Giovanni Pontano (1426–1503) was one of the most prominent poets of neo-latin erotic poetry. Focilla is a female character of his late work 'Hendecasyllables' or 'Baiae' whom he dedicated 10 poems to. This work analyses her devices of agency and power by applying a close-reading approach. Each of the ten poems is summarized, analyzed in form and style and interpreted. Following this, the poems are put in context with each other and references to other poems are investigated. Finally, a biographical perspective is taken for a critical interpretation of Focilla's character under additional aspects.
