the contemporary thusleadingthereader to namesto designate placesin theancient territory, of his own time. For this to the historical connect example, episode reality to as "Cartago,"a is called "Tnez" (33.5.7)beforeit is referred Carthage and thatmakesit impossible to dodge the contemporary specificity gesture wherethisepisode occurs.In thissense, relevance of the territory imperial thestrategy of Garcilaso's sonnet"A Boscndesdela Goleta," Ercillainverts - writing - theToledanbardlocateshis poem in from La Goletaitself where evermentioning either La Goletaor Tunis.As Helgerson without Carthage - diverts to Ercilla's the reader'sattention this move opposite suggests, of the ancient fromthe presentto concentrate solelyon the destruction Phoenician city(40). thepathof Dido's As we haveseen,Ercilladevotes overa stanzadetailing the readernavigate journey, making slowlyalong an enemyNorthAfrican in with its inhabitants, coast, which is nonethelessdescribed,together Dido in kind terms. This when stops Cyprus, extremely alreadyhappens the"ciprioto where thepoet callstheCypriots puebloamigo" (32.90.7)even as mentioned the islandhad by thenbeen underOttopreviously, though, in that"infidel" man control foralmosttwo decades.It is also there, place,
2009 58 (- - Hispanic review : winter recruit the future mothers and wives whereErcillahas his Dido peacefully in version in which forherempire, stark contrast withJustin's the Phoenibefore cian queen kidnapseighty virgins right leavingthe island(Desmond from theimperial and an identi25). If in Garcilaso's poem distance project fication with the vanquishedare expressedby, among othermeans, the of Carthage as theobjectof wrathful Ercillaimpledestruction, description to convey a similaridea. Where Garcilaso ments the opposite strategy fromimperial choosesto emphasizethe devastation intervention resulting and rather Roman Ercilla to interventions, (or Spanish), prefers idealize.24 Tunisin benignfashion, themarks of destrucThus,he describes eschewing tiontraditionally associated withCarthage. Ercilla'sCarthage is not thesite ofremembrance ofpastdefeats a space saturated withpromises but,instead, forthefuture: Dondeviendoel capazy frtil suelo de fructferas adornado plantas cielo y el aireclaroy el sereno clemente al perecer y muytemplado, delhermano perdido ya el recelo verle tan distante por y apartado, un pueblode cimiento, quiso fundar haciendo en l su habitacin (33.6.1-8) y asiento. - separated In thisepisode,then,theMediterranean world in theEuropean mindbetween "whatbelongsto us" and "whatbelongsto them,"between - is transfigured. whatis underChristian and whatis underIslamiccontrol In a gesture in Cervantes's "El similar to theone CarrollJohnson identifies amante liberal,"Ercilla uses narrative to turn the hostileand sympathy easternMediterranean into a friendly and welcomingspace threatening From this what is perceived as truly moreover, (Johnson 117-52). standpoint, hostileand threatening is whatcomes fromthe Continent. Yet something the land and its inhabitants make this an admirable beyond Carthaginian site.In fact, theland and itsinhabitants serveonlyas a background or as a in Ercilla'saccount:thecrecondition of possibility forwhatreally matters
see 24. For two excellent analysesof this sonnet and its poetic and politicalimplications, Garcaand Helgerson. Rodrguez
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basedon a vehement ationofan ordered, just,and generous empire rejection and greed. This ancient as we'veseen,in morethanone ofhomicide empire, sense encouragesassociationwiththe OttomanEmpire,althoughnot in as a critiqueof the Spaniards. termsof a eulogyforthe Turksbut rather in the Turksper se in the same way thathe is not Ercillais not interested in theAraucanians interested perse,and thatis whyhe eschews ethnography Whathe is in their and choosesfictional idealization instead. representation in his and interested is the of compatriots, really highlighting shortcomings achieved notbypainting a realistic he seemsto believethatthiscan be better onto the foreign "other"all the of the enemiesbut by projecting portrait That is as valuesmostcherished readers. byEuropean why, just theAraucanbehaveas exemplary solian heroines Spanishwomenand theAraucanian act chivalric the diersoftenappear as perfect knights, Carthaginians-Turks for and more than the natives their land) compensate (they fairly impeccably to an idealRomansociety. conduct