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The Perseus Myth in Lope de Vega and Calderon With Some Reference to Their Sources

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 December 2020

Henry M. Martin*
Affiliation:
Howard College

Extract

In 1621 Lope de Vega published his El Perseo, and Calderon followed in 1653 with Las Fortunas de Perseo y Andrómeda on the same subject. Both dramatists so embellished the narrative of Ovid, their common source, with their own inventions for the most part and to a lesser degree with accretions gathered during centuries of transmission as to make those features the subject of pertinent inquiry. A statement of the main incidents of the myth will facilitate our study. Danäe, having been exposed after the birth of her son, Perseus, in the tower, was cast on the island of Seriphus. There she became the wife of its king, Polydectes, who, finding Perseus an obstacle to his designs, induced him to undertake the slaugher of Medusa. Perseus accomplished the feat with the aid of a magic wand (sandals) and a sword, both the gift of Mercury, and a shield from Pallas. He also secured the Gorgon's head. While returning from Africa he rescued Andromeda, who was exposed on a cliff in Ethiopia to the visitation of a sea monster.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Modern Language Association of America, 1931

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References

page 450 note 1 Obras Completas de Lope de Vega, pub. by the Royal Spanish Academy, vi (Madrid, 1896), 75 f.; Bibl. de Autores Españoles, ix (Madrid, 1855), 631 f. References to both plays in this paper are made by page, column, and line.

page 450 note 2 Met., iv, 603–v, 1–249; cf. M. Menéndez y Pelayo, Obras Completas de Lope de Vega, vi, Int., p. xli; Leopold Schmidt, “Über Calderons Behandlung antiker Mythen,” Rhein. Museum f. Phil., x (1856), 314, 319; E. Guenthner, Calderon und seine Werke, 2 vols., i (Freiburg: Herder, 1881), 288.

page 450 note 3 One source of these is commonly considered to be the four classical handbooks known to have been consulted by writers of the period. They are Mythologiae by Natalis Comes; Boccaccio's Genealogiae; De Deis Gentium, Syntagmata xvii by Lilius Gregorius Gyraldus and Officina by Joan Ravisio Textor (Basel, 1555?). The last may be eliminated at once. It contains a vast number of brief items on the gods, who are classified according to function, on the heroes, on birds, animals, etc. The entry on Perseus occupies the space of six columnar lines, on Medusa nine, on Pegasus ten, and on Andromeda, three. The succinct account is evidently based on Ovid. Gyraldus' manual (Basel, 1560) shows no entry under any of those names. Boccaccio furnishes more copious information. As we shall see, certain innovations recorded by him were not incorporated by Lope and Calderon. The compendium of Natalis Comes was certainly consulted in preparation of the two plays, perhaps on account of its excellent index.

page 450 note 4 E. Cotarelo, “Ensayo sobre la vida y obras de Don Pedro Calderón de la Barca,” Boletín de la Real Academia Española, viii (1921), 690, 691.

page 451 note 5 W. H. Roscher, Ausführliches Lexikon der griechischen und römischen Mythologie, iii2 (Leipzig: Teubner, 1902–1909), 2020.

page 451 note 6 Théâtre, 8 vols., ed. A Pauly, v (Paris: Lemerre, 1884), Examen d'Andromède, p. 57.

page 451 note 7 Ch. Daremberg and Ed. Saglio, Dictionnaire des Antiquités Grecques et Romaines (Paris: Hachette, 1896) under Perseus, p. 402, col. 1. The Perseus Myth was well known in Sicily, and some Roman writers represent Perseus as having been active in various parts of Italy; cf. E. S. Hartland, The Legend of Perseus, 3 vols., i (London: Nutt, 1894), 5–11.

page 451 note 8 Perseum equo Pegaso vectum, Joannis Boccatii, Genealogiae (Venice, 1511), Lib. xi, Cap. xxv.

page 451 note 9alarum utens volatu; juvenis alatus et volans, De Deorum Imaginibus, Cap. xxi, Mythographi Latini (Lugd. Bat.: Luchtmans, 1742), p. 929.

