__NOTOC__ Michele di Bartolomeo degli Odasi (c. 1450–1492),

pen name A pen name or nom-de-plume is a pseudonym (or, in some cases, a variant form of a real name) adopted by an author and printed on the title page or by-line of their works in place of their real name. A pen name may be used to make the author's na ...

Tifi (dagli) Odasi ( Latinized as ''Tifetus'' or ''Typhis Odaxius''), was an

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance languag ...

poet and author of

macaronic Macaronic language is any expression using a mixture of languages, particularly bilingual puns or situations in which the languages are otherwise used in the same context (rather than simply discrete segments of a text being in different langua ...

verse. Very little is known of his biography, apart that he was born and died at

Padua Padua ( ) is a city and ''comune'' (municipality) in Veneto, northern Italy, and the capital of the province of Padua. The city lies on the banks of the river Bacchiglione, west of Venice and southeast of Vicenza, and has a population of 20 ...

. Tifi Odasi is best known as the author of ''Macaronea'', a burlesque

poem Poetry (from the Greek language, Greek word ''poiesis'', "making") is a form of literature, literary art that uses aesthetics, aesthetic and often rhythmic qualities of language to evoke meaning (linguistics), meanings in addition to, or in ...

mixing

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 ...

and Italian dialects ( Tuscan and Venetian of Padua). Some scholars conjecture that Tifi Odasi was the author of ''Nobile Vigoncae opus'' ("The Work of Noble Vigonza"), another work in macaronic Latin. The attribution is not widely accepted, however.

''Macaronea''

''Macaronea'' or ''Carmen Macaronicum de Patavinisis'' ("Macaronic Song from Padua") is a comical poem by Tifi Odasi. The poem tells of a prank played on an

apothecary ''Apothecary'' () is an Early Modern English, archaic English term for a medicine, medical professional who formulates and dispenses ''materia medica'' (medicine) to physicians, surgeons and patients. The modern terms ''pharmacist'' and, in Brit ...

by a band of university students called ''macaronea secta''. It is written in a mix of Latin and Italian, in

hexameter Hexameter is a metrical line of verses consisting of six feet (a "foot" here is the pulse, or major accent, of words in an English line of poetry; in Greek as well as in Latin a "foot" is not an accent, but describes various combinations of s ...

verse (as would befit a classical Latin poem). It reads as a

satire Satire is a genre of the visual, literary, and performing arts, usually in the form of fiction and less frequently non-fiction, in which vices, follies, abuses, and shortcomings are held up to ridicule, often with the intent of exposin ...

of the bogus humanism and pedantism of doctors, scholars and bureaucrats of the time. The year of first printing is not indicated on the book itself, but is believed to be 1488 or 1489. The author's pen name is given as "Tifi" in the frontispice, and as "Tifetus" in an

acrostic An acrostic is a poem or other word composition in which the ''first'' letter (or syllable, or word) of each new line (or paragraph, or other recurring feature in the text) spells out a word, message or the alphabet. The term comes from the Fre ...

that precedes the text. The title of the poem is thought to come from ''maccerone'', a kind of

pasta Pasta (, ; ) is a type of food typically made from an Leavening agent, unleavened dough of wheat flour mixed with water or Eggs as food, eggs, and formed into sheets or other shapes, then cooked by boiling or baking. Pasta was originally on ...

dumpling Dumplings are a broad class of dishes that consist of pieces of cooked dough (made from a variety of starchy sources), often wrapped around a filling. The dough can be based on bread, wheat or other flours, or potatoes, and it may be filled wi ...

eaten by peasants at the time. The poem was a success; it was reprinted several times, and inspired many other ''Macaronea'' in the following decades. The following excerpt describes the preparation for a magical rite where a

duck Duck is the common name for numerous species of waterfowl in the family (biology), family Anatidae. Ducks are generally smaller and shorter-necked than swans and goose, geese, which are members of the same family. Divided among several subfam ...

would be served:

References

External links

Tifi Odasi's biography
i
Biografias y Vidas
* in
Notes on Italian literature at the Italian Ministry of University and Research
{{DEFAULTSORT:Odasi, Tifi 1450s births 1492 deaths Writers from Padua Italian poets Italian male poets 15th-century Italian writers

''Macaronea''

See also

References

External links