Classical Myth and the 'Polifemo' of Góngora

I Introduction (p. 1)

While critics recognize the Po/í/emo (1613) and the Soledades (1612-13) as Góngora`s two major works, they have argued about which is the greater poem. Dámaso Alonso has called the Poüfemo Góngora`s "indiscutible obra maestra"! and David Foster has written recently that the So/edades may be more innovative than the Polifemo bul they are unfinished and thus not unified. The Polifemo, on the other hand, "represents more of a complete, organic whole."

Robert Jammes, recognizing the "perfection formelle" of the Polifemo, insists nevertheless that when it is seen against all Góngora`s work, it can only be considered a step toward the Soledades, which represent "le sommet" of Góngora`s poetic career.

While we may question the validity of saying that an incomplete poem is the better one, it is tempting to speculate about why Góngora finished the Polifemo but not the So/edades. Was his genius one that could make beautiful metaphors and build dramatic effects in poetry, but which needed an established narrative structure or model to work from?

And if so, why in this case did he choose Polyphemus and Calatea as a model? My study will show that it was not just the popularity of Polyphemus` song in Renaissance-Baroque Europe that attracted Góngora, or that the Polyphemus-Galatea theme had a long Classical tradition behind it, or that a younger Spanish poet, Luis Carillo de Sotomayor, had recently written a poem on the same theme.

Góngora was attracted also because the story had the potential for showing violent contrasts, for elaborating and then destroying something beautiful, and for presenting an alienated outsider to act against a fortúnate pair of lovers. These characteristics responded to conflicts in Góngora`s life and are present in other poems of his. I analyze three smaller poems than the Polifemo to make these characteristics evident.

It is difficult to know how Góngora put together the Soledades because, while we can identify individual tropes and figures, there is no overall model that it follows. The Polifemo, on the other hand, has a whole tradition behind it. My study examines how Góngora used these Classical sources when he wrote the Polifemo.

In order to understand how he worked in this large poem, however, it is helpful to look first at some smaller texts where we can see how Góngora uses clearly indentifiable received material. My research begins with three of Góngora`s smaller poems, works which antedate the Polifemo and the Soledades but are among his most successful poems in the opinión of critics.

These poems have the same themes as the Polifemo and are an economical way of showing how Góngora`s worked, on a smaller scale than the Polifemo. The sonnet "Mientras por competir con tu cabello" is based on the carpe diem tradition in general and specifically on the sonnets "Mentre che l`aureo crin v`ondeggia intorno" of Bernardo Tasso and "En tanto que de rosa y azucena" of Garcilaso de la Vega.

In his sonnet, Góngora recapitulates the tradition and carries it to its logical extreme in the famous ending. How he does this and what it tells us about his interest in the theme is important for my reading of the Polifemo.