their affairs as ifthey Theyelect belonged in orderto and officers, consuls,magistrates, theyimportgreatarchitects the order of the build "sumptuososy altos edificios"(33.11.4); theykeep theruleoflaw: republic through la nuevarepblica ordenada, criando oficios instituy, leyes con que el puebloen raznse mantuviese viviese. (33.11.5-8) y en paz y ordenpoltica old men (33.19-20).It does And they have a senatecomposedof honorable nor the real Ottomansacted thatneither the real Carthaginians not matter - and whattheyare therein thatway.What does matter or wereorganized - is thattheSpaniards act in theoppositeway. thepoem to stress In this sense, the association of Dido with the Ottoman Empire as of theRomansis very sincetheHabsburgs emblematic enemy significant themselves the heirsof CharlesV and PhilipII- considered and especially analIn thiscontext, mostreaders did not missthe implicit Rome.25 surely and its North African was to Rome what the Ottoman Empire ogy:Carthage wereto Spain.Indeed,thisanalogy was partoftheideological alliescurrently forms and with at thetimein multiple armature oftheHabsburgs, expressed
see Tanner. 25. Forthistopic,
6o t- Hispanic review : winter 2009 For example, whenPhilipII received of a morethanone meaning. warning in offensive after offthe Turkish threat possibleTurkish right frightening Maltaat theend of1565, thekingresponded theconstrucbycommissioning - he dreamt - wouldlead a fleet thatwouldconquerContionofa shipthat as an and would laterreachtheHoly Land. The ship,conceived stantinople to the icon of the holywar againstIslam,was named "Argo" in reference and theGoldenFleecebutespecially to thepresence legendoftheArgonauts of the argonautic themein Virgil's fourth prophetic supposedly eclogue.In - the thiseclogue,thesibylannouncesthata new era underimperial Rome new Troy would emerge whenthe Argonauts set sail again. By means of his own the translatio Philip equated empireto thatof imperial imperii, Islam (Tanner Rome, and the enemyof this new Rome was undoubtedly believed thatitwas through to MarieTanner, theHabsburgs 5-7). According and theChristianization ofAmerica" "thedestruction oftheMoslemempire that "the universalharmonythatwas prophesized"by the Roman bard would be attained(7). In the same way,Roy Strong showshow a seriesof to commemorate CharlesV's conquestof Tunis in 1535 tapestries designed was modeledon another suchseriescalledTheStory in whichScipofScipio, in 202 BC is narrated in visual io's victory overHannibaloutsideCarthage form.Strongconcludesthat in both cases "the victories were of valiant RomansoverCarthaginians, notofinvading overinfidel Turks"(14). knights It would be better to say,perhaps, thatwhatthesetwo visualcompositions turn at thesame time,into the triumph is to these accomplish triumphs, of Romansover Carthaginians and also of Christian soldiersover Turkish "infidels." This analogybetween Rome and Spain was also used in the periodwith the oppositemeaning, a meaningakin to the one Ercillaadvancesin the himself withthe Phoenician Dido episode,in whichthe poet by aligning withRome'svictims. affirms thattheHabsLupher queen also alignshimself in thesixof the Roman coexisted appropriation burgpropagandistic legacy teenth centurywith a dissident currentof "sustained and eloquent of Dido, denunciation of Romanimperialism" Here,then,thefigure (50).26 to the Roman to the is, (that opposed Empire SpanishEmpire),acquires force.The Dido episode also becomeslinkedto SpanishAmerica singular
in thedebatesabouttheSpanishcon26. For thepresence of theRomanmodelof imperialism see Lupher. questofAmerica,
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because the anti-Roman discoursereferred to the New World, primarily Ercillahereextends it to the Mediterranean worldbothby virtue although of Dido's geographical locationand herassociation withIslam. It does not seem by chance,then,thatDido's empireis presented as an of greedand itscriminal As Lagos remarks, explicit rejection consequences. Dido represents "un tipo de conquista colonizacin a y que, contrariamente la praxisde los conquistadores el saqueo y la destruccin espaoles, rehuye de los nuevospueblosdescubiertos," a trait thatconverts herintoan alternativeto whatLagos considers an exclusively colonialAmerican evil (181).But also serveas a reminder theepisodeof Dido might of how Spaniardshave other in sackedand destroyed about thiskindofbehavior how, sum, places, a