<p>Iacchos (Iacchus) and Minos welcome the souls of the dead in the Underworld. Hadès has just abducted Perséphone, Iacchos’s daughter, and threatens to rape her. But Perséphone takes a solemn oath never to marry him if he forces her to. In the world of the living, peasants deplore their harvest, which Déméter’s anger has dried. Daiphantus, Tellis’s father, mourns his son, who has just died; he was about to marry Lysilla. Looking for her daughter Perséphone, Déméter learns that she was abducted by Hadès and decides to bring her back. Hadès appears; he has been transformed by love and repents. Moved by this change, Perséphone agrees to marry him, if Zeus lets her. Déméter hears her and reproaches her for her decision; because of this, Hadès gives up on his plan to marry Perséphone. Iacchos manages to pacify Déméter, who agrees to let Zeus decide. She comes back to the world of the living; the harvests have been miraculously saved and everyone is celebrating. Tellis comes back from the Underworld and announces that, from now on, the souls of the righteous—including his own—will go to an enchanting place. Zeus appears, surrounded by Justice and Pitié (Mercy), and announces his decision: Perséphone will stay with Déméter six months a year, and spend the other six in the kingdom of Hadès.</p>

Not specified

France

Paris

Printed

Lust

Anger

Promise

Death

Grief

Eros

Repentance

Renunciation

Hell

Soul

Greek mythology

French

Zeus

Hades

Iacchus

Demeter

Persephone

Justice

Mercy

Minos

Choir

Address to the public

Aside

Engulfment

Deus ex machina

Les Mystères d'Eleusis

The Eleusian Mysteries

<p>The lazy Kasperl is elected chancellor and makes ridiculous suggestions to solve administrative problems. He encounters Death who takes him to a court where it must be decided whether Kasperl will go to heaven or to hell. Kasperl's stupidity saves him from eternal suffering. He wakes up: it was only a dream, and he promises to become a better person and to work. He encounters Death again, but this time, Death decides to let Kasperl live.</p>

String marionette

Polgar Alfred

Austria

Vienna

Laziness

Heaven

Judgment

Politics

Silliness

Chancellor

Judgment of God

Lawyer

Hunger

Fighting

Anti-Semitism

Comical

Satirical

Absurd

German

Der unsterbliche Kasperl. Ein Spiel für das Wursteltheater

Ein Spiel für das Hanswursttheater

Kasperl

Neighbour

Emissary

Angel

Police Superintendant

Judge

Voice

Passer-by

Physician

Plot twist

Parodic trial

Song

Political allegory

Dialect

Der unsterbliche Kasperl

The immortal Kasperl