The Cid in history and fiction
Abstract
Antonio de Trueba has remarked that the adventures of the Cid have been increasing in magnitude, as century after century rolls by, in much the same manner in which the bulk of a snowball is augmented a s it tumbles down the slope of a hill. So greatly does the Cid of tradition differ from the Cid of reality that the very name of this Spanish national hero has come to be associated much less with the idea of a flesh-and-blood warrior of the eleventh century than it is with a purely abstract conception of virtue and patriotism. That is to say, the Cid is more symbolic than human; his name is to the Spaniard what patriay libertad is to the Cuban; his character is the embodiment of Spanish ideals of courageous loyalty to one's country, and serves as a perfect model which the patriotic Spanish youth is expected to imitate. It is obvious that man in the concrete can never have approached this almost divine state of perfection; this model Cid is the product of poets, troubadours, and indulgent historians, all of whom were ambitious to cast the maximum amount of glory about their national hero. Regarding the sub...--Introduction.
Degree
M.A.