To Read the Body of a Monster

Abstract

This chapter focuses on Giovan Francesco Pico della Mirandola's Strix sive de ludificatione daemonum. In this book, Pico describes the several differences between classical culture and Christian revelation as two opposite armies engaged in a ruthless war. Giovan Francesco stages these differences through a dramatic dialogue between two opposing intellectuals, Apistius (the “man without faith”) and Phronimus (the “prudent man”). Phronimus demonstrates to the skeptical Apistius that all of classical culture, the very foundation of Italian humanism, is based on Satan's intervention in the creation. Giovan Francesco Pico revisits the pillars of classical literature, philosophy, and historiography and “unveils” their inner diabolical nature and message. According to Pico, the Greek and Latin myths were nothing but metaphorical stories coming directly from Satan, and a half-human and half-bird called strix incarnates and reveals Satan's infectious presence in the creation.