7 h 36 minAudiobook14 minSummaryRead it, hear it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at cost
Audiobook edition · 7 h 36 minPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
What if the search for your beloved leads through forests, ruined cities, and monuments covered in mysterious signs?
Poliphilo lies awake in distress, longing for Polia, then sinks into sleep. His dream carries him through woods and into a landscape of vast ancient structures. A pyramid, a sculpted horse, and an elephant carrying an obelisk stand along his path. His search for one woman becomes a journey through marvels.
In Hypnerotomachia: The Strife of Love in a Dream, attributed to Francesco Colonna, love meets art and learning. Nymphs guide Poliphilo through palaces and gardens, teasing and testing him. A queen presents a choice among ways of life. Around them, inscriptions, fountains, and processions reveal how Renaissance minds imagine the ancient world.
What you’ll discover
- A dream shaped by longing Follow Poliphilo as his love for Polia gives purpose to a landscape of wonders.
- Architecture that invites wonder Explore grand buildings, carved gateways, and gardens where ancient beauty fills the dream.
- Guides who test the dreamer Meet playful nymphs whose welcome brings teasing, guidance, and choices along the way.
- Signs worth lingering over Look closely at inscriptions and monuments as Poliphilo learns to read the signs around him.
- Two loves woven together Discover a romance that joins longing for a person with love for the ancient world.
Who will love it
You will love this book if you enjoy dream journeys, ruins and secret symbols, or if you like to see how Renaissance minds pictured love, knowledge and the ancient world.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- Longing draws Poliphilus into a dream
- Strange monuments carry hidden meanings
- Hope leads him through the dark
- The senses welcome and test him
- Splendor cannot replace the beloved
- Clear advice loses to desire
- Love unsettles what the eyes know
- Ruins make time visible
- The journey teaches a careful eye
Who’s who
- PoliphilusA sleepless lover who dreams his way through ruins and palaces, looking for his beloved Polia and reading every sign he meets.
- PoliaThe woman Poliphilus loves and cannot find, whose image stays fixed in his heart and shapes every choice he makes.
- Queen EutherillidaA generous queen who welcomes the weary Poliphilus, feasts him and sends him on to the three gates to seek his love.
- LogisticaA wise nymph who explains riddles and gardens to Poliphilus and warns him sharply against fleeting pleasure.
- ThelemiaA smiling nymph, partner to Logistica, who flatters Poliphilus, encourages his wishes and promises that he will find what he seeks.
- ApheaThe first of the five nymphs who find Poliphilus in the meadow, welcome him and lead him to the baths.
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- Hardcover
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- Large print paperback
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- Large print hardcover
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Hypnerotomachia: The Strife of Love in a Dream
by Francesco Colonna · 1499
Lost in a dark wood, Poliphilus follows a song toward a pyramid, a dragon and five nymphs.
Challenging2–5 hours to read2 languages
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In short
What would you do if you woke inside a dream, lost in a dark wood, then drawn from a river by a song? That is where Poliphilus finds himself in Hypnerotomachia, a richly detailed romance written by Francesco Colonna in the Renaissance.
Hypnerotomachia: The Strife of Love in a Dream at a glance
- Reading time
- About 4 h 10 min3 h 20 min fast, 5 h slow
- Length
- 59,900 words
- Library level
- Challenging long sentences, a rich vocabulary
- First published
- 1499by Francesco Colonna
Reading time at 238 words a minute (fast 300, slow 200). How long the classics take to read · Updated
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
A lover sleeps and wanders into a wood
The book opens with a sleepless night. Poliphilus grieves for Polia, a woman he loves and cannot find. At last he sleeps and dreams himself onto a still green plain, with no person or house in sight.
The plain leads him into a dense wood where the branches shut out the sun. He thinks of wolves and of the Minotaur, and he calls on Ariadne to send him a thread. He breaks free, thirsty, and reaches a river. As he lifts water to his mouth, he hears a song of unearthly sweetness. He runs after it, but the nearer he comes, the farther it moves. Worn out, he sleeps again, a dream inside the dream.
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Which edition is right for me
- 15-minute summary
- The key ideas of the whole book in about 14 minutes. A good first look, or a refresher.
Details
- First published
- 1499
- Language
- English
- Level
- Challenging
Cite this edition
Colonna, Francesco. Hypnerotomachia: The Strife of Love in a Dream. Library of Alexandria, 2026, libraryofalexandria.com/products/hypnerotomachia-the-strife-of-love-in-a-dream.
Colonna, F. (2026). Hypnerotomachia: The strife of love in a dream. Library of Alexandria. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/hypnerotomachia-the-strife-of-love-in-a-dream (Original work published ca. 1499)
Colonna, Francesco. Hypnerotomachia: The Strife of Love in a Dream. Library of Alexandria, 2026. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/hypnerotomachia-the-strife-of-love-in-a-dream.
@book{colonna2026hypnerotomachia,
author = {Colonna, Francesco},
title = {Hypnerotomachia: The Strife of Love in a Dream},
publisher = {Library of Alexandria},
year = {2026},
url = {https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/hypnerotomachia-the-strife-of-love-in-a-dream},
note = {First published ca. 1499}
}
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What is Hypnerotomachia about?
It tells of a lover named Poliphilus who dreams of wandering through a wood, a ruined pyramid, a queen's palace and a land of lovers, always searching for his beloved Polia and reading symbols along the way.
What does Hypnerotomachia mean?
The word combines Greek roots for sleep, love and battle, and the subtitle gives it as the strife of love in a dream. It names a long dream in which love struggles with fear, reason and desire.
Who are Poliphilus and Polia?
Poliphilus is the dreamer and narrator, a lover whose name suggests loving many things. Polia is the woman he longs for, and he keeps wondering whether the torch-bearing nymph might be her.
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