Natalis Comes
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Natale Conti or
Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...
Natalis Comes, also Natalis de Comitibus and French Noël le Comte (15201582), was an Italian mythographer, poet,
humanist Humanism is a philosophical stance that emphasizes the individual and social potential, and agency of human beings, whom it considers the starting point for serious moral and philosophical inquiry. The meaning of the term "humanism" ha ...
and historian. His major work ''Mythologiae'', ten books written in
Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...
, was first published in Venice in 1567 and became a standard source for
classical mythology Classical mythology, also known as Greco-Roman mythology or Greek and Roman mythology, is the collective body and study of myths from the ancient Greeks and ancient Romans. Mythology, along with philosophy and political thought, is one of the m ...
in later Renaissance Europe. It was reprinted in numerous editions; after 1583, these were appended with a treatise on the
Muses In ancient Greek religion and Greek mythology, mythology, the Muses (, ) were the Artistic inspiration, inspirational goddesses of literature, science, and the arts. They were considered the source of the knowledge embodied in the poetry, lyric p ...
by Geoffroi Linocier. By the end of the 17th century, his name was virtually synonymous with mythology: a French dictionary in defining the term ''mythologie'' noted that it was the subject written about by Natalis Comes. Conti believed that the ancient poets had meant for their presentations of myths to be read as
allegory As a List of narrative techniques, literary device or artistic form, an allegory is a wikt:narrative, narrative or visual representation in which a character, place, or event can be interpreted to represent a meaning with moral or political signi ...
, and accordingly constructed intricate genealogical associations within which he found layers of meaning. Since Conti was convinced that the lost philosophy of
Classical Antiquity Classical antiquity, also known as the classical era, classical period, classical age, or simply antiquity, is the period of cultural History of Europe, European history between the 8th century BC and the 5th century AD comprising the inter ...
could be recovered through understanding these allegories, "The most apocryphical and outlandish versions of classical and pseudo-classical tales," notes
Ernst Gombrich Sir Ernst Hans Josef Gombrich (; ; 30 March 1909 – 3 November 2001) was an Austrian-born art historian who, after settling in England in 1936, became a naturalised British citizen in 1947 and spent most of his working life in the United Ki ...
, "are here displayed and commented upon as the ultimate esoteric wisdom." Taking a Euhemeristic approach, Conti thought that the characters in myth were idealized human beings, and that the stories contained philosophical insights syncretized through the ages and veiled so that only "initiates" would grasp their true meaning. His interpretations were often shared by other Renaissance writers, notably by
Francis Bacon Francis Bacon, 1st Viscount St Alban (; 22 January 1561 – 9 April 1626) was an English philosopher and statesman who served as Attorney General and Lord Chancellor of England under King James I. Bacon argued for the importance of nat ...
in his long-overlooked ''De Sapientia Veterum'', 1609. In some cases, his interpretation might seem commonplace even in modern mythology: for Conti, the
centaur A centaur ( ; ; ), occasionally hippocentaur, also called Ixionidae (), is a creature from Greek mythology with the upper body of a human and the lower body and legs of a horse that was said to live in the mountains of Thessaly. In one version o ...
represents " man's dual nature," both animal passions and higher intellectual faculties.
Odysseus In Greek mythology, Greek and Roman mythology, Odysseus ( ; , ), also known by the Latin variant Ulysses ( , ; ), is a legendary Greeks, Greek king of Homeric Ithaca, Ithaca and the hero of Homer's Epic poetry, epic poem, the ''Odyssey''. Od ...
, for instance, becomes an Everyman whose wanderings represent a universal life cycle: Despite or because of its eccentricities, the ''Mythologiae'' inspired the use of myth in various art forms. A second edition, printed in Venice in 1568 and dedicated to Charles IX, like the first edition, was popular in France, where it served as a source for the '' Ballet comique de la Reine'' (1581), part of wedding festivities at court. The ''Ballet'' was a musical drama with dancing set in an elaborate recreation of the island of
Circe In Greek mythology, Circe (; ) is an enchantress, sometimes considered a goddess or a nymph. In most accounts, Circe is described as the daughter of the sun god Helios and the Oceanid Perse (mythology), Perse. Circe was renowned for her vast kn ...
. The surviving text associated with the performance presents four allegorical expositions, based explicitly on Comes' work: physical or natural, moral, temporal, and logical or interpretive. The allegorization of myth was criticized during the
Romantic era Romanticism (also known as the Romantic movement or Romantic era) was an artistic and intellectual movement that originated in Europe towards the end of the 18th century. The purpose of the movement was to advocate for the importance of subjec ...
;
Benedetto Croce Benedetto Croce, ( , ; 25 February 1866 – 20 November 1952) was an Italian idealist philosopher, historian, and politician who wrote on numerous topics, including philosophy, history, historiography, and aesthetics. A Cultural liberalism, poli ...
said that medieval and Renaissance literature and art presented only the "impoverished shell of myth." The 16th-century mythological manuals of Conti and others came to be regarded as pedantic and lacking aesthetic or intellectual coherence. Nor were criticisms of Conti confined to later times: Joseph Scaliger, twenty years his junior, called him "an utterly useless man" and advised Setho Calvisio not to use him as a source. Conti, whose family (according to his own statement) originated in
Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...
, was born in
Milan Milan ( , , ; ) is a city in northern Italy, regional capital of Lombardy, the largest city in Italy by urban area and the List of cities in Italy, second-most-populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of nea ...
. He described himself as "Venetian"For example, on the title page of his translation of
Athenaeus Athenaeus of Naucratis (, or Nαυκράτιος, ''Athēnaios Naukratitēs'' or ''Naukratios''; ) was an ancient Greek rhetorician and Grammarian (Greco-Roman), grammarian, flourishing about the end of the 2nd and beginning of the 3rd century ...
' '' Deipnosophists'': "''Athenaei Dipnosophistarum sive coenae sapientium libri XV, Natale de Comitibus Veneto nunc primum e Graeca in Latinam linguam vertente''" (Venice, 1556).
because his working life was spent in
Venice Venice ( ; ; , formerly ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 islands that are separated by expanses of open water and by canals; portions of the city are li ...
.