page 451 note 10 Ideo volaticus dicitur quod navibus venerit, Mythologicon, Lib. i, Cap. xxvi (Mythographi Latini, ed. cit., p. 929).

page 451 note 11 Daremberg and Saglio, op. cit., p. 398, col. 2.

page 452 note 12 Mythologiae, she Explicationes Fabularum, Libri decem, vii (Frankfort: apud A. Wecheli Heredes, C. Marnium et Joan. Aubrium, 1596), Cap. xviii. The copy in the Library of Congress is inscribed Patavii: Ex Typographia Pauli Frambotti, 1637. The book is illustrated, and the entries contain numerous citations from the classics both Latin and Greek.

page 452 note 13 Narrationes Fabularum, Lib. iv, Fab. xvii (Myth. Lat., ed. cit., p. 816).

page 452 note 14 Hartland, op. cit., iii, 158; Daremberg and Saglio, op. cit., 399, col. 2.

page 452 note 15 Roscher, op. cit., iii2, 2013.

page 452 note 16 To two messengers arriving simultaneously at the court of Polydectes from Sicily and Libya (ibid., 635, 3 f.) the oracle especially stipulated that Medusa's blood must be the remedy for riddance from the serpent. Perseus having previously had a vision of high enterprise considers this a fair field for his endeavor. He next appears in Sicily. By thus reversing the conventional order, Calderon gives the first indication of which event is to be more important.

page 453 note 17 Lactantius Placidus, op. cit., Lib. iv, Fab. xvii.

page 453 note 18 Cf. accidit per illud tempus ut Perseus cum Medusae capite iliac iter faceret, Natalis Comes, op. cit., Lib. viii, Cap. xxv (loc. cit., p. 487, col. 2).

page 453 note 19 Lucian made a measurable approach to the idea when he writes (Dial. Marin., 14), that Athena showed to Perseus as he passed over Ethiopia the likeness of Andromeda in her shield, Roscher, op. cit., col. 2014.

page 453 note 20 Cf. op. cit., Lib. vii, Cap. xi (p. 391, col. 1, line 28).

page 453 note 21 M. Menéndez y Pelayo, Calderón y su Teatro (Madrid: Rev. de Archivos, 1910), pp. 383, 97.

page 453 note 22 Greek Romances of Heliodorus, Longus, and Achilles Tatius, tr. by R. Smith (London: Geo. Bell, 1889), pp. 296, 297.

page 453 note 23 Theogenes and Chariclea, ed. cit., p. 73; or again when Chariclea thus learns of the death of her father, ibid., p. 41.

page 454 note 24 W. Smith, Dict. of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythography, iii (London: Murray, 1849), 205; Roscher, op. cit., col. 2010.

page 454 note 25 … falcem adcepisse ex adamante factam, Hyginus, Poeticon Astronomicon, Cap. xii (Myth. Lat., ed. cit., p. 445); et adamantina falce Mercurii, Natalis Comes, op. cit., Lib. vii, Cap. xi.

page 454 note 26 Crytallinum scutum ante oculos deferens, Albricus Philosophus, op. cit., Cap. xxi (Myth. Lat., ed. cit., p. 929); quod crystallinum erat, Boccaccio, op. cit., Lib. x, Cap. xi. Certain scholiasts also refer to a shield of crystal; cf. Editor's note 8 on the first citation.

page 454 note 27 Speculum etiam ferre dicitur, Mythologicon, Lib. i, Cap. xxvi (Myth. Lat., ed. cit., p. 658; speculo Palladis, Natalis Comes, op. cit., vii, xi (loc. cit., p. 391).

page 454 note 28 Yo, que soy Pálas, te quiero | Dar este luciente escudo, | Cuyo cristalino espejo, etc., El Perseo, 90, 2, 33; Deste escudo de diamante, Las Fortunas, 647, 2, 20; A su don vengo a añadirte | Este escudo transparente, ibid., 646, 3, 54. In some modern versions in Italy a mirror replaces the shield, the object is to help the hero kill the witch, Hartland, op. cit., i, 12; iii, 164.

