Original scientific paper
https://doi.org/10.32728/tab.22.2025.9
Philippa Lazea's Sapphic Ode to Jean-Jacques Boissard as a space of female poetic affirmation
Violeta Moretti
orcid.org/0000-0002-2618-0076
; Sveučilište Jurja Dobrile u Puli, Hrvatska
Mislav Benić
; Institut za hrvatski jezik, Hrvatska
Abstract
Although the surviving body of Philippa Lazea’s work (1545/46–1576) is extremely limited in scope, her sapphic ode to the French humanist Jean- Jacques Boissard offers a significant insight into the strategies by which this early modern woman poet entered the predominantly male sphere of humanist literature. The present study analyses the ode as a multilayered discursive artifact in which epideictic praise, classical erudition, and self- reflection intersect with subtle gendered polemics. Methodologically, the analysis combines close reading of the Latin original with attention to its rhetorical figures, ambiguous grammatical constructions, and symbolic references, while also situating the text within the broader cultural and literary conventions of the sixteenth century. Particular emphasis is placed on the topos of modesty by which Lazea seemingly accepts the hierarchy of the male canon, yet simultaneously demonstrates her learning, irony,rhetorical competence. This dual movement of self-effacement and affirmation allows the poet not only to praise Boissard but also to assert her own authorial position. The results of the analysis reveal that the ode functions as a site of female literary self-assertion, in which the praise of another becomes the ground for the subtle legitimization of her own voice. In conclusion, Lazea’s text demonstrates how early modern women could negotiate authority through classical forms and rhetorical strategies. The article also provides a new translation of the poem into Croatian language with commentary.
Keywords
Philippa Lazea; Neo-Latin poetry; Sapphic ode; rhetoric of modesty; women humanists; early modern literature
Hrčak ID:
341902
URI
Publication date:
19.12.2025.
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