Bulfinch’s Mythology · Chapter
Medoro explained
The chapter recounts the story of Medoro, a young Moorish soldier, and his friend Cloridan, who risk their lives to give their prince Dardinel a proper burial.
What happens
The chapter recounts the story of Medoro, a young Moorish soldier, and his friend Cloridan, who risk their lives to give their prince Dardinel a proper burial. After being discovered by Zerbino's troops, Medoro is wounded but saved by the arrival of Angelica, the Princess of Cathay, who uses her knowledge of healing to nurse him back to health. Angelica, moved by Medoro's devotion and beauty, falls in love with him and marries him, bestowing upon him the sovereignty of her remaining lands.
Themes in this chapter
Love and Transformation
Angelica, once proud and disdainful, is transformed by her love for the humble Medoro, leading to their marriage and her bestowal of sovereignty.
Heroism and the Quest
Medoro and Cloridan undertake a dangerous quest to bury their prince, demonstrating heroic loyalty and self-sacrifice.
Mortality and Immortality
The chapter contrasts the mortality of the fallen warriors with the enduring memory and honor sought through proper burial rites.
Characters to notice
- Medoro
A young Moorish soldier who risks his life to bury his prince Dardinel, is wounded, and later rescued and married by Angelica.
- Angelica
The Princess of Cathay who heals Medoro, falls in love with him, and marries him, giving him sovereignty over her lands.
- Zerbino
A Christian commander who captures Medoro but is moved by his plea, though a subordinate wounds Medoro.
- Cloridan
Medoro's loyal friend who accompanies him on the burial mission and dies embracing Medoro after being wounded.
- Dardinel
The prince whose body Medoro and Cloridan seek to bury; his death motivates the chapter's central action.
Key passages
“threw down his bow, and, sword in hand, seemed only desirous of vengeance for Medoro, and to die with him. In a moment, pierced through and through with many wounds, he exerts the last remnant of his strength in dragging himself to Medoro, to die embracing him.”
Cloridan, abandoning his bow, fights with his sword, seeking only to avenge Medoro and die by his side. Despite being fatally wounded, he uses his final strength to crawl to Medoro and embrace him in death.
Cloridan's final act of loyalty and love for Medoro.
“Moved with pity at the sight of the young man wounded, and melted to tears at hearing the cause, she quickly recalled to remembrance the knowledge she had acquired in India, where the virtues of plants and the art of healing formed part of the education even of princesses.”
Angelica, feeling pity for the wounded Medoro and moved to tears by his story, remembered her training in India, where even princesses learned about medicinal plants and healing.
Angelica's compassion and healing knowledge are awakened by Medoro's plight.
“There, under the low roof of a shepherd, the flame of Hymen was lighted for this haughty queen. She takes the shepherd’s wife to serve in place of mother, the shepherd and his children for witnesses, and marries the happy Medoro.”
In the humble shepherd's cottage, the proud queen Angelica married the joyful Medoro, with the shepherd's family serving as witnesses and the shepherd's wife acting as a mother figure.
Angelica's marriage to Medoro in a simple setting contrasts with her former haughtiness.