Filostrato (poem) facts for kids

A hand-written page of Giovanni Boccaccio's Filostrato

Filostrato is a poem by 14th-century Italian poet Giovanni Boccaccio. It tells about Troilo's love for Criseyda. The historical importance comes from two reasons. One reason is that it is one of the first long poems written in ottava rima. The second is that it was a source for Geoffrey Chaucer's Troilus and Criseyde. Ottava rima is a strophe built of eight lines and rhymed abababcc.

Alcun di Giove sogliono il favore

ne’ lor principii pietosi invocare,

altri d’Apollo chiamano il valore;

io di Parnaso le Muse pregare

solea ne’ miei bisogni, ma Amore

novellamente m’ha fatto mutare

il mio costume antico e usitato,

po’ fui di te, madonna, innamorato.

Boccaccio's poem was based on Roman de Troie by Benôit de Sainte Maure, Historia troiana by Guido delle Colonne, a similar story by Binduccio dello Scelto and Historia Troiae by Filippo Ceppi.