How does the Troilus story come to Chaucer? (MEG 101 CHAUCER)

How does the Troilus story come to Chaucer?

"The Troilus and Criseyde" is a poem by Geoffrey Chaucer that tells the story of the Trojan prince Troilus and his love affair with Criseyde, a woman who has been brought to Troy as a prisoner of war. The story was based on a narrative that had been popular in Western Europe since the Middle Ages, and Chaucer likely encountered the story in a number of different sources.

One of the main sources for Chaucer's "Troilus and Criseyde" was the "Filocolo," a 14th-century Italian romance by Boccaccio that tells a similar story of love and betrayal. Chaucer may also have been influenced by other versions of the Troilus story that were popular in his time, including the "Roman de Troie" by Benoît de Sainte-Maure and the "Recuyell of the Historyes of Troye" by Raoul Lefèvre.

However, Chaucer's version of the story is distinctive in its use of the English language and its focus on the psychological complexities of the characters. The poem is also notable for its use of the dream vision, a literary device that was popular in medieval literature and that allows the narrator to observe events from a distance and comment on them.

Overall, Chaucer's "Troilus and Criseyde" was likely influenced by a variety of sources, but it is his skill as a writer and his unique perspective on the story that have made the poem a lasting and influential work of literature.