Chapter 8 The Death and Apotheosis of Hercules at the Comédie-Italienne: from Senecan Tragedy to Commedia dell’Arte

In: Hercules Performed
Author:
Lucia Degiovanni
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Type:
Chapter
Pages:
187–209
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004696938_010

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Abstract

This chapter focuses on Luigi Riccoboni’s Ercole/Hercule, first staged in Paris in 1717. A peculiar tragicomical rewriting of the events surrounding the death and apotheosis of Hercules, the play stands at the crossroads between different theatrical genres and traditions. The article examines the redevelopment and combining of Classical models (the Senecan tragedies Hercules Furens and Hercules Oetaeus, and Ovid’s Metamorphoses and Heroides) and the blending of themes, characters and dramaturgical solutions inspired by the tradition of commedia dell’arte.

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Hercules Performed

The Hero on Stage from the Enlightenment to the Early Twenty-First Century

Series:  Metaforms, Volume: 25
Cover Hercules Performed
E-Book ISBN:
9789004696938
Publisher:
Brill
Print Publication Date:
09 Aug 2024
Front Matter
Introduction Embodying the Hero and His Story
Part 1 Labours
Part 2 Madness
Part 3 Death and Apotheosis
Part 4 Setting Hercules to Music
Epilogue
Back Matter

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