Mirages and disappointments in viceroyal Naples: Journeys to Parnassus by Cervantes and Cortese

Abstract

Miguel de Cervantes and Giulio Cesare Cortese shared the same aspirations of entering the literary court of the seventh Conde de Lemos in Naples during the viceroys. Basing themselves on their mastery of poetry, both claimed such ambition was legitimate, an ambition nevertheless destined for painful failure. This article analyses themes and tones common to their Parnassian dreams, devoting particular attention to Cortese’s Viaggio, which has new light shed on it by the study of an unpublished collection of verse by the father of Neapolitan poetry.