Civic Babylonian Pride in Vondel’s Mars Tamed
In 1647, one year ahead of the official celebrations of the Peace of Westphalia, the Dutch poet and playwright Joost van den Vondel published a long panegyric called De getemde Mars (‘Mars Tamed’), a poem fully translated into English for the first time in this article. Despite celebrating the Peac...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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openjournals.nl
2023-06-01
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| Series: | Early Modern Low Countries |
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| Online Access: | https://emlc-journal.org/article/view/13456 |
| _version_ | 1797780457544220672 |
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| author | Frans-Willem Korsten Lucy H.G. McGourty |
| author_facet | Frans-Willem Korsten Lucy H.G. McGourty |
| author_sort | Frans-Willem Korsten |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description |
In 1647, one year ahead of the official celebrations of the Peace of Westphalia, the Dutch poet and playwright Joost van den Vondel published a long panegyric called De getemde Mars (‘Mars Tamed’), a poem fully translated into English for the first time in this article. Despite celebrating the Peace, Vondel did not refrain from presenting extremely violent scenes of war in the middle part of the poem. Surprisingly, however, the war scene shifts from the wars that devastated Europe to a war which Mars wages against Jupiter and his circle of gods. Unable to control Mars, and on the verge of seeing his rule collapse, Jupiter looks for support and finds it in an allegorical maiden representing the Dutch Republic and its main hub Amsterdam. This article argues that the allegory employed by Vondel is set up against itself. The familiar allegorisation of classical material for Christian purposes turns into a baroque allegory that works against principles of theologically underpinned political sovereignty. Here, the poem testifies to a distinct civil pride, with Vondel considering the burgomasters of Amsterdam, which he takes as embodying civil government, as a prominent source of international peace. By 1648, however, the Dutch Republic had also become an imperial and global power that confronted other sovereign states in violent actions. In this context, the poem’s baroque contradictions multiply.
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| first_indexed | 2024-03-12T23:44:27Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-6793dbbbe31b4e85b117c1c43897326c |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2543-1587 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-12T23:44:27Z |
| publishDate | 2023-06-01 |
| publisher | openjournals.nl |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Early Modern Low Countries |
| spelling | doaj.art-6793dbbbe31b4e85b117c1c43897326c2023-07-14T13:17:43Zengopenjournals.nlEarly Modern Low Countries2543-15872023-06-017110.51750/emlc13456Civic Babylonian Pride in Vondel’s Mars TamedFrans-Willem Korsten0Lucy H.G. McGourty1Leiden UniversityLeiden University In 1647, one year ahead of the official celebrations of the Peace of Westphalia, the Dutch poet and playwright Joost van den Vondel published a long panegyric called De getemde Mars (‘Mars Tamed’), a poem fully translated into English for the first time in this article. Despite celebrating the Peace, Vondel did not refrain from presenting extremely violent scenes of war in the middle part of the poem. Surprisingly, however, the war scene shifts from the wars that devastated Europe to a war which Mars wages against Jupiter and his circle of gods. Unable to control Mars, and on the verge of seeing his rule collapse, Jupiter looks for support and finds it in an allegorical maiden representing the Dutch Republic and its main hub Amsterdam. This article argues that the allegory employed by Vondel is set up against itself. The familiar allegorisation of classical material for Christian purposes turns into a baroque allegory that works against principles of theologically underpinned political sovereignty. Here, the poem testifies to a distinct civil pride, with Vondel considering the burgomasters of Amsterdam, which he takes as embodying civil government, as a prominent source of international peace. By 1648, however, the Dutch Republic had also become an imperial and global power that confronted other sovereign states in violent actions. In this context, the poem’s baroque contradictions multiply. https://emlc-journal.org/article/view/13456Vondelpanegyricbaroque contradictionallegoryPeace of Westphaliacivic government |
| spellingShingle | Frans-Willem Korsten Lucy H.G. McGourty Civic Babylonian Pride in Vondel’s Mars Tamed Early Modern Low Countries Vondel panegyric baroque contradiction allegory Peace of Westphalia civic government |
| title | Civic Babylonian Pride in Vondel’s Mars Tamed |
| title_full | Civic Babylonian Pride in Vondel’s Mars Tamed |
| title_fullStr | Civic Babylonian Pride in Vondel’s Mars Tamed |
| title_full_unstemmed | Civic Babylonian Pride in Vondel’s Mars Tamed |
| title_short | Civic Babylonian Pride in Vondel’s Mars Tamed |
| title_sort | civic babylonian pride in vondel s mars tamed |
| topic | Vondel panegyric baroque contradiction allegory Peace of Westphalia civic government |
| url | https://emlc-journal.org/article/view/13456 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT franswillemkorsten civicbabylonianprideinvondelsmarstamed AT lucyhgmcgourty civicbabylonianprideinvondelsmarstamed |