of Spanishimperialconquests.If, as I believe, mightbe generalfeature Dido standsin partforIslam,thenthisepisodesendsthereader back again in Tunis in the aforemento the encounter between Islam and Christianity tioned1535campaign.It was well knownthatwhen the Christian soldiers V did notinitially tookTunis,Charles authorize but he soon pillage, changed his mindand reversed course.As Tracyrecounts, "[T]housandsof Tunisian civilians werecutdownin their homesand shops;Spanishtroops brokeinto and sacred texts of their 'for such is the nation's mosques stripped goldleaf, " thirst forgold' (149).27 The identification of Dido withIslam,then, and the location of her at the same where precise just empire exactly place Spanish enemiescall attention, withinthis troopshad pillagedand abused infidel SpanishAmericantext,to how theiracts of greedand plunderwere not limited to theNew World. In 1535, Ercilla was onlytwoyears old. Buthe surely heardoften ofCharles in the courtwherehe spenthis infancy V's heroicexploits and youth.No must have impressed him so much as the imposing however, testimony, seriesof twelve based on drawings tapestries by Willemde Pannemaker by called The Tunis. Ercilla must have seen JanCornelisz Vermeyen Conquest of themthe first timetheywere ever exhibited in public at the weddingof he attended as pageto thefuture Philipand MaryTudorin London,an event Their an occasion: as Jerry Brotton displayrepresented extraordinary king.
affirms that at thebeginning V did notallowhissoldiers Charles to sackthecity because 27. Tracy he offered theminsteadan amountequivalent to threemonthsof salary(149). Horn givesa version He saysthatCharles different oftheevent. thetaking ofslavesbecauseMulay prohibited Hasan feared thatthecity wouldremain led to a bloodbath, and however, "[t]hisorder, empty; theemperor was forced to rescind it" (213).
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thiswas arguably themostimportant, and original seriesof observes, costly, of the whole of the sixteenth ,28 Withinthisseries, (134) tapestries century of whichinterestingly with a the Mediterranean basin, Ercilla begins map musthave noticedthetenth "The Sack of as HenTunis,"where, tapestry, drikHorn pointsout,"[t]he pillageis in evidence (213).In this everywhere" the Christian soldiers are 1), extraordinary image(see fig. represented desperatelycarrying awayall theycan (cows,jugs,bulls,bales, camels),and also At thecenter ofthetapcivilians, brutally manyofthemfemale. mistreating neartheJamaz Zaitunaai Barram we see a solmosque,forexample, estry, dierhitting a Muslimwoman.To theleft oftheimage, a boat is beingloaded in La Goleta. withslavesand bootyintended to be sentto theimperial fleet As Horn observes, thisboat suggests thatwe arewitnessing theaftermerely mathof thesack,that"the imperial have done their worst" troops already the singular violenceof thisscene,partly (215).Ercillamusthave perceived becausethistapestry stoodout dissonantly within an otherwise monumental piece of "directpropaganda" (Horn 280). But also because it displayed almostthe same concernsand focusedon the same kindsof objectsand own denunciation of theNew peoplethatwouldlatergiveshapeto Ercilla's in a gesture Worldsituation. anomalouswithin thetapestry series Moreover, but peculiarly close to one of the most salienttraits of La Araucana,Verhimself intothissceneas an eye-witness in artist who records meyen painted burdensome the material and human costs of person empire.29 As Ercillahimself in the dedicationto the first remembers part of the in in it was London the same in and time which he beheld 1554 poem, place thesetapestries thatnewsabout an Araucanian revolt reachedEuropeand thatthepoetwas givenpermission to travel to SouthAmerica. Thus,Ercilla undertook hisjourney to theNew Worldwiththisdisturbing imageofSpanish greedand Turkishhelplessness in mind,an image thathe must have easily transposedto the Chilean scene where the same sort of violence in Ercilla's inflicted on theTurks was now exerted, on theAraucanians. view, In this light,and through its associationwiththe Ottomans,Dido's just an inverted and Utopianversionof Spanish empirenot only represents America's but rather an inverted and Utopian version ofthe imperial reality,
28. Forthese see Horn. tapestries, follows Drerwho,in hisMartyrdom includes himself 29. In this, Vermeyen oftheTenThousand, in themidst ofviolence and persecution as a signofcompassion and denunciation (Horn 267).
