«O PÚRPURA NEVADA, O NIEVE ROJA»: LA IMAGEN INTERIOR DE GALATEA
«IF PURPLE SNOWSTORM, OR ON SNOW RED SETTLED»: THE INNER IMAGE OF GALATEA

Summary/Abstract: To portray the beauty of a woman in the poetry of the Golden Age, it is essential to handle a fundamental bichromy, namely red and white. The Cordovan poet Luis de Góngora y Argote (1561-1627), when he portrays Galatea, a female character of extreme beauty, in the Fable of Polyphemus and Galatea (1612), switches these colours in such a confusing and dubious way, saying: "either snowy purple, or red snow" (v.108). The interest of this work is to explain why Góngora intentionally raises this doubt as to the colours of Galatea's character. To do so, we show that underneath this doubt there are conceptual and symbolic correlations that structure this chromatic hypalage. The purpose of this work is to demonstrate that white and red are not a mere bichromy that highlights the perfect proportionality of contrasts in Galatea's complexion, but a complex dialectic that encloses a tension between opposing elements and meanings to portray Galatea's inner image. It is a ghostly image, even sublime and imperceptible to the eye, reflecting Galatea's identity and the splitting of her character.

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