| 总结: | <p>This thesis locates Dante's <em>Divine Comedy</em> (1307-1318), Boccaccio's <em>Teseida</em> (c.1340-1), and Petrarch's <em>Africa</em> (c. 1338-9) within a developing tradition of epic poetry. The works are usually treated separately, and are classed as epic to a varying degree, but I show that a reading of them as epic in light of each other enhances understanding of each, and illuminates more generally a history of the epic genre. I explore the extent to which the authors considered epic to be a distinct literary form, and counteract the notion that there was no conception of the genre in the Middle Ages. I show that similar responses to key areas of epic writing underlie surface differences between the poems. Where critics have tended to explore classical influences, I emphasise the importance of medieval epic texts for the formation of all three poems. I argue that in important respects the <em>Comedy</em> constitutes a new epic model for Petrarch and Boccaccio. I focus on Dante's development of the classical warrior hero into the contemporary Christian poet-hero, exploring his development of themes from 12<sup>th</sup> century Latin epics including the <em>Anticlaudianus</em> and <em>Alexandreis</em>. I suggest that the resulting emphasis on the theme of poetry is echoed in the <em>Teseida</em> and <em>Africa</em>. I argue that the <em>Teseida</em> revolves around issues of genre that are played out through the poems' gods and heroes, and that ultimately it resolves itself as a Dantean epic, through the hero Arcita. I show that the focus on poetry in the <em>Africa</em>, achieved both through the inclusion of poets as characters (including Petrarch himself) and by the explicit discussion of poetry within Book IX in particular, and the location of a Christian god at the heart of this historical narrative, reflect a treatment of key issues that bears similarity to that of Dante in the <em>Comedy</em>.</p>
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