Notes


Further reading

*''Natale Conti's Mythologiae'', translated and annotated by John Mulryan and Steven Brown, vol. 1-2 (Tempe: Arizona Center for Medieval and Renaissance Studies (ACMRS), 2006) (Medieval and Renaissance Texts and Studies, 316). (Vol. 1), (Vol. 2). *''Natale Conti, Mitología'', translation with notes and introduction by Rosa María Iglesias Montiel and Maria Consuelo Álvarez Morán (Universidad de Murcia, 1988). In Spanish. Navigat
table of contents
to download chapters. * Maria Consuelo Álvarez Morán and Rosa María Iglesias Montiel, "Algunas lecturas de textos latinos en la ''Mythologia'' de Natalis Comes," ''Cuadernos de Filología Clásica'' 20 (1986) 31-39, full tex
downloadable.
* Maria Consuelo Álvarez Morán and Rosa María Iglesias Montiel, "Natale Conti, estudioso y transmisor de textos clásicos" in ''Los humanistas españoles y el humanismo europeo'' (Murcia, 1990), pp. 33–47. * Maria Consuelo Álvarez Morán, Rosa María Iglesias Montiel, "Isacius en la Mythologia de Natalis Comes", ''Euphrosyne'' 31 (2003) 395-402. * Virgilio Costa, "I frammenti di Filocoro tràditi da Boccaccio e Natale Conti", in E. Lanzillotta (ed.), Ricerche di Antichità e Tradizione Classica (Edizioni TORED, Tivoli oma 2004), pp. 117–147. * Virgilio Costa, "Natale Conti e la divulgazione della mitologia classica in Europa tra Cinquecento e Seicento", in E. Lanzillotta (ed.), Ricerche di Antichità e Tradizione Classica (Edizioni TORED, Tivoli oma 2004), pp. 257–311. * Virgilio Costa, "«Quum mendaciis fallere soleat». Ancora sui frammenti della storiografia greca tràditi da Natale Conti", in C. Braidotti - E. Dettori - E. Lanzillotta (eds.), οὐ πᾶν ἐφήμερον. Scritti in memoria di Roberto Pretagostini, vol. II (Università di Roma Tor Vergata, 2009), pp. 915–925. * Rosa María Iglesias Montiel and Consuelo Álvarez Morán, "Los manuales mitológicos del Renacimiento", ''Auster'' 3 (1998). 83-99. * Giuseppe Nastasi, "Natale Conti traduttore del Περὶ σχημάτων di Alessandro", Studi medievali e umanistici (2021), pp. 59-102. * Robert Thake, "A largely unexplored account of the Great Siege", Treasures of Malta, Vol XVIII No.1, (Christmas, 2011).


External links

*
Images from a 1616 edition
{{DEFAULTSORT:Comes, Natalis 1520 births 1582 deaths Italian male writers Mythographers Italian Renaissance humanists 16th-century Italian writers Duchy of Milan people