Edipo, i Sette a Tebe e Wauchier de Denain: osservazioni sulla sezione tebana dell’"Histoire ancienne jusqu’à César"

An analysis of the Theban section of Wauchier de Denain’s Histoire ancienne jusqu’à César, compared with its source, the long version of the Roman de Thèbes, shows the proceedings adopted by Wauchier in his moral prose rewriting of the old roman in verse. Wauchier creates a clearer opposition between positive and negative characters, in order to offer models and anti-models to his public. The most peculiar feature of the romans antiques, the use of anachronism, is maintained by Wauchier only in the description of courtesy and chivalry: so the heroes of Antiquity can be seen as founders and ancestors of Medieval aristocracy. However, the confusion between polytheism and Christianity, which was present in the most ancient redactions of the Roman de Thèbes, and partially censored in the long version, is thoroughly eliminated by Wauchier, according to the principles of historical objectivity, and to the moral purpose of the Histoire ancienne.