IL Molto Amato Cuore di Ghismonda: Riflessioni sull’Eucaristia e sul Santo Graal

Abstract

This paper tries to trace possible convergences between the tale of Ghismonda (Decameron IV, 9) and the myth of the Holy Grail and the sacrament of the Eucharist, based on the writings of Le Goff, Charbonneau-Lassy and Camporesi, among others. In the Catholic sacrament, Christ offers his body and blood to the apostles so that by consuming them, they enter into communion with Him in eternal life, announcing the foundation of Christian eschatology. After drinking the blood mixed with poison, she poured over the lover’s organ murdered by her father, Ghismonda enters into communion with Guiscard, also for eternal life, concluding that love which her father interrupted and stating “her” eschatology. The disciples drank Christ’s blood from the Grail: Ghismonda drank Guiscardo’s blood from a golden cup. Coincidence or allusion?