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Document Details : Title: Wer das Schachspiel an den lombardischen Fluss Serio brachte Subtitle: Zu Vidas Scacchia ludus (1527) Author(s): AUMÜLLER, Matthias Journal: Humanistica Lovaniensia Volume: 71 Issue: 2 Date: 2022 Pages: 247-268 DOI: 10.2143/HLO.71.2.3292321 Abstract : Marco Girolamo Vida is one of the most famous Renaissance writers. His poem Scacchia ludus is about a chess game between the gods Apollo and Mercury. Since its official publication in 1527, new editions and numerous translations appeared in various languages, eleven into German alone. A review of some of these translations reveals different solutions for a certain passage at the end of the poem, which describes in an aetiological narrative how the game of chess found its way to mankind. First, I shall document differing proposals for who gives the chess set to the river nymph Scacchis: the or a god (literally), Jupiter, Mercury. Next, I will discuss the advantages and disadvantages of these solutions. The third section shows by means of a comparison with an older version of the poem that a longer section of text has been omitted. This omitted passage mainly deals with Apollo. So, my argument is that it is him who delivers the chess set. This harmonises better with (a) what this god probably meant to Vida, (b) how the chess game is depicted in the poem, and (c) how Mercury is depicted. In the last section, I address two objections. |
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