Renaissance epic under the classical rules is Camões’ LU-
SIAD, in which the excitement of Portugal’s imperial ad-
venture in the East breathes new spirit into the ancient
conventions.
Growing unease with national or family pride as war-
ranting the high seriousness of epic treatment led some
poets to turn to religious themes for their subject matter.
La Semaine (1578) of DU BARTASachieves epic dignity in its
theme (the creation of the world) and occasionally in its
treatment. The Christian theme was also exploited in
17th-century England, by Abraham Cowley in his unfin-
ished Davideis (1656) and, of course, by Milton in Par-
adise Lost and Paradise Regained (1671).
Further reading: A. Bartlett Giamatti, Earthly Par-
adise and the Renaissance Epic (New York: W. W. Norton,
1999).
Epicurus (341–270 BCE) Greek philosopher. He was bet-
ter known in the Middle Ages by repute than by any sur-
viving writings, but he was generally mentioned with
disapproval by Christian authors, who travestied his phi-
losophy as teaching that the highest good is pleasure,
while omitting to note that Epicurus defined pleasure as
the practice of virtue. His atomism also was objectionable
in that it suggested a random material origin for the
world, as opposed to a divine plan. Finally, his doctrine
that the gods did not involve themselves with human af-
fairs contradicted Christian belief in divine intervention
through the Incarnation. Epicureanism and atheism were
therefore frequently bracketed. Debate about his philoso-
phy was fueled in the Renaissance after the discovery of
the work of his major Roman follower, LUCRETIUS.
Epistolae obscurorum virorum (Letters of Obscure
Men) A brilliant satire originating in the controversy be-
tween the humanist Johann REUCHLINand the converted
Jew Johann Pfefferkorn (1469–1522). Pfefferkorn, sup-
ported by a number of theologians, wanted Hebrew litera-
ture confiscated and destroyed, while Reuchlin, who had
initiated HEBREW STUDIESin Germany, pleaded for tolera-
tion; a bitter feud developed. In 1514, in self-defense,
Reuchlin published some letters from eminent European
scholars to him, the Clarorum virorum epistolae (Letters of
famous men). The Epistolae obscurorum virorum appeared
anonymously the following year, written mainly by the
humanist Crotus Rubeanus; ostensibly they were letters
from sycophantic academic theologians to one of Pfeffer-
korn’s supporters, Ortivin Gratius, but they were soon rec-
ognized as a humanist joke. In them the fictitious
theologians reveal themselves as petty and complacent,
occupied with the most trivial scholastic problems, food,
drink, and sex. Their absurd names and appalling Latin
intensify the humor. In 1517 another book of letters ap-
peared, more directly concerned with the Reuchlin affair
(mainly by Ulrich von HUTTEN). The Epistolae resulted in
much advantageous publicity for Reuchlin’s stance and for
the humanist cause.equestrian monuments Statues of rulers or military
leaders on horseback were a tradition revived in the Ital-
ian Renaissance on the basis of antique depictions of
Roman emperors or soldiers. Only one freestanding impe-
rial statue of this type survived intact: the statue of Em-
peror Marcus Aurelius (ruled 160–80 CE) in Rome, which
was wrongly believed to be of the first Christian emperor,116644 EEppiiccuurruussEquestrian monumentsDonatello’s
equestrian statue of Il Gattamelata, the
Padua-born captain-general of Venice.
Cast in the 1440s, it was erected in 1453
in the Piazza de Santo, Padua, where it
still stands by the basilica.
The Bridgeman Art Library