L’Hippolyte de Jean Yeuwain (1591). Des chœurs “tournés de Sénèque”? Le cas du chœur de l’acte II

Jean Yeuwain’s Hippolyte (1591) is a rewriting of Seneca’s play. However, the author introduces new elements, some of which affect the role and the linguistic features, including the versification, of the four choruses, where novelty manifests itself to the utmost degree. The first is devoted to Venus “mère des deux Cupidons” (v. 389) and to her son, “cet Archerot” (v. 396) who is constantly teasing human beings; the second is a celebration of Hippolyte’s beauty, in a natural and bucolic setting. The third deplores the lack of harmony in Nature, despite it being perfect in the proportions of the stars and the skies; the fourth laments the inconstancy of Fortune (“Fortune perverse”, v. 1891), which especially endangers the richest and most powerful people, rather than the humblest.