The Old King Motif in Cervantes’ Persiles. Some Considerations on Maximino and Other Displaced Powerful Figures

Abstract

Maximino appears in the final pages of the novel, at the Basilica of St Paul Outside the Walls. This character has received almost no critical attention, perhaps due to the fact that he plays such a small part in the story. Nevertheless, he represents the figure of the “king” at the hardest of times: the transfer of power. Based on Kantorowicz’s remarkable study, especially regarding the political-theological analogies between the rex-sacerdos and the Corpus Christi-Corpus mysticum, my work interweaves biblical and historical kings cited or evoked throughout the text, to finally address the idea of royalty suggested in the first pages of the novel. Thus, from the end to the beginning, the image of Maximino gains substance, ultimately becoming an allegorical figure. St Paul is the poetic and theological cornerstone of this story centered on artifice.