La description de Troie et ses avatars dans le Roman de Troie en prose du XIIIe siècle

Abstract

The success of the Trojan legend in the Middle Ages is mainly seen in the huge posterity known by the Roman de Troie by Benoît de Sainte-Maure in its translations into prose in the 13th century. Some important transformations can be observed from versus to prose, like the evolution of a basic motif for the versifier, the description of Troie. Although the novels in prose are obviously influenced by Benoît, with regard to the structure and the representation of a strong and courteous space, there are deep differences due to the absence of rhymes and the drastic abbreviatio. They offer a more realistic description while suppressing, reworking, interpolating and specifying. The splendid legendary town, one of the keys for reading Benoît's novel, has becomed a « historical » town with a less imaginary meaning. The description which was both suggestion and representation becomes a mere representation. However, this evolution means some loss of descriptive matter, which raises questions about the place of the description in the 13th century's prose.

Memnon in the Middle Ages: The Reception of a Homeric Hero

“…31 Benoît drew on the accounts by Dares and Dictys but amplified them through the addition of descriptions of people and places. 32 In this text, Memnon appears in two sections: in the catalogue of Trojan allies and in his combat with Achilles. Benoît's portrait of Memnon celebrates his physical strength, his focus on action not words and his martial achievements: King Memnon was noble and tall and a very agreeable knight.…”