Leandro (Leander) meets Hero while she is working in Venere’s (Venus’s) temple: it is love at first glance for the two of them, and their love story develops according to chivalric standards. The romantic dialogue finds an echo in the more prosaic duo between Lesbia and Millo, the two servants. When Hero, faithfully devoted to the goddess, refuses herself to Leandro, he grabs her coat and rips it. She begs him to spare her honour and declares her love before she decides, driven by passion, to die in the breast of her new divinity. Arbace and his suite of singing hunters cross the stage. Lucilla, the fickle lover of Tigrane, placed by the latter in the care of Leandro, tries to seduce Leandro and fails. The first act ends on a burlesque note, with Millo followed by a choir of seamen singing and smoking. Arbace, who fell in love with Lucilla, is helped by Giocasta (Jocasta): she organises a (rigged) love game, for Tigrane and his lover. The game consists in proving one’s faithfulness by blindly finding a sign of love. While her lover is blindfolded, Lucilla can enjoy Arbace’s kisses. Then she pretends to have won the game and dismisses her lover; Giocasta is amused by women’s cunning. In the meantime, Hero, dressed as a gypsy, puts Leandro’s faithfulness to the test. Seeing Millo, she predicts that he will have a blissful future if he presents her at Court: introduced as a great magician to Lucilla, she is entrusted with the writing of a lover letter intended for Leandro. Arbace understands that his new lover has betrayed him, and Tigrane is sorrowful. Lucilla dances with her suite at the very end of the act. While Leandro is desperately looking for Hero, the latter, disguised as a gypsy, gives him Lucilla’s letter. She is convinced of his good faith because he rips the letter before even reading it. Leandro decides to join his beloved at night by crossing the water; Hero plans on waiting for him on the neighbouring beach. Unfortunately, Lucilla overhears the conversation between the lovers and asks Arbace to avenge her and to kill Hero. At night, Leandro is about to drown. On her cloud, Venere summons the choir of Nereidi (Nereids) and asks them to save him and take him up in the sky. Arbace wants to hit Hero, who is anxiously waiting for her lover; he kills Lucilla while Hero transforms into Leandro’s plant (oleander). While Lucilla is dying, paying the price of her wrongdoing, the lovers reunite in Elysium, by Venere’s side.

"On foot and by rod" puppet

Marionette with counterweight

Not specified

Badovero Camillo

Italy

Venice

Printed

Love

Jealousy

Gipsy woman

Deception

Drowning

Venus (Goddess)

Ovid

Lyrical

Heroic

Tragic

Fantasy

Farcical

Italian

Gli amori fatali

Lord

Favourite

Leandre

Priestess

Virgin

Hero (priestess)

Chaperon

Lover (woman)

Secretary

Lover (man)

Nurse

Servant

Venus

Guard

Hunter

Bridesmaid

Nereids

Love story

Thwarted love

Music

Seduction scene

Undressed character on stage

Erotic scene

Love rivalry

Dancing entertainment

Interlude

Smoke

Wandering

Disguised character (false identity)

Investigation

Hunting scene

Scene in the dark

Night scene

Metamorphosis

Apparition of a god

Deus ex machina

Clouds

Ascent to heaven

Flying machine

Il Leandro

Leander

The play begins with Colombo (Colombus) sailing the sea with his wife Anarda and their son Fernando. They meet a choir of mermaids, then of tritons, all of which are taken away by Fortuna. The ship berths at Motenzuma, the capital of Peru. Tendilla, daughter of Ginacra, the king of Peru, advocates against welcoming the foreigners. Her lover Guascarre speaks against his wife’s empty fears. Ginacra sends him to the ships to meet the strangers, who have brought presents. When the Court and the strangers meet, Colombo fears that his wife Anarda will be tempted; she assures him that she is faithful. Their son falls in love with Tendilla. The servant Giumbè is leading two camels carrying many gifts. This is followed by a dance of monkeys trying to imitate human dances. Ginacra wooes Anarda. As she rejects him, he tries to force Colombo to give his wife to him. The two husbands ask for Guascarre’s help, although he himself is jealous of Fernando. Taken to the temple to be sacrificed, Anarda accepts her coming death—to prove her love for Colombo. Trying to make her change her mind, Ginacra turns her into a goddess: faced with a renewed rejection, he takes her to prison. Colombo is set on dying for his wife. Fernando asks Tendilla to intercede with the tyrant on behalf of his mother. The interlude stages the European nations dressed in colourful costumes. At night, Anarda is waiting in her cell for her husband to save her: Colombo arrives, carrying a torch, and with Giumbè’s help manages to see Anarda. Ginacra also arrives at the prison. Anarda pretends to like him and suggests that he kills Colombo in a duel, to win her love. Colombo hears the end of the conversation, displays jealousy and tries to kill himself at his wife’s feet. She prevents him from doing so and explains her plan to fight, disguised as him. Tendilla declares her love to Fernando: as a true gentleman, Guascarre promises his rival mutual love. Colombo cross-dresses and offers to fight the duel in Ginacra’s stead: the fight