and discusses poetic theory but also passes on popular
anecdotes about Dante and describes his appearance
and manners.
Boccaccio’s last work of Italian fi ction, Corbaccio
(Old Crow, 1355 or perhaps 1365), is a dream vision
in which a mocked lover, the narrator, encounters the
ghost of his lady’s husband. The ghost reveals the wife
as evil, turning the narrator’s love into hatred, and urges
him to compose a work that will bring the woman shame
instead of glory. This misogynistic tirade has left read-
ers perplexed. Some see it as angry, but others see it as
humorous—as a work meant to show us the narrator’s
double error, fi rst in falling in love and then in swerving
to the opposite extreme. Still others see it as a moral
lesson. On the one hand, the husband has been taken as
Boccaccio’s mouthpiece; on the other hand, the husband
has been seen as an infernal ghost who seeks to bring his
rival to harm. The title has been seen as referring to the
widow, to the husband, to lust, and to the harsh-voiced
book as a whole. The form of the book, a dream vision,
is reminiscent of Amorosa visione, which Boccaccio was
simultaneously revising.
Genealogie deorum gentilium (Genealogy of the
Pagan Gods), fi rst circulated c. 1360 but revised in
1372, contains further refl ections on poetry. In its fi fteen
books, classical myths are organized according to major
gods and their descendants. The myths are then glossed;
but although they are given natural, historical, or moral
meanings, they are not Christianized. Boccaccio had
frequently used classical myths in order to formulate
Christian meanings, but here he was concerned to dis-
cover what the ancients themselves might have meant
by these tales. The fi nal two books contain a defense of
literature and of the study of pagan writings. The work
remained a basic source about mythology for writers
and artists of the Renaissance.
De casibus virorum illustrium (The Fates of Il-
lustrious Men) was fi nished c. 1360 but was enlarged
later (1373–1374). It offers a series of examples of the
instability of worldly glory, running all the way from
Adam through King Arthur to contemporary cases but
mainly emphasizing classical history. Inserted among
these examples are famous chapters on the praise of
poverty, the combat between Poverty and Fortune, the
defense of literature, the nature of dreams, and other
topics. The work became known in England through
Lydgate’s Fall of Princes.
Boccaccio also took up the case of women, protest-
ing against their neglect by other historians, including
Petrarch. De mulieribus claris (On Famous Women),
written and revised several times between 1361 and
1375, presents biographies from Eve to Queen Giovanna
of Naples, i.e., it covers the same span of time as De
casibus. In Genealogie, Boccaccio had given historical
readings of some myths; similarly, in De mulieribus
claris he assumes that classical goddesses were human
women deifi ed for their contributions to human life;
thus Ceres, for example, is considered an early teacher
of agriculture. Boccaccio fi nds far fewer women to
praise in his own time than in the past. He celebrates
ancient women writers for their intellectual pursuits,
exhorting his contemporaries not to let their minds lie
idle. Christine de Pizan reworked these histories into
her feminist Book of the City of Ladies.
During the political crisis in Florence in 1360, sev-
eral of Boccaccio’s friends were exiled or killed. He
himself withdrew from Florence to Certaldo c. 1365.
In a letter of consolation (1361–1362) to his exiled
friend Pino de’ Rossi, Boccaccio declares the advent of
a new era: the path of the ancients, long overgrown, has
been cleared by Petrarch, and others may now follow
in his steps. This sense of a new opening also appears
in Boccaccio’s praise of Giotto (Decameron, 6.5) for
reviving an art long dead. Boccaccio himself also par-
ticipated in launching this new era, reviving classical
forms, themes, and histories. In contrast to his usual
humility, Genealogie contains his one boast—that he
had revived Greek studies (15.7):
Was it not I who intercepted Leontius Pilatus on his way
from Venice to the western Babylon [Avignon]...? Did
I not make the utmost effort personally that he should
be appointed professor [of Greek] in Florence, and his
salary paid out of the city’s funds [1360–1362]? Indeed
I did; and I too was the fi rst who, at my own expense,
called back to Tuscany the writings of Homer and of
other Greek authors, whence they had departed many
centuries before, never meanwhile to return.... I, too,
was the fi rst to hear Leontius privately render the Iliad
in Latin [1359–1360]; and I it was who tried to arrange
public readings from Homer.
Devotion to the classics, as Boccaccio argued in Ge-
nealogie, was in no way anti-Christian. In 1360–1361,
the pope gave Boccaccio a full dispensation for his
illegitimate birth, enabling him to hold some church
offi ce or benefi ce that probably provided him with an
income. Nonetheless, a message in 1362 from the holy
man Pietro Petroni, warning Petrarch and Boccaccio to
turn from literature to God or risk damnation, caused
Boccaccio serious misgivings. His fears were calmed
by Petrarch, who argued that although intellectual pur-
suits are not necessary to salvation, they offer a higher
way than simple faith. Petrarch even invited Boccaccio
to live with him, but Boccaccio preferred to remain
independent.
In 1363, Boccaccio did accept an invitation to live
at the court of Naples, bringing De mulieribus and
probably De casibus with him as a gift. His illusion of
ending his days comfortably as a great man at the court
were quickly shattered, however. In an angry letter, he
complained of having been lodged and fed with lowlyBOCCACCIO, GIOVANNI