Heroes & Legends | Guinevere - A Heroine with Many Faces (Lecture 4)

Lecture 4: In the 15th century, the Italian poet Matteo Boiardo asked himself why the story of King Arthur and his knights was popular across Europe, whereas the legend of King Charlemagne had never caught on. To Boiardo, the answer was obvious. Arthur and his knights became glorious per l’arme e per l’amore, “through arms and through love.” What the Arthur story had that the Charlemagne story didn’t was a love interest: Guinevere.

In this lecture, we’ll trace Guinevere’s disastrous affair with Lancelot across 10 centuries. In the process, we’ll see the effects of what may be the greatest change in cultural values in our history, one that still marks off the Western world from most other cultures on the globe.

Essential Reading:
Chrétien de Troyes (Owen, trans.), Arthurian Romances.
Malory (Vinaver, ed.), Le Morte Darthur.

Suggested Reading:
Cross and Nitze, Lancelot and Guenevere.
Field, The Life and Times of Sir Thomas Malory.
Walters, ed., Lancelot and Guinevere: A Casebook.

Lecture 5: https://www.bitchute.com/video/CtTK0hZlhFWY/