Celestina’s veritas : Fetishizing the Salve/ salve of Healing Wine

Abstract

This article studies Celestina’s encomium of wine in Act 9 as a manifestation of the role she plays throughout the work as a pseudo-priestess, whether in its Christian aspect, when she presides over the «Eucharist» during the banquet scene, or in its Dionysian aspect, in which as a fundamental part of the cult of this pagan deity, wine played a key role. The article also analyzes the importance of serpent imagery in the work, especially with respect to the myth of Tiresias.