Un autor fuera de lugar: Virgilio en el Quijote

This essay deals with the imitation and mutations of the epic genre in Don Quijote. After discussing Cervantes’ literary career as an imitation of Virgil’s cursus, many of the Virgilian elements in the novel are foregrounded. These, however are transformed as they are come in contact with forms and notions derived from Lucan’s Pharsalia. While the knight believes in the ideals of the Virgilian epic, the narrators betray him, presenting a fragmented narrative, mutilated bodies, a de-centered world, a labyrinthine topography and the failures of the protagonist, thus creating a narrative of the defeated. The clash between the unitary, authoritative, and imperial Virgil with the fragmented and republican Lucan serves to create something novel in Cervantes, a new genre that will eventually be called the novel.