«Questa che ’l vulgo appella morte»: Martyrdom and heroes’ death in the “Gerusalemme liberata” of Torquato Tasso

Abstract

The thought of death as a possible outcome of a hero’s destiny represents a crucial moment in the ethical definition of the knights in the Gerusalemme Liberata. The Aristotelian fortitudo, in particular, is what guides some of the Christian knights who are able to face death in full awareness, in the name of the martyrdom logic: Sofronia, Goffredo, and Sveno each represent a different manifestation of this ideology, in the name of which death appears as a victory. Even the pagan knights, especially Solimano, often describe a completely conscious vision of their own death in the name of collective values, alternating the participation in the horrendous landscape of the war with moments of introspective meditation.