By explicit admission of the author, the libretto of Händel’s Semele goes back to the story that Ovid had narrated in Book III of the Metamorphoses (vv. 253-315); in addition to the basic structure, the librettist inherits from Ovid the salient features of the protagonists and certain narrative constants, such as the jealousy of Juno; the disguise of the goddess as Semele’s confidant; the deception perpetrated against Jupiter; the tragic end of Semele; the birth of Bacchus. The study focuses on the classical persistences of the libretto - which are not limited to the Ovidian source, but also include the Plautus’s theater and the Homeric epic - and on the meaning of their re-contextualization in the play.
R. Dimundo, "Le alterne vicende di una storia ovidiana, tra fedeltà al modello e contaminazione delle fonti"
rosa alba dimundo
2022-01-01
Abstract
By explicit admission of the author, the libretto of Händel’s Semele goes back to the story that Ovid had narrated in Book III of the Metamorphoses (vv. 253-315); in addition to the basic structure, the librettist inherits from Ovid the salient features of the protagonists and certain narrative constants, such as the jealousy of Juno; the disguise of the goddess as Semele’s confidant; the deception perpetrated against Jupiter; the tragic end of Semele; the birth of Bacchus. The study focuses on the classical persistences of the libretto - which are not limited to the Ovidian source, but also include the Plautus’s theater and the Homeric epic - and on the meaning of their re-contextualization in the play.I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