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For thisepisodemakesclearthatthevicesmaniSpanishEmpirein general. in theNew Worldbelongto thegeneral fest ethosoftheSpanishEmpire. The analogy between theAraucanians and theTurksand Moors was not new.Often the sixteenth the between Indiansand during century, encounter in theNew Worldevokedcorrespondingly Christians theencounter between Christians and Muslimsin the Mediterranean. Las Casas himself fallsback on this analogyin his Apologiain orderto refute Sepulveda'sclaim that more advancedpeoples had the right to subjugateothers.30 Las culturally Casas (who beginsby denying thecultural of the American Indiinferiority of Seplveda'sreasoning its ans) pointsout the deficiencies by extending the New World. The if Dominican affirms that application beyond priest it is legitimate forSpaniardsto subjugate the Indiansby claiming cultural thenthesame criteria shouldbe appliedwhendealingwithany superiority, other even with Turks: the people, Hoc etiamlemate,Turcae,et Mauri, gentium vere barbaracolluvies, ptimoiureet iuxtanauraelegemIndisbelluminferre possunt quod, ut recta constitutione nobis videtur, quisbusdam reipublicae praestent. Nonne si hoc admittimus sursumdeorsumque divinaquehumanaque omniamiscebuntur? 112) (Apologa - thetruly and theMoors barbaric scumof the [On thisbasistheTurks, - withcomplete nations and in accord with the law of nature could right
on war, as itseems to some,is permitted us bya lawful decree which, carry Ifwe admit ofthestate. willnoteverything and divine and this, low, high be thrown intoconfusion?] Indians human, (In Defense 47) ofthe Even ifLas Casas contrasts IndianswithMuslims(forhim,Muslimsare the truebarbarians since,knowing Christ, theywillfully rejecthim) while Ercillaassimilates it is clearthatduring thisperioddiscussions about them, theAmericas used theconflict between and Islamin commonly Christianity Africa as a pointofcomparison fortheNew WorldsituaEuropeand North tion.Quint pointsout how,in La Araucanas visionof Lepanto,the Turks see the Europeansas barbarians and by virtue of theirbarbarism theyfeel
30. The Apologia is a central piece in the dossier Las Casas writes in the context of the famous debate in Valladolid, known in English as In Defenseof theIndians. 1550-1551
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authorized to conquerthem. to Quint,Ercillauses thecase ofthe According in of the conquistadors Turksin orderto questionthe imperial enterprise the should not Chile by presenting themas a negative example: Spaniards in thewaytheTurksdo (171).Instead,I suggest that opponents judge their in which theTurks exhibit Ercilla themas a Utopian counterexample presents in the the And at the same virtues time, Spaniards. by identifying lacking between he also invokesthe balance of forces Turkswiththe Araucanians, if are in and reminds us that the Araucanians and Islam Europe, Christianity The SpanishEmpire no Spanishvictory can be deemedfinal. liketheTurks, suffers from thesameweakin itsentirety, bothin Europeand theAmericas, well be a retreat Whattodayis an advancemight ness and impotence. very the in this a that tomorrow. Seen interprets episodeof light, through reading to the New Worldand Dido as a call fora widerfocusthatis not limited the accounts of Saint close attention to antitriumphalist peculiarly pays to, theentire Quentinand Lepan by Spanishimperial projectas represented both of La Araucana is as in at leastthetwofinal Ercilla parts critiqued being and militarily feeble. deficient and politically morally Works Cited
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Myth." Revistade EstudiosHispnicos23.3 (1989): 1-20. 1998. and theMediterranean Worldin theAge ofPhilipII. Braudel,Fernand. The Mediterranean
