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The sense in which Spanish authors in the Baroque period employ the word ‘labyrinth’ presupposes an evolution, from ancient understanding of it, which the present article aims to outline. For Classical authors the word had the physical sense of a ‘complex construction’, although it could also be used metaphorically. But already in certain texts (Virgil, Ovid), the narration of the Cretan myth invited a moralizing interpretation which is given further prominence in late medieval and Renaissance texts. A further elaboration sees the labyrinth converted into a theological symbol representing deceit, offering an erroneous path which the Christian must avoid. Once these and other parallel lines of development have been traced, it becomes possible to see how complex is the use Calderón makes of the concept in El laberinto del mundo. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The presence of Xenophon in Don Quijote goes beyond a passing mention of the Athenian writer included in the prologue to the first part. After tracing the reception of Xenophon in the West, with particular attention placed on his role in Renaissance culture and on the translations of Xenophon into Spanish done during the 16th Century, this paper focuses on two passages from Don Quijote --one, a description of hunting and the other, a description of the path of virtue-- to demonstrate the possibility of a direct influence of Xenophon on Cervantes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]