La Galatea

Published in 1585, La Galatea is Miguel de Cervantes' first and unfinished novel. It is usually classified as a pastoral novel, a genre flourishing during the Renaissance; however, although its characters are indeed shepherds, they serve the author's true purpose: to conduct a psychological study of love. Thus, poems and short songs are interspersed throughout the story of Elicio and Erastro, locked in a lyrical dispute over the beautiful shepherdess Galatea, the central figure of the work.