A Tale Blazed Through Heaven charts the development of representations of the mythological tale of Mars, Venus, and Vulcan from its origins in classical antiquity to its reception in sixteenth- and seventeenth-century Spain. It offers a new perspective on the literary and visual culture of the period, both in Spain and in Europe as a whole.

Oliver Noble Wood read for his undergraduate (BA) and postgraduate (MSt, DPhil) degrees at St Anne's College, Oxford. After completing his doctoral studies he spent four years at the University of Nottingham, as first a postdoctoral research fellow and then lecturer in Hispanic studies. He returned to Oxford in 2010 to take up his current posts as University Lecturer in Golden Age Spanish Literature and Fellow and Tutor in Modern Languages at Hertford College. He is also College Lecturer at St Peter's College.

• Introduction


• 1: Mythological Sources: Classical Texts, Renaissance Contexts


• 2: Mythological Subtexts: The Art of Allusion


• 3: Mythological (Mock) Epics: The Stage of Honour


• 4: Mythological Burlesques: Pimps, Prostitutes, and Pacientes


• 5: Mythological Paintings: Velázquez and the Cult of Ambiguity


• Conclusion