Venus asks her son Cupid to make Adonis fall in love with her. Punch is furious and curses the gods, love and poetry. Cupid hears him. He strikes him with an arrow and condemns him to love Proserpina. When she appears, Punch sings his love to her. She dies and Punch is driven to despair. Venus and Adonis are in love. Venus asks Adonis not to go hunting because it would be too dangerous. Adonis ignores her plea and goes anyway. He is wounded and dies. Venus wants to catch his soul and join him. She is mourning his death with Pallas. Jupiter visits Proserpina in the Underworld to convince her to love Punch, who has been changed into Mars by Jupiter. The two lovers kiss and go back to the surface. All the characters ascend.
In her epilogue, Iris declares that love has prevailed.

Rod and string marionette

Not specified

Great Britain

London

Printed

Love

Death

Hunting

Latin Mythology

Metamorphosis

Comical

Burlesque

Parodistic

Martin Powell, Venus and Adonis, 1713. (Title page).

English

Adonis

Eros

Jupiter (Jove)

Punch

Mars

Venus

Athena

Proserpina

Iris

Satyre

Nymph

Sung play

Hunting scene

Ascent to heaven

Set that comes to life

Magic spell

Venus and Adonis; or, the Triumphs of Love.

The King Ponto is planning the weddings of his sons: Proteu (Proteus) will marry Dórida, the princess of Egnido, and Nereu (Nereus) will marry Cirene (Cyrene), whose father Políbio has introduced as the Princess of Beócia (Boeotia). Proteu is lamenting his fate because he is in love with Cirene. He tries to convince his father to let him marry her instead of Dórida. Meanwhile, Nereu is happy to be marrying a princess of royal blood; but he cannot appreciate Cirene’s beauty, and she reproaches him for it. Caranguejo introduces himself as a minister of Venus and tries persuading Maresia to marry him; having made a vow of chastity to Diana, she refuses. During a royal hunt, Cirene demands that the King cancel her marriage; as for Dórida, she thinks that Proteu is not eager enough to marry her. A wild boar attacks Maresia; it is in fact Caranguejo, who transforms back into his human form to kiss her. Cirene falls asleep on a mountain covered with flowers, which is in fact one of Proteus’s forms: when the young prince transforms back into himself, Cirene is in his arms. The King decides to bring the two weddings forward to pacify the two princesses. Cirene asks Nereu to love her for herself and not for her lineage, but he cannot do so. As for Proteu, he wishes that Cirene were not a princess so that he could be free to love her. Cirene confesses to her father Políbio that Proteu loves her, and she explains that her marriage with Nereu will be unhappy because she is pretending to be someone she is not. Políbio refuses to change his plans. Sitting on a chair which is in fact Caranguejo, Maresia ends up in the servant’s arms. Cirene is watching the clock into which Proteu has transformed to confess his love to her. While she is about to reveal that she is not a princess, her father interrupts her. Proteu and Políbio fight. Cirene intervenes; Proteu wounds her and, hopeless, tries to kill himself. Políbio confiscates his dagger and is then accused of attempted murder. Cirene demands that Políbio be freed, but the King says that he will only free her if Nereu agrees. Proteu, who transformed into a vase of flowers, decides to die to give Cirene satisfaction. Despite the latter’s pleading, Nereu refuses to agree to Políbio’s release. Maresia is arranging flowers; they are in fact Caranguejo, who begs her to marry him. As Nereu has Políbio taken to the temple of Astraea to put him to death, Proteu arrives with arms to free the prisoner. The brothers duel. Proteu is captured on orders of the King, but he then transforms into the King himself. At the temple, where the sacrifices are to be made, Cirene reveals her true identity. Nereu cancels their marriage, and Proteu proposes to her. The play ends with three weddings: Nereu marries Dórida; Proteu marries Cirene; and Caranguejo marries Maresia.

Giant marionette

António José Da Silva (António José da Silva, aka O Judeu)

Portugal

Lisbon

Impossible love

Usurpation

Wedding

Seduction

Fantasy

Pastoral

Lyrical

As Variedades de Proteu (1737)

Portuguese

Daughter

Princess

Proteus

Nereus

King

Neptune

Father

Maid

Servant

Music

Disguised character (false identity)

Love rivalry

Love duet

Transforming one character into another

Macaronic Latin

Sleeping character

Sword fight

Sword thrust

Fight with an animal

Transforming scenery

Object coming to life

Unveiling

Final wedding

As Variedades de Proteu

Proteus’s Metamorphoses

Faetonte (Phaethon) came to Italy to find the young woman whose portrait made him fall in love. He meets Egéria, the daughter of Tirreno (Tyrrhenus), who was dispossessed of her kingdom by her uncle Tages. The latter wants his daughter Ismene to become queen; he would like her to marry his nephew Albano. Faetonte does not know that he is the son of the Sun and introduces himself as a shepherd from Thessaly. Egéria falls in love with him and asks him to avenge her by killing Ismene. Faetonte meets the magician Fíton, who followed him from Thessaly. The servant Chichisbéu, who also followed his master Faetonte, is mistaken for the magician and taken prisoner by Tages’s soldiers. Albano worries because he betrayed Egéria, choosing Ismene instead. Tages announces the arrival of the great magician; he hopes that he will reveal the identity of the son of the Sun, who is known to be in the region. Faetonte arrives at Tages’s palace and reunites with Chichisbéu, who is tasked with finding the son of the Sun. On Faetonte’s suggestion, Chichisbéu pretends that his master is the son; he can therefore enter the palace. Chichisbéu tries in vain to charm Chirinola, Egéria’s maid: his nose grows longer with every lie he tells. Faetonte is about to kill Ismene when he realises that she is the young woman from the portrait. He stops his hand, and she calls the soldier, but Faetonte flees in the darkness cast by Fíton. Ismene asks Albano to avenge her. Albano asks Chichisbéu to reveal the murderer’s identity: the fake magician says that he will find him in the forest. The King admits that he would rather give his daughter’s hand to the son of the Sun rather than to Albano, whom he does not trust. Ismene goes into the forest to hunt and wounds Faetonte, believing that he is an animal. He falls to her feet and declares his love to her. Albano is convinced that Faetonte is Ismene’s murderer and tries to kill him. Chichisbéu stops him and reveals that Faetonte is the son of the Sun; the trees begin to move on orders of Apolo to signal that this is true, and he is escorted with great pomp to the King’s court. When Egéria finds blood on the ground, she believes that Faetonte has killed Ismene and been imprisoned. Faetonte declares his love to Ismene, who recognises the portrait in his hands as the one she sent to her future husband, the Prince of Rhodes. During the ceremony meant to unite Ismene and Albano, Fíton turns off the lights: claiming that this is a sign from Apolo, the King adjourns the wedding. Fíton tells Faetonte that he really is the son of the Sun, but that disclosing his identity would only cause his downfall. The King wants Ismene to marry the son of the Sun and have Egéria marry Albano. Albano and Faetonte fight, but they are interrupted by Ismene, who appeals to the gods. To curry favour with Chirinola, Chichisbéu reveals his true identity and says that Faetonte is only a shepherd. Ismene and Albano were spying on them and now believe that they know the truth: the King announces that he will marry his daughter to Albano, and Faetonte despairs. Quarreling with Fíton, he asks his father to confirm his identity. Apolo therefore entrusts his chariot to him: the horses bolt and run to the sea where Egéria is—she finds Faetonte’s lifeless body in her arms. Apolo brings his son back to life. Faetonte marries Egéria, and Chirinola agrees to marry Chichisbéu.