Note 10 — INTRODUCTION.
Reading edition
From what he could learn about them some two centuries or more after the Conquest, the antiquary Boturini classified all the ancient songs under two general heads, the one treating mainly of historical themes, while the other was devoted to purely fictitious, emotional or imaginative subjects.10 His terse classification is expanded by the Abbé Clavigero, who states that the themes of the ancient poets were various, some chanting the praises of the gods or petitioning them for favors, others recalled the history of former generations, others were didactic and inculcated correct habits of life, while others, finally, were in lighter vein, treating of hunting, games and love.11