Everlasting Indulgence In The Cockaigne
The utopias described in the texts within the category of Golden Age Myths and Earthly Paradises of The Utopia Reader edited by Gregory Claeys and Lyman Tower Sargent all contain a common thread woven through them, which is the idea of everlasting indulgence. The idea of everlasting indulgence comes into play most clearly within the poem of “The Cockaigne” written by Telecleides. Cockaigne, a fictional land supposedly west of Spain, is essentially a fairy-tale land sought by those who possess an insatiable appetite for pure pleasures and wish to escape grueling labor. For instance, Telecleidies mentions that there are “rivers broad and fine/Of oil, milk, honey, and of wine” from which people can incessantly drink and that geese fully cooked