Ariosto's Orlando Furioso

663 Words2 Pages

Ariosto8217s Orlando Furioso

Even in the classics, an author must have something outrageous to keep his reader’s attention. Ariosto, in his Orlando Furioso, does so with winged horses and curses placed upon high ranking officials. The main character in cantos 33-35 is Astolfo, and he starts his journey by riding upon a hippogryph. A hippogryph, in mythology, is a flying animal having the wings, claws, and head of a griffin and the body and hindquarters of a horse. Astolfo rides this winged horse for quite awhile, journey through many different lands. During this time, the hippogryph has control over where Astolfo goes, and they end at Ethiopia.

In Ethiopia, it is said “that fire is used in baptism (canto 33: 102)” which proves the Emperor Senapo’s influence. The land is covered in gold, and everything Astolfo would use iron for was gold. There were gems and precious jewels everywhere, and the lines describe how the Emperor of Ethiopia has absolute power over even the Sultan of Egypt, because the Emperor controls the flow of the Nile. There was never an Emperor more powerful or rich, but Senapo was afflicted with lost eyesight and a horrible curse that wouldn’t allow him to eat any meal in peace.

These hardships occurred when Senapo was a young man and very arrogant. He decided to battle against God Himself, and climbed the very mountain that the fabled Adam and Eve lived upon. God became very angry with Senapo, and blinded him and opened the g...

Open Document