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The Library of the World’s Best Literature. An Anthology in Thirty Volumes. 1917.
Lodovico Ariosto (1474–1533)
Ariosto, Lodovico (ä-rē-ōs’tō). A celebrated Italian poet; born at Reggio, Sept. 8, 1474; died at Ferrara, June 6, 1533. He was one of the three great epic poets of Italy, and styled “The Divine” by his countrymen. He early abandoned the study of law for that of the classics. Having attracted attention through two comedies, he entered the service of Cardinal Ippolito d’Este, who intrusted him with several diplomatic missions; after whose death in 1520 he was employed by the reigning duke of Ferrara, Alfonso, the cardinal’s brother. His imperishable fame rests mainly on his great romantic-heroic poem ‘Orlando Furioso’ (1516, 1532); of which Orlando’s love for the fair Angelica, and his madness induced by her treachery, form the theme. It is really a continuation of Bojardo’s ‘Orlando Innamorato,’ and a glorification of the house of Este. Of his other poetical efforts the most noteworthy are his seven epistolary satires, conceived in the spirit of Horace, which contain sundry bits of autobiographical information and rank among the treasures of Italian literature. (See Critical and Biographical Introduction).