La pietas clásica, las emociones y la moral de la guerra en La Araucana

Abstract

This essay examines the emotions and the morality of war in La Araucana. Literature offers insights into the human experience of war, such as suffering and pain, complementing the contributions of Philosophy and Law to the just war theory. Although it is a genre that celebrates the destruction of the enemy, the epic highlights the emotions and the moral sentiments that war elicits, such as rage, cruelty, compassion, and clemency. Since classical antiquity, the epic has offered reflections on when to kill and when to pardon the enemy in war, expressed in relation to the concept of pietas (civic duty). This concept, its Renaissance transformation, and its role in Ercilla’s poem are examined here. Considering that a triumphal narrative was impossible due to the strong resistance of the Mapuche people, the text underscores the figure of the poet soldier as a compassionate Conquistador.  This humanitarian figure was more acceptable in an era in which stories about the cruelty of the Conquistadors circulated widely, such as fray Bartolomé de las Casas, Brevisima relación de la destrucción de las Indias (1552).