Pedro de Oña

He studied various baroque and classical writers, and worked at various jobs in Peru. In 1596 he published Arauco domado. This epic poem, written in rhymed couplets, praises the military deeds of Hurtado de Mendoza. It appears that Hurtado de Mendoza, dissatisfied with how he was portrayed in La Araucana by Alonso de Ercilla y Zúñiga, commissioned a new work: De Oña’s. His models were Virgil’s Aeneid as well as Ercilla's work, although, while Ercilla praised the courage of the indigenous people, De Oña praises the courage of his patron Hurtado de Mendoza. The Arauco domado is a poem of 20 cantos that contain dramatic episodes, which include the Battle of Bío-Bío, the rebellion in Quito against the royal tax collectors, and the naval victory of the pirate Richarte Aquines (i.e. Richard Hawkins) over Don Beltrán de Castro y de la Cueva. Other cantos refer to dreams and prophecies, while some contain pastoral and erotic elements, such as the passage concerning Caupolicán and Fresia bathing in a fountain in a glade. In the poem, De Oña characterizes the Mapuches as savage and terrifying. Nevertheless, he provides information on their rites and customs, and those of other indigenous peoples. When his patron Hurtado de Mendoza departed from Peru, the viceroy’s enemies decided to harm Pedro de Oña’s career by banning Arauco domado and denouncing the writer for various writings that the archbishop of Lima, Pedro Muñiz, considered defamatory. De Oña also wrote the Temblor de Lima de 1609 (Lima, 1609), El Vasauro (Cuzco, 1635), and a sacred epic, the Ignacio de Cantabria (Seville, 1639). In his Apologético en favor de Don Luis de Góngora, Príncipe de los poetas lyricos de España: contra Manuel de Faria y Sousa, Cavallero portugués (1662), Juan de Espinosa Medrano refers to Pedro de Oña, among others, in his defense of Góngora. When De Oña’s wife died, the poet was left with five children in his care and lived in poverty for the rest of his life.

Pedro de Oña studied at National University of San Marcos. The recorded working language is Spanish. Subjects and genres recorded for the work are epic poem. Works named in the authority record are Arauco domado. Work by Pedro de Oña is recorded in the collections of Memoria Chilena.

• Name — Pedro de Oña • Born — 1570 • Birthplace — Angol, Reyno de Chile • Died — 1643 • Place of death — Lima • Occupation — Poet