Hepila vs. Hesperia: The Linguistic Controversy in Don Quixote of 1605 Solved by LLMs?
In the first edition of Miguel de Cervantes's El ingenioso hidalgo don Quijote de la Mancha, published in 1605, the phrase "por Hepila Famosa" appears, the meaning of which has been the subject of controversy. This study analyses the context of the phrase and proposes five possible interpretations,...
| Published in: | Cervantes Vol. 46; no. 1; pp. 73 - 94 |
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| Format: | Article |
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University of Toronto Press
May2026
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| Online Access: | View this record in EBSCOhost |
| fields | @attributes: recordID: 1 pdfLink: plink: https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=hlh&AN=196267756&site=ehost-live header: @attributes: shortDbName: hlh uiTerm: 196267756 longDbName: Humanities International Complete uiTag: AN controlInfo: bkinfo: jinfo: jid: 02776995 1WQ2 jtl: Cervantes issn: 02776995 maglogo: N pubinfo: dt: May2026 vid: 46 iid: 1 pid: 678 pub: University of Toronto Press artinfo: ui: 196267756 10.3138/cer-2025-0025 ppf: 73 ppct: 21 formats: fmt: – @attributes: type: T – @attributes: type: P size: 1.5MB tig: atl: Hepila vs. Hesperia: The Linguistic Controversy in Don Quixote of 1605 Solved by LLMs? aug: au: Rodríguez, Elio Quiroga affil: Universidad del Atlántico Medio, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Canary Islands, Spain sug: keyword: AI Cervantes controversy Hepila LLMs Quixote controversia IA Quijote ab: In the first edition of Miguel de Cervantes's El ingenioso hidalgo don Quijote de la Mancha, published in 1605, the phrase "por Hepila Famosa" appears, the meaning of which has been the subject of controversy. This study analyses the context of the phrase and proposes five possible interpretations, assessing the probability of each. The hypotheses include the possibility of a typographical error, a reference to a fictitious place, an allusion to an unknown real place, the use of an archaic term, and a possible interpretation as a forgotten character. It is concluded that the most likely explanation is a typo, possibly "por Hesperia famosa" or "por Hispania (Hesperia) famosa," given the poetic context and Cervantes's common practice of using lofty names to allude to Spain. En la primera edición de El ingenioso hidalgo don Quijote de la Mancha de Miguel de Cervantes, publicada en 1605, aparece la frase "por Hepila famosa", cuyo significado ha sido objeto de controversia. Este estudio analiza el contexto de la frase y propone cinco posibles interpretaciones, evaluando la probabilidad de cada una. Las hipótesis incluyen la posibilidad de un error tipográfico, una referencia a un lugar ficticio, una alusión a un lugar real desconocido, el uso de un término arcaico y una posible interpretación como personaje olvidado. Se concluye que la explicación más probable es una errata tipográfica, posiblemente "por Hesperia famosa" o "por Hispania (Hesperia) famosa", dado el contexto poético y la práctica habitual de Cervantes de emplear nombres grandilocuentes para aludir a España. pubtype: Academic Journal doctype: Article src: R language: English refInfo: copyright: @attributes: flag: Y custom: Copyright of Cervantes is the property of University of Toronto Press and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. item: Cervantes holder: University of Toronto Press dt: @attributes: year: 2026 holdings: @attributes: islocal: N |
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