page 455 note 29 Con esta banda le cubre, 91, 1, 30; 92, 1, 6; cf. 92, 1, 31; 94, 1, 30. With it the four horsemen and the giant Porfía were temporarily deprived of sight, 92, 1 f.

page 455 note 30 Cf. atque Medusae caput in specula aversus intuens Pallade manum | dirigente amputant, Natalis Comes, op. cit., Lib. vii, Cap. xi (ed. cit., p. 391, col. 1).

page 455 note 31 Cf. the boast to Phineus of the new power possessed by it: Pues mírate en este espejo, | Que tiene tales virtudes | Que vuelve piedra a quien quiero, 106, 2, 24.

page 455 note 32 El Perseo, 89, 1, 44; 92, 2, 34; Las Fortunas, 648, 3, 60 f.

page 455 note 33 A case at first glance destructive is satisfactorily explained by Roscher, op. cit., iii2, 2044.

page 456 note 34 Greek Romances, ed. cit., p. 194.

page 456 note 35 Hartland, op. cit., iii, 152, footnote 1; Roscher, op. cit., col. 2014.

page 456 note 36 Hic caput Medusae ablatum in hasta deferre videbatur, Albricus Philosophus, op. cit., Cap. xxi (Myth. Lat., ed. cit., p. 930).

page 457 note 37 It appears on Roman antefixa, tiles and door-knockers; cf. D. M. Robinson, “Etruscan-Campanian Antefixes,” Am. Journ. Ar., xxvii (1923), 3 f; F. T. Elworthy, “A Solution of the Gorgon Myth,” Folk Lore, xiv (1903), 212 f.; Daremberg and Saglio, op. cit. (Gorgones), p. 1617, col. 2.

page 457 note 38 Pauli-Wissowa, Real-Encyclopädie der class. Altertumswissenschaft, vii (Stuttgart: Metzler, 1912), col. 1639, 9; Dar. and Saglio, op. cit., p. 1616, ref. 39.

page 457 note 39arbusculae nascerentur, op. cit., Lib. iv, Fab. xix.

page 458 note 40 Athena gave to Erichthonius two drops of Medusa's blood, one of which was restorative, Pauli-Wissowa, op. cit., col. 1640.

page 458 note 41 Daremberg and Saglio, op. cit., (Perseus, p. 403, Fig. 5582; Roscher, op. cit., col. 2031 f.

page 458 note 42 Daremberg and Saglio, op. cit. (Gorgones), p. 1616, ref. 43; Roscher, ibid., col. 2015.

page 458 note 43 Ya me libré de esa guerra; | Ya queda Atlante vencido, 89, 2, 3; cf. 91, 2 f.

page 458 note 44 The entire passage is: ubi inquit earn fuisse filiam Phorbi, quae mortuo patre regnum ab illo acceperit eorum populorum qui ad Tritonidem paludem accolunt, solitamque in venationes et pugnas cum iis populis quibus imperabat, exire, op. cit., Lib. vii, Cap. xi.

page 459 note 45 Nace de mi hielo amor | Y se muda el alma en mí, 92, 2, 50; Casarémonos los dos, 93, 1, 16.

page 459 note 48 Daremberg and Saglio, op. cit. (Gorgones), pp. 1622, 1627; Miss L. M. Wilson, “Greek Art and the Medusa Myth,” Amer. Jour. Ar., xxiv (1920), 233, 238 f.

page 459 note 47 Roscher, op. cit., col. 1733 (Pegasos).

page 459 note 48 Notably Boccaccio; cf. ex quo concubitu Pegasus aequus natus est, op. cit., Lib. x Cap. xi.

page 460 note 49 Roscher, op. cit., col. 1749.

page 460 note 50 A fifth-century relief shows Perseus springing on a horse ready to flee from the Gorgons (Roscher, op. cit., col. 2039), but the circumstance can have no application to the present case.