The theme of Medea in Portuguese literature has mainly given rise to the writing of new plays on the subject. The central episode in the Portuguese rewritings in the last two centuries is the one that takes place in Corinth, i.e., the break between Medea and Jason, on the one hand, and Medea’s killing of their children in retaliation, on the other. Besides the complex play of feelings that provides this episode with very real human emotions, gender was a key issue in determining the interest that this story elicited in a society in search of social renovation, after profound political transformations – during the transition between dictatorship and democracy which happened in 1974 – that generated instability and established a requirement to find alternative rules of social intercourse in the path towards a new Portugal.
Andrés Pociña Pérez, University of Granada, is Full Professor of Latin Philology at that university. He has published monographs, translations and many articles on Latin literature, Greco-Latin drama, reception studies, including Medeas. Versiones de un mito desde Greciam hasta hoy I-III (University of Granada, 2002).
Aurora López, University of Granada, is Full Professor of Latin Philology at that university. She has published monographs, translations and many articles on Latin literature, Roman women, Greco-Latin drama, reception studies, including Medeas. Versiones de un mito desde Greciam hasta hoy I-III (University of Granada, 2002).
Carlos Morais, University of Aveiro, is Professor of Latin Philology at that university. He has published monographs and many articles on Greek Literature and Reception Studies, including 'Máscaras Portuguesas de Antígona' (University of Aveiro, 2001).
Maria de Fátima Silva, PhD (1984), University of Coimbra, is Full Professor of Classical Studies at that university. She has published monographs, translations and articles on Greek theatre and reception studies, including the coordination of Portrayals of Antigone in Portugal (Brill, 2017).
Patrick J. Finglass, University of Bristol, is Henry Overton Wills Professor of Greek at that university. He has published editions, monographs, and many articles on Greek lyric poetry and drama, including the edition of Sophocles' plays (Cambridge University Press, 2007, 2011, 2018).
Abbreviations Notes on Contributors
Introduction
Part 1: Main Sources
1 Euripides’ Medea in Context Patrick J. Finglass
2 Medea: the Bewitched Witch in Apollonius of Rhodes Maria do Céu Fialho
3 Versions of Medea in Classical Latin Andrés Pociña and Aurora López
4 Os encantos de Medeia by António José da Silva: Comedy Version of a Tragic Theme (18th Century) Maria de Fátima Silva
5 In Search of Lost Identity: Jean Anouilh’s Medea Maria de Fátima Silva
6 The Reception of Medea in the 20th and 21st Centuries Rosanna Lauriola
Part 2: Portuguese Versions of Medea in the 20th and 21st Centuries
7 Medea as an Aesthetic and Ethical Space in Fiama’s Work Ália Rodrigues
8 A Portuguese Medea: Eduarda Dionísio, Antes que a Noite Venha (Before the Night Comes) Maria de Fátima Silva
9 Hélia Correia’s A de Cólquida (The Woman from Colchis) Maria António Hörster and Maria de Fátima Silva
10 Language, Barbarism, and Civilization: Hélia Correia’s Desmesura (Excess) Maria de Fátima Silva
11 Measure in Hélia Correia’s Desmesura: an Exercise in Recreating Classical Rhythm Carlos Morais
12 Medea in the Society of Entertainment: a Reading of Mário Cláudio’s Medeia Maria António Hörster and Maria de Fátima Silva
13 Revisiting Medea – Carlos Jorge Pessoa’s Escrita da Água: No Rasto de Medeia (Water Writing: in Medea’s Wake) Susana Hora Marques
14 The Art of Translating a Classic: Author’s and Translator’s Marks Maria de Fátima Silva
Conclusion Appendix: a Chronology of Recreations, Editions, and Performances Bibliography Index Locorum Index of Modern Authors Index of Subjects
All interested in Greek drama, comparative literature, reception studies, translation and Portuguese culture and literature,