The Idea of the Labyrinth from Classical Antiquity through the Middle Ages 9781501738463

Ancient and medieval labyrinths embody paradox, according to Penelope Reed Doob. Their structure allows a double perspec

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· THE IDEA OF · THE LABYRINTH

·

THE IDEA OF

·

THE LABYRINTH from Classical Antiquity through the Middle Ages Penelope Reed Doob

CORNELL UNIVERSITY PRESS ITHACA AND LONDON

Open access edition funded by the National Endowment for the Humanities/Andrew W. Mellon Foundation Humanities Open Book Program. Copyright © 1990 by Cornell University First printing, Cornell Paperbacks, 1992 Second paperback printing 2019 All rights reserved. Except for brief quotations in a review, this book, or parts thereof, must not be reproduced in any form without permission in writing from the publisher. For information, address Cornell University Press, Sage House, 512 East State Street, Ithaca, New York 14850. Visit our website at cornellpress.cornell.edu. Printed in the United States of America ISBN 978-0-8014-2393-2 (cloth: alk. paper) ISBN 978-1-5017-3845-6 (pbk.: alk. paper) ISBN 978-1-5017-3846-3 (pdf) ISBN 978-1-5017-3847-0 (epub/mobi) Librarians: A CIP catalog record for this book is available from the Library of Congress An open access (OA) ebook edition of this title is available under the following Creative Commons license: Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0): https://creativecommons.org/licenses/ bync-nd/4.0/. For more information about Cornell University Press’s OA program or to download our OA titles, visit cornellopen.org. Jacket illustration: Photograph courtesy of the Soprintendenza Archeologica, Milan.

F or GrahamEric Parker worthy companion in multiplicitous mazes

and in memory of JudsonBoyceAllen and Constantin Patsalas

Contents

List of Plates

lX

Acknowledgments : Four Labyrinths

xi

Abbreviations

XVll

Introduction: Charting the Maze The Cretan Labyrinth Myth

1 11

PART ONE THE LABYRINTH IN THE CLASSICAL AND EARLY CHRISTIAN PERIODS

1 . The Literary Witness: Labyrinths in Pliny, Virgil, and Ovid

17

2.

39

The Labyrinth as Significant Form : Two Paradigms A clash o f paradigms 40 The multicursal model 46 The unicursal model 48 The essence of the maze 51

3 · A Taxonomy of Metaphorical Labyrinths

The labyrinth as a sign of complex artistry 66 The labyrinth as a sign of inextricability or impenetrability The labyrinth a s a sign o f difficult process 8 2

64 72

PART Two THE LABYRINTH IN THE MIDDLE AGES

4· Etymologies and Verbal Implications Vll

95

vm

Contents 5· Mazes in Medieval Art and Architecture

The three-dimensional labyrinth (buildings and gardens) Diagrammatic labyrinths 1 1 2 Turf and stone mazes 1 1 3 Labyrinths in churches 1 1 7 Labyrinths in manuscripts 1 33

6 . Moral Labyrinths in Medieval Literature The mythographers 1 48 Moral labyrinths in other literature Readings of selected texts 1 65 The Gesta Romanorum 1 65 Il Corbaccio 1 67 The Assembly of Ladies 1 7 1 La Queste del Saint Graal 1 7 5

103

101

1 45

1 55

7 . Textual Labyrinths : Toward a Labyrinthine Aesthetic Labyrinthine Inventio 1 98 Labyrinthine Dispositio 20 1 Labyrinthine Elocutio 2 1 1 Difficult process 2 1 3

PART THREE LABYRINTHS OF WoRDs: CENTRAL TEXTS AND INTERTEXTUALITIES

8. Virgil's Aeneid

227

g. Boethius's Consolation of Philosophy

2 54

1 0 . Dante's Divine Comedy

The labyrinthine landscape 2 8 1 The labyrinthine journey 2 8 7 The myth transformed and reenacted

1 1 . Chaucer's House of Fame

Appendix: Labyrinths in Manuscripts Index

27 1 294

307 34 1 343

List of Plates

I.

2. 3· 4· 5·

6. 7· 8. 9· 10. II.

1 2. •3 · •4· •5 ·

16. •7·

Prehistoric Cretan-style labyrinth rock carving from Rocky Valley, near Tintagel, Cornwall Labyrinth from the Tragliatella wine-pitcher (Etruscan, seventh century B . c . ) Roman mosaic labyrinth, Via Cadolini, Cremona Early multicursal labyrinth, adapted from Claude Paradin's Devises hero'iques

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