Page 106 - Petru Russo | The 100 Days of Decameron by Giovanni Boccaccio

Cimon and Iphigenia
This novella recounts a tale of love’s transformative power, daring
exploits, and eventual redemption. Themes of personal growth,
loyalty, and destiny frame the story.
Cimon, a brutish and uncultured man from Cyprus, undergoes a
profound change after falling in love with the beautiful Iphigenia.
Stricken by her beauty and virtue, his love inspires him to
transform himself, becoming wise and refined to win her heart.
Despite his newfound qualities, Iphigenia’s family opposes the
match and arranges for her marriage to another man.
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Determined not to lose her, Cimon seizes Iphigenia on the high seas
as she travels to her wedding. However, the couple is captured
and imprisoned in Rhodes. There, Cimon befriends Lysimachus, a
nobleman in a similar predicament. Together, they plot their escape
and mount a daring rescue, reclaiming Iphigenia and Lysimachus’s
beloved, Cassandra, during the wedding celebrations of their
captors.
The two couples flee to Crete, where they marry and live briefly
in peace. Eventually, they return to their homes, their love and
courage having overcome the trials they faced.
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