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Showing posts from March, 2023

What is a "Romance?"

Jerry Root, in a video talk by the CS Lewis Institute , said that the term Romance was connected with the story of Aeneas, told by Virgil, wherein he longed for Rome.  Thus the term Romance refers to a story that contains the element of longing for home, viz. Rome, in the case of Aeneas. I wonder if the term is that directly connected to this aspect of the life of Aeneas.  I can easily see how it is connected to the motif of longing for home, or for some other longing of the soul.  I did some internet searches on the term Romance , and it is commonly connected with the Romance languages, but no connection is made with any particular story.  For fun, I consulted Chatgpt on the matter.  Here's the conversation: Me: Is the source of the term Romance connected with the story of Aeneas in Virgil's Aeneid? Chatgpt: Yes, the term "Romance" is connected with the story of Aeneas in Virgil's Aeneid. The term "Romance" originally referred to a narrative poem i