L'ideologia tripartita nella "Gerusalemme liberata" di Tasso

The essay aims to furnish a new reading of the ideological architecture of Gerusalemme liberata in the light of the researches carried out by Dumézil and historians such as Duby, Le Goff, Flori, and Huizinga. These witness the presence of the so-called « tripartite ideology » of the Indo-Europeans in numerous medieval and modern contexts. Among the objectives of Tasso’s poem, one may find the redefinition of the hierarchical order where the spheres of military action (Goffredo of Bouillon) and of the amorous-vitalist impulse in the broadest sense (Rinaldo and Tancredi) are subordinated to the magical-religious guide (Peter the Hermit). In this perspective, the character of Peter the Hermit and the religious caste take on a prominent role in directing the crusader army, showing how the medieval social tripartite division of the classes is still a founding element of the ideological structure of the poem.