Scanderbeide : the heroic deeds of George Scanderbeg, King of Epirus

492 Pages·2006·2.7 MB·English

by  Scanderbeg

SCANDERBEIDE
THE
OTHER VOICE
IN
EARLY MODERN
EUROPE
A Series Edited by Margaret L. King and Albert Rabil Jr.
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Margherita Sarrocchi
S C A N D E R B E I D E
The Heroic Deeds of George Scanderbeg,
King of Epirus
Edited and Translated
by Rinaldina Russell
THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO PRESS
Chicago & London
Margherita Sarrocchi, c. 1560–1617
Rinaldina Russellis professor emerita of European languages and literatures at
the City University of New York, Queens College. Among her publications
areSister Maria Celeste’s Letters to Her Father, Galileo(2001) and an edition of
Tullia d’Aragona’s Dialogue on the Infinity of Love(1997), the latter published by
the University of Chicago Press.
The University of Chicago Press, Chicago 60637
The University of Chicago Press, Ltd., London
© 2006 by The University of Chicago
All rights reserved. Published 2006
Printed in the United States of America
15 14 13 12 11 10 09 08 07 06 1 2 3 4 5
ISBN-13: 978-0-226-73507-8 (cloth)
ISBN-13: 978-0-226-73508-5 (paper)
ISBN-10: 0-226-73507-9 (cloth)
ISBN-10: 0-226-73508-7 (paper)
The University of Chicago Press gratefully acknowledges the generous support of
James E. Rabil, in memory of Scottie W. Rabil, toward the publication of this book.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Sarrocchi, Margherita, ca. 1560–1617.
[Scanderbeide. English]
Scanderbeide : the heroic deeds of George Scanderberg, King of Epirus /
Margherita Sarrocchi ; edited and translated by Rinaldina Russell.
p. cm. — (The other voice in early modern Europe)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN0-226-73507-9 (cloth : alk. paper) —
ISBN0-226-73508-7 (pbk. : alk. paper)
1. Scanderberg, 1405–1468—Poetry. I. Russell, Rinaldina. II. Title. III. Series.
PQ4634.S163S3313 2006
851'.5—dc22
2006010779
(cid:2) The paper used in this publication meets the minimum
requirements of the American National Standard for Information Sciences—
Permanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials, ANSI Z39.48-1992.
CONTENTS
Acknowledgments vii
Series Editors’ Introduction ix
Margherita Sarrocchi and the Writing of the Scanderbeide 1
Volume Editor’s Bibliography 45
Note on Translation 59
Cast of Main Characters 63
Scanderbeide: A Prose Translation
Canto 1 75
From Canto 2 100
Canto 3 113
Canto 5 139
From Canto 6 164
Canto 7 179
Canto 9 204
Canto 10 223
From Canto 13 240
From Canto 14 263
From Canto 15 274
From Canto 17 290
From Canto 18 295
From Canto 19 313
From Canto 20 324
Canto 21 349
Canto 22 366
Canto 23 387
Appendix: Excerpts from Cantos 5, 6, 13, and 22 in Italian 403
Glossary 427
Series Editors’ Bibliography 441
Index 455
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The prose translation of this epic poem on a “holy war” was done in the
spirit of scholarship and of historical truth. I owe my gratitude to the
editors of the series for their continued support and to the National
Endowment for the Humanities for my share of a grant awarded to a col-
lective project of which translating the Scanderbeide was a part. Special
thanks are due to Albert Rabil for his thoughtful attention and for provid-
ing all the editorial competence any scholar would wish.
Rinaldina Russell
vii

THE OTHER VOICE IN
EARLY MODERN EUROPE:
INTRODUCTION TO THE SERIES
Margaret L. King and Albert Rabil Jr.
THE OLD VOICE AND THE OTHER VOICE
In western Europe and the United States, women are nearing equality in
the professions, in business, and in politics. Most enjoy access to educa-
tion, reproductive rights, and autonomy in financial affairs. Issues vital to
women are on the public agenda: equal pay, child care, domestic abuse,
breast cancer research, and curricular revision with an eye to the inclusion
of women.
These recent achievements have their origins in things women (and
some male supporters) said for the first time about six hundred years ago.
Theirs is the “other voice,” in contradistinction to the “first voice,” the
voice of the educated men who created Western culture. Coincident
with a general reshaping of European culture in the period 1300–1700
(called the Renaissance or early modern period), questions of female
equality and opportunity were raised that still resound and are still
unresolved.
The other voice emerged against the backdrop of a three-thousand-
year history of the derogation of women rooted in the civilizations related
to Western culture: Hebrew, Greek, Roman, and Christian. Negative atti-
tudes toward women inherited from these traditions pervaded the intellec-
tual, medical, legal, religious, and social systems that developed during the
European Middle Ages.
The following pages describe the traditional, overwhelmingly male
views of women’s nature inherited by early modern Europeans and the new
tradition that the “other voice” called into being to begin to challenge
reigning assumptions. This review should serve as a framework for under-
standing the texts published in the series the Other Voice in Early Modern
Europe. Introductions specific to each text and author follow this essay in
ix
all the volumes of the series.