Chretien de Troyes, Erec et Enide [Erec and Enide]

Paola Scarpini (University of York)
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Erec et Enide, written around 1169-1170 (see note 1), is the first of the five romances of Chrétien de Troyes. Whether it had a precursor is still a matter of controversy, as some scholars (notably Prof. P. Eley and Prof. P. Simons) showed through an accurate literary analysis that the first version of the Partenopeu de Blois probably predates the Champenois poet’s first work. Although this question has not been fully resolved, Erec et Enide undoubtedly marks the birth of the Arthurian romance as a literary genre.

Chrétien wrote in Champagne during the third quarter of the twelfth century and was, presumably, from Troyes, where he lived between 1160 and 1172, probably as herald-at-arms (…

2775 words

Citation: Scarpini, Paola. "Erec et Enide". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 19 December 2015 [https://staging.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=5324, accessed 29 March 2024.]

5324 Erec et Enide 3 Historical context notes are intended to give basic and preliminary information on a topic. In some cases they will be expanded into longer entries as the Literary Encyclopedia evolves.

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