The actions of humans, the difficulty of making good judgments, the uncertainty of all things—these themes would continue to fascinate sixteenth-century writers. They would have to face the religious split in western Europe, and the revelation that the world was much bigger and more diverse than the ancients had expected. This would bring some of them to a subtle understanding of uncertainty and complexity. A few would also realize that nothing was more complex or self-divided than an individual human being.
