El Abencerraje como problema heroico: Una lectura según modelos homéricos

Abstract

Despite the deep epic and mythological relations that the Abencerraje presents and the knowledge in this area of the alleged author, Antonio de Villegas, we still lack of studies connecting the work with Homeric patterns. This paper represents an effort to illustrate how the quest for beauty that initially was understood as the retrieving of the beloved lady, ultimately becomes an ethical quest that favors heroic asceticism. We will critically review about the characters of Narváez and Abindarráez, their presumed differences, their commitment to attain public esteem, their detachment from sensual pleasures in order to complete a chivalrous and warlike paradigm. Finally, we stop at the cosmology that the work presents in order to explain an oppressive religious system masquerading as Christianity, but that basically contains much of the Greek concept of the envy of the gods.