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in theEpic ofImperialSpain. Columbia: U of MisDavis, Elizabeth B. Mythand Identity souri P, 2000. and theMedieval Aeneid. MinneDesmond, Marilynn.ReadingDido: Gender,Textuality, apolis: U of Minnesota P, 1994. Elliot. J.H. EuropeDivided,1559-1598. London: Collins, 1971. . ImperialSpain. London: Edward Arnold,1963. . The Old Worldand theNew, 1492-1650.Cambridge,UK: Cambridge UP, 1970. Ercilla,Alonso de. La Araucana. Ed. Isaas Lerner.Madrid: Ctedra, 1993. Fuchs, Barbara. Mimesis and Empire: The New World,Islam, and European Identities. Cambridge,UK: Cambridge UP, 2001. . "TravelingEpic: Translating Ercilla'sLa Araucana in the Old World." Journal of Medieval and EarlyModern Studies36 (2006): 379-95. Gaylord Randel, Mary. The HistoricalProse of Fernando de Herrera. London: Tamesis, 1971. Tobias. FromMany Gods to One: Divine Actionin RenaissanceEpic. Chicago: U Gregory, of Chicago P, 2006. and the Turks:HistoricalRealityversusLiterary Fictionin "La Hegyi, Ottmar. Cervantes Gran Sultana' and "El amante liberar. Newark,DE: Juande la Cuesta, 1992. Helgerson,Richard.A SonnetfromCarthage:Garcilasode la Vega and theNew Poetryof Sixteenth-Century Europe.Philadelphia:U of PennsylvaniaP, 2007. Fernando de. Relacin de la guerrade Ciprey sucesode la batalla naval de LepHerrera, anto. Coleccin de documentos inditospara la historiade Espaa 21 (1852): 261-382. Hess, Andrew D. "The Mediterraneanand Shakespeare's Geopolitical Imagination." In "The Tempest"and Its Travels.Ed. Peter Hulme and William H. Sherman. Philadelphia: U of PennsylvaniaP, 2000. 121-30. PainterofCharlesV and His Conquestof Tunis. Horn, HendrikJ.JanCorneliszVermeyen, Doornspijk,Neth.: Davaco, 1989. Carroll B. Cervantes and theMaterial World.Urbana: U of Illinois P, 2000. Johnson, Kamen, Henry. Empire: How Spain Became a WorldPower,1492-1763.New York: HarperCollins,2003. de la programacinpica en La Araucana." CuaderLagos, Ramona. "El incumplimiento nosAmericanos 40 (1981): 157-91. Lida de Malkiel, Rosa. Dido en la literaturaespaola: su retratoy defensa. London: Tamesis,1974. Lpez de Toro, Jos.Los poetas de Lepanto.Madrid: InstitutoHistrico de Marina, 1950. Lupher,David A. Romans in a New World:Classical Models in Sixteenth-Century Spanish America.Ann Arbor:U of Michigan P, 2003. Nicolopulos, James. The Poetics of Empire in the Indies: Prophecyand Imitationin La Araucana and Os Lusadas. University Park: PennsylvaniaState UP, 2000. . "Reading and Respondingto the Amorous Episodes of theAraucana in Colonial Peru." Caltope:Journal 4.1-2 oftheSociety forRenaissanceand Baroque Hispanic Poetry (1998): 227-47. Padrn, Ricardo. "Love AmericanStyle:The VirginLand and Sodomitic Body in Ercilla's Araucana." Revistade EstudiosHispnicos34 (2000): 561-84.
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. The Spacious Word:Cartography, and Empirein EarlyModern Spain. Literature, Chicago: U of Chicago P, 2004. The Grand Strategy Parker,Geoffrey. ofPhilipII. New Haven, CT: Yale UP, 1998. Pastor Bodmer, Beatriz. The Armatureof Conquest: Spanish Accountsof the Discovery of CA: StanfordUP, 1992. America,1492-1589. Stanford, Quint, David. Epic and Empire.Princeton,NJ:PrincetonUP, 1993. RodrguezGarca,JosMara. "Epos DelendumEst The Subject of Carthagein Garcilaso's " 'A Boscn desdeLa Goleta'. Hispanic Review66 (1998): 151-70. Schwartzde Lerner,La. "Tradicin literariay heronas indias en La Araucana." Revista Iberoamericana 38.81(1972): 615-25. 1450-1650. Woodbridge,UK: BoydellP, Strong,Roy.Artand Power:RenaissanceFestivals, 1984. Tanner,Marie. The Last DescendantofAeneas: The Hapsburgsand theMythic Image ofthe New Haven, CT: Yale UP, 1993. Emperor. International Tracy, James.EmperorCharles V, Impresarioof War: Campaign Strategy, Finance,and DomesticPolitics.Cambridge,UK: Cambridge UP, 2002.

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The Dido Episode in Ercilla's La Araucana and the Critique of Empire Author(s): Karina Galperin Source: Hispanic Review,

The Dido Araucana

TorcuatoDi Telia,Buenos Aires Universidad

: the dido episode in ercilla's Galperin

: the dido episode in ercilla's Galperin

: the dido episode in ercilla's Galperin

: the dido episode in ercilla's Galperin

: the dido episode in ercilla's Galperin

: the dido episode in ercilla's Galperin

: the dido episode in ercilla's Galperin

: the dido episode in e rc il la 's la araucana Galperin

Mediterranean Context Dido and the

: the dido episode in ercilla's Galperin

: the dido episode in ercilla's Galperin

: the dido episode in ercilla's Galperin

: the dido episode in ercilla's Galperin

: the dido episode in ercilla's Galperin

see Tanner. 25. Forthistopic,

in thedebatesabouttheSpanishcon26. For thepresence of theRomanmodelof imperialism see Lupher. questofAmerica,

: the dido episode in ercilla's Galperin

: the dido episode in ercilla's Galperin

: the dido episode in ercilla's Galperin

- Hispanic review : winter 66 f 2009

: the dido episode in e rc il la 's la araucana Galperin

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