The Favonio’s Curtains and the Love Hunt of Acis (Góngora, Polifemo, XXVII, 213-216)

Abstract

Góngora’s Fábula de Polifemo y Galatea has always been acknowledged as a narrative piece of poetry. However, to account for its rigid structure discloses the significance of places. ‘Reluctant’ to any interpretative ambiguity though they may seem, these places are, on the contrary, featured by it. A case in point is the second half of verse XXVII, traditionally related to Galatea. If attention is paid to the loving strategy carried out by Acis, its reading not only shows Gongora’s extraordinary accuracy but it also notably enriches the meaning of the scene when seduction takes place. That is to say, beside the traditional topic of the battle of love ‘love hunt’ can also be found. Favonio, the wind, the hunter’s accomplice, indirectly expresses the hiding ploy, in any case needed in the sequence but non-existent in previous interpretations of the scene.