All citations of Don Quijote are from the Murillo edition. (N. from the A.)

Critics who treat Guevara's influence on Cervantes include Erna Berndt-Kelley, who argues that «ecos del contenido y estilo de la prosa de Guevara sirven fines paródicos» (369). Gaos points out the similarities between Guevara's epistle and the prologue of Don Quijote. In his edition of Don Quijote, he notes that Cervantes ironically cites this author: «que era sabido de todos que los libros de Guevara estaban llenos de falsedades y no eran dignos de crédito; la segunda, mucho más mordaz, el presentar a un obispo, poniéndolo al descubierto, dedicado a escribir sobre tales personajes y temas» (28n 130). For a similar opinion, see Murillo's edition of Don Quijote (56). However, I disagree with his reasoning, as does Francisco Márquez Villanueva, who aggressively argues how Guevara constructively used falsification. Some contemporaries, such as Vives and de Rúa, criticized Guevara's lack of critical judgment and treatment of antiquity, yet others, like Cervantes, respected and imitated his work. See Ernest Grey (23-4) and, for the polemic between Guevara and de Rúa, see Asunción Rallo (89-101). Rosa María Lida de Malkiel addresses the shift from the popularity of Guevara's writing during the second half of the sixteenth century to the intense criticism it endured during the following centuries. For general studies on Guevara and his writing, see Joseph Jones, Rallo and Américo Castro. (N. from the A.)

K. Lloyd-Jones notes that «Erasmian authenticity flows from the personal, original quality of the text, where the author's self is the controlling authority» (354). G. W. Pigman also explains that for Erasmus «the primary duty of the imitator is to be aware of the differences between his own day and antiquity, in particular to recognize the moral and stylistic revolution of Christianity, and to adapt the writings of the past to the conditions of the present» (30). (N. from the A.)

Terrence Cave states that, when imitating models, there exists «the desire to appropriate or naturalize an alien discourse» (35). Other critics focus on the historical moment of self-identification (Carron), the self-realization and artistic originality the imitation of sources can bring about (Lloyd-Jones), or the historical validity that the recovery of ancient sources offers (Orgel). (N. from the A.)

From the end of the medieval period through the sixteenth century, Europe experienced a return to the cult of the courtesan. See Bullough (129-138). This renewed popularity explains, in part, why a devout bishop of Counter-Reformation Spain would choose to explore the subject. (N. from the A.)

For information on classical courtesans see Beauvoir (102), Bell (19-39), Henriques and Wells. (N. from the A.)

Iconographically, Flora is most often depicted as an allegory of Spring. For her representation in Spanish Golden Age painting, see López Torrijos (368-69). (N. from the A.)

Bell uses the term «sacred prostitute» in her discussion of the hetaira, Diotima -from Plato's Republic-- whom she reads as a «manifestation of the goddess whose flesh is not radically distinguished from the spirit» (19). (N. from the A.)

Guevara's insistence that the portraits be retold in other terms is similar to Cervantes's need to explain his own portrait found in the prologue, i. e., pen behind ear, elbow on desk, hand resting on his cheek, etc. In both cases, the reader «sees» the portraits, yet the writers of both the letter and the prologue feel the need to retell their story. (N. from the A.)

In the Metaphysics Aristotle attributes his 10 pairs of contraries to the Pythagoreans: «Limit and the Unlimited; (ii.) Odd and Even; (iii.) Unity and Plurality; (iv.) Right and Left; (v.) Male and Female (vi.) Rest and Motion; (vii.) Straight and Crooked; (viii.) Light and Darkness; (ix.) Good and Evil; (x.) Square and Oblong» (986a). For more on Aristotle's pairs of contraries and their reception in the Renaissance see Diana de Armas Wilson's compelling study of Persiles and Sigismunda (37-40). (N. from the A.)