Torquato Tasso

Epicurus would be to remain cool and detached, either by letting desire fade, or engaging in sexual relations purely for physical satisfaction. The early Christian tradition, however, took the primacy of love without reservation as the ultimate ideal as prescribed in the Old Testament and New Testament. This presents an explicit and enchanting alternative to the ancient philosophy of Epicureanism. Verdi in his tragic opera, La Traviata, and Plato in his philosophical musings, in a lesser way, attempt to show the differences in the Lucretius version and the Christian model of love. But two Christian intellectual and artistic giants, Augustine of Hippo and Torquato Tasso, unite under the common thought that purified love – agape – gift of self to the other - is the linchpin of human flourishing. In each of their own ways, Augustine and Tasso disassemble the two Epicurean ideals surrounding worldly pleasure and attachments and attempt to prove the model for enduring happiness is an enchanting love – a more purified love – which is an integration of the whole human person - of the heart, the intellect and the will. Epicurus and Lucretius believed in a reductive materialism, that only the material world is truly relevant. The cosmos can be understood if broken down into its most basic scientific components, atoms. The atomic vision of these two men had a little to do with experimentation, but more to do with observation. Atoms represented everything that was simple,…

Torquato Tasso, an Italian poet, was popular throughout Europe; he was so popular that Pope Clement VIII proposed to crown him the king of the poets. Tasso was a prominent poet throughout Europe, so his works helped to spread Italian in not only Italy, but throughout the surrounding countries. His work was widely accepted by, arguably, the most important man in Europe at the time, the Pope. The popularity and prevalence of authors other than Dante using Italian did much to spread the use of the…

Whether historians can prove or disprove an epic ten years war, surviving myths give the modern day reader a look at Trojan War heroes from three thousand years ago. Surviving myths tell of many great soldiers, but two warriors stand out as examples of epic heroes. The two warriors are Achilles of Greece and Hector of Tory. While both possess many notable epic hero characteristics, Hector is the better epic hero because his life's end tragically ; he preforms brave deeds; and he is…

This painting depicts the sorceress, Armida with her vibrant red cape billowing in the wind putting a limp army dressed Rinaldo under a spell while a naked nymph comes out of rushing waters and while cupid fly’s above in the gloomy clouds. Rinaldo and Armida was painted by Sir Anthony Van Dyck in 1629. The painting is based off of the poem, Jersalem Delivered by Torquato Tasso. The scene takes place during the First Crusade. Jerusalem is being overthrown by the Romans. Armida is a sorceress who…

population lives changed little since the Middle Ages. The Italian Renaissance was a period of great cultural change my a lot of male achievements in Europe. It extended from the late 13th century until the 1600s about Europe's transition were marked since the Middle Ages Modern age until the line of Europe. The term Renaissance is essentially a modern, which came in the currency in the nineteenth century. Italian Renaissance is best known for its cultural achievements. The literature of the…