Agüeros y jaulas con grillos en la recepción de una anécdota clásica: el tropiezo de Escipión o Julio César desde Tirant lo Blanc hasta Don Quijote

Abstract

In some Medieval and Renaissance texts appears an anecdote about Scipio (or Julius Caesar), who, when setting foot on enemy land, stumbled and fell. This fall was considered to be a favourable prophecy. The episode has been interpreted through two main literary traditions, which come from Suetonious and Frontinus. This paper examines the way this episode became part of this tradition, its fictional uses, its rethorical definition in Baltasar Gracián and, finally, its appearance in Tirant lo Blanc  and Don Quijote  (II, lxxiii).