Chrétien de Troyes, active from the late 1160s, is generally considered one of the most influential writers in French literary history and a forefather of the novel. The surviving work by Chrétien de Troyes comprises five Arthurian romances:
Erec et Enide (Erec and Enide),
Cligès,
Lancelot(
also Chevalier de la Charrette,
Knight of the Cart),
Yvain(also
Chevalier au lion,
Knight of the Lion) and
Perceval(also
Conte du Graal,
The Grail romance). Two of these are unfinished: the
Lancelot- apparently handed over by Chrétien to a continuator - and the
Perceval, thought to have been interrupted by the death of the author. Two love songs have also been attributed to Chrétien, and the twelfth-century
Lay of Philomena, a short narrative poem retelling the story found in Ovid’s
3533 words
Citation: Le Saux, Francoise. "Chretien de Troyes". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 18 November 2019 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=5472, accessed 23 April 2024.]
