Essay Questions

Explain the import of ‘the island of Erythraea’ to Erythraea. - “Erythraea or Herophile, a Sibyl”

Boccaccio expounds, “She was called Erythraea because she lived for a long time on the island of Erythraea where many of her verses were found. The power of her intellect was so great, or her prayers and devotion made her so deserving in God’s eyes, that-if what we read about her sayings is true-through attentive study and divine generosity she earned the skill of prophesying the future.” Erythraea derives her name from the island where she spends her life. Additionally, the island has a religious significance due to the discovery of Erythraea's divine verses. The island is a religious site on which Erythraea makes her prophecies.

What are the repercussions of violating the law? What is the irony of the repercussions? - "Eve, Our First Mother"

Boccaccio reports, “With heedless daring, they broke the law and tasted the apple of the tree of knowledge. Thus they brought themselves and all their future descendants from peace and immortality to dire labor, suffering, and death, and from a delightful country to thorns, clods, and rocks. For, when the gleaming light which clothed them disappeared, the punished ones, dressed in leaves, were driven by their angry Creator from the site of pleasures, and they came as exiles to the fields of Ebron.” The repercussions of sinning are drawn from Genesis. The consequences are ironic because they impact even descendants who are direct involved in committing the original sin. It is unfair for Eve and Adam's descendants to pay for a sin that they did not partake. The irony of the repercussions depicts the main limitation of the Old Testament whereby children are doomed to suffering for their forefathers’ depravity.

Why does Boccaccio undermine myths? - “Semiramis, Queen of Assyrians”

Boccaccio explains, “Semiramis was a glorious and very ancient queen of the Assyrians, but time has denied us knowledge of her parents. Moreover, since the ancients liked myths, they said that she was the daughter of Neptune, who was the son of Saturn and god of the sea, and they persisted in this false opinion. Although this story should not be believed, it is an indication that she was born of noble parents. She married Ninus, the noble king of the Assyrians, and bore him their only son, named Ninus after his father.” Myths contain inaccuracies although they are mainly regard as true in various communities. The lack of in-depth records regarding Semiramis’s parents surmises that myths are not factual accounts; they rely on oral narrations which can be distorted or embellished. Boccaccio insists that the myths are not believable because verifying some accounts especially those involving affairs between gods and humans are unverifiable and somewhat illogical.