Luis de Góngora y Argote.

Spanish poet. Luis de Góngora y Argote (lew-EES day GAWNG-eh-rah ee ahr-GOH-tay) was born to a patrician family in Córdoba, one of the principal towns of Andalusia, the coastal Mediterrean region of Spain. Built by the Romans, Córdoba had been conquered in the Middle Ages by the Islamic Moors. Though Spanish Christians under Ferdinand III had reconquered Córdoba in 1236, the city retained the flavor of its Moorish past, including a vibrant oral tradition of poetry and song that synthesized Arab, Berber, and Spanish elements. While still a boy, Góngora composed his first poems and songs in imitation of oral tradition. At the same time, he became became steeped in classical Greek, Latin, and Italian literatures—thanks in large part to his father’s ample library.