Abstracts of issue 9 (1997)

Ancient Dramatists and Newer Theatrical Representations

In a mosaic-like way, the present article deals with several interwoven subjects at once: the place is the Italian Peninsula, the time is that of the Renaissance – “un temps” which cannot be, nevertheless, restricted to the twenty-four hour span allowed by Boileau; as for the plot (“un seul fait accompli”) – that leaves much to be desired, if we still wish to adhere to the rules of neo-classical tragedy. The complexity of the theme and its inevitable digressions which at first sight might seem extreneous, can be partly explained by the following five divisions into which the above mentioned brief yet concise these falls:

1. “The Roman Comedy and the pastoral eclogues”;
2. “Poliziano’s Orfeo as symbol of the humanistic Renaissance”;
3. “Cefalo and the Representatione di Anima a di Corpo”;
4. “The arrival of the Greek intelligentsia after the fall of Constantinople in Italy and the early translations of Greek tragedies”;
5. “The representations of Giustiniani’s Edippo Tiranno in Vincenza with music by Andrea Gabrieli”.

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