The Canzoniere and the Metaphor of the Labyrinth

Abstract This article offers an analysis of three distinct labyrinths that were well known in the Middle Ages. All three are contained in Petrarch's Canzoniere, which can be read as a Pythagorean Y, the prototypical labyrinth, with the in vita poems forming a Cretan multicursal labyrinth disseminated in literature, and representing temptation toward a multitude of sins, while the in morte poems form a type of unicursal labyrinth disseminated through the visual arts, and represent the path to salvation. The text can be read as a metaphor of the poet's journey from sin to salvation. The article also highlights explicit and implicit references to labyrinths, their features, and such associated mythologies as those involving Daedalus, Icarus, Ariadne, Theseus, and Aeneas.