Filostrato (poem) facts for kids
Filostrato is a long poem written in the 1300s by a famous Italian poet named Giovanni Boccaccio. The word "Filostrato" means "one who is defeated by love." This poem tells a sad story about a young man named Troilo and his love for a woman named Criseyda during the Trojan War.
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Why is Filostrato Important?
Filostrato is a very important poem for a couple of big reasons. It helped shape how stories were told in the future.
A New Way to Write Poems
One reason Filostrato is special is that it was one of the very first long poems written using a style called ottava rima. This Italian phrase means "octave rhyme."
- What is Ottava Rima? It's a special way to write poetry. Each part, called a stanza, has eight lines. The lines follow a rhyming pattern like this: the first line rhymes with the third and fifth (A), the second with the fourth and sixth (B), and the last two lines rhyme with each other (CC). So, the pattern is ABABABCC. This style made poems flow nicely and was later used by many other poets.
Inspiring Other Writers
Another big reason Filostrato is important is that it was a main source for a very famous English poet, Geoffrey Chaucer. Chaucer used Boccaccio's story to write his own well-known poem called Troilus and Criseyde. This shows how ideas and stories can travel across different countries and inspire new works of art.
Where Did Boccaccio Get His Ideas?
Boccaccio didn't just make up the story of Troilo and Criseyda all by himself. He was inspired by older stories and writings. He looked at several sources to create his poem:
- Roman de Troie by Benôit de Sainte Maure
- Historia troiana by Guido delle Colonne
- A similar story by Binduccio dello Scelto
- Historia Troiae by Filippo Ceppi
By combining ideas from these older tales, Boccaccio created his own unique and powerful version of the story of love and loss during the Trojan War.
