Virgilian Descents to the Underworld in Sixteenth-Century French Literature

VIRGILIAN DESCENTS TO THE UNDERWORLD IN SIXTEENTH-CENTURY FRENCH LITERATURE

DianeS. Wood

Montaigne's metaphor which identifies the creative process with bees making honey aptly describes how an author transforms his sources to make a new and unique work of literature: "Les abeilles pillotent deca, dela les fleurs, mais elles en font apres Ie miel, qui est tout leur; ce n'est plus thin ny marjolaine: ainsi les pieces empruntees d'autruy, illes transformera et confondera, pour en faire un ouvrage tout sien ... " (liThe bees plunder the flowers here and there, but afterward they make of them honey, which is all theirs; it is no longer thyme or marjoram. Even so with the pieces borrowed from others; he will transform and blend them to make a work that is all his own ... ").1 It follows from this analogy that the differences between several works inspired by the same source will shed light on how each author internalizes a stimulus and from it creates anew. La Seconde Epltre de ['Amant Vert (1505), by Jean Lemaire de Belges; Pantagruel, Chapter 30 (1532), by Fran'tois Rabelais; and the conclusion of Les Angoysses douloureuses qui procedent d'amours (1538), by Helisenne de Crenne, present the opportunity to see how differently three French humanists adapted the descent to the underworld found in the sixth book of Virgil's Aeneid. The descents by Rabelais and de Crenne, written within a six year span, have opposite tones and treat the source with differing degrees of latitude, but each shares common elements with

70 VIRGILIAN DESCENTS TO THE UNDERWORLD 71

Lemaire's Virgilian adaptation. After discussing the major features of Lemaire's version, I propose to contrast it first with Helisenne de Crenne's didactic one and then with Rabelais's parody in order to demonstrate how each made this episode from the epic his own, following his own at- titude towards humanistic imitation. Virgil's writings exerted a universal influence on Renaissance France. In her study of the Latin poet's impact on sixteenth-century letters, Alice Hulubei stated that not only were his works known by all persons possessing any acquaintance with literature, but that, in this period, Virgil served as "un excitant, un mod~le, un ideal."2 The three humanists studied here shared this respect for Virgil, and their writings contain numerous allusions to his poetry. Jean Lemaire wrote his long prose history for a goal similar to that of the author of the Aeneid, to promulgate the legend that, like Rome, the French monarchy was founded by a survivor of the Trojan royal house; Fran~ois Rabelais's cycle of novels about Pantagruel contains repeated references to the Latin poet; and Helisenne de Crenne published a prose translation of Books I-IV of the Aeneid. I will limit this discussion to the topic of the Virgilian descent theme and will not attempt to appraise Virgil's total influence on the three authors' literary works. In La Seconde Epttre de ['Amant Vert, Jean Lemaire enumerates the traditional features of the infernal landscape, including Tartarus, Elysium, and the four rivers of Hades- the Styx, the Acheron, the Phlegethon, and the Lethe. Charon, Cerberus, the Furies, and Minos fulfill their ex- pected roles as ferryman, watchdog, tormentors, and judge respectively within this familiar setting. Since the main character of the poem journeys to the underworld following his death, his entry is less complicated than that of Virgil's hero, and ritualistic ceremony and a protective talisman such as the golden bough prove unnecessary. Mercury, the customary guide for departed souls, replaces the Cumean Sibyl, traveling through the air by means of his winged shoes. There is no account of a physical descent into the earth. The basic framework of the episode so closely follows