Excerpt from The Two Noble Kinsmen

Chaucer's Tale itself stands in a somewhat similar relation to its own original, which was an Italian poem in twelve books named the Teseide, written by Boccaccio; that is to say, Chaucer, though following Boccaccio, tells the story in his own way, with considerable alterations, omissions, and additions. For a comparison of the Knightes Tale with the Teseide, see the extract from Tyrwhitt's Introductory Discourse to the Canterbury Tales, reprinted in Dr Morris's Introduction. If we attempt to trace back the story still further, we find at least a probability that Boccaccio himself obtained it from an older source. Warton, in his History of English Poetry (ed. 1840, n. 131; or ed. 1871, II. 300), suggests that Boccaccio possibly took the story from a certain Greek poem on the same subject which was first printed at Venice in 1529, and endeavours to prove this. But there exists a fatal objection to this theory, namely, the express declaration of Tyrwhitt (Introd. Discourse, note 13) that "the poem in modern Greek political verses De Nuptiis Thesei et Emiliae, printed at Venice in 1529, is a mere translation of the Theseida. The author has even translated the prefatory epistle addressed by Boccace to the Fiammetta." All that is known upon the subject is thus reduced to the expressions used by Boccaccio himself; for, as Tyrwhitt points out, he calls it a very ancient story, which he had found in Italian - "una antichissima storia, e al piu delle genti non manifesta, in latino volgare".

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