The Swerve Chp. 9 By Greenblatt
2 interesting
- On pages 210 and 211, it describes Poggio’s loss in his old interest of finding texts and humanist acts, replacing it instead with riches beyond compare. “As Poggio accumulated more wealth-and his tax records suggest that he did so with increasing success after his return from England-his life slowly began to change. He remained passionately interested in the recovery of ancient texts, but his own voyages of discovery were behind him. In their place, he began to emulate his wealthy friend Niccoli by collecting antiquities: ‘I have a room full of marble heads,’ he boasted in 1427.” I find it so interesting that this man, once so swept up in the pure ecstasy of discovering books and literature, has suddenly resign himself to a life of splendor and riches. The money and success has gone to his head, as he falls back into the pit of the “lie factory” as he calls the papal court. He has forgotten his true purpose, his true passion, in the pursuit of more wealth, something that he once bashed and hated, those that would gather antiquities and hide them from the world rather than share them. But he has instead become one of them.
- On page 212 and 213, it describes Poggio’s marriage with a young woman of only 18. “But no -according to the pro-marriage interlocutor-a man of mature years will compensate for the inexperience and ignorance of a young wife whom he will be able to mold like wax to his will.” It is truly difficult to comment on this section, as it seems as though Poggio falls farther and farther from his once graceful book hunting days. The woman he marries is but 18, and this causes some backlash but also those who defend him about his decision to marry a young woman while he is already in his 50s. Greenblatt even states outright that some part of the reasoning Poggio gave out as to why he decided to marry her is considered as “charged with misogyny”. But this also just shows the current time and the rights in which women did (or in this case, did not) have, and the ways in which men saw that they could treat them, to mold them into whatever the man willed. But, as is later revealed, Poggio and his new wife apparently lived happily, and had multiple children together.
1 connection
As I discussed in my first interesting quote, I also noticed how this connects to current times. It reminds me of big corporations like Disney or Apple, who were once interested in showing us new, exciting things, pushing the boundaries of what we once thought possible, to instead being resigned to just making as much money as possible. I wonder if his colleagues saw Poggio in the same light that I now see these companies.
question?
The text asks this one the first page, but I too am curious, what exactly does Poggio mean by “I shall not put public duties ahead of private needs” when in reference to the text “On The Nature of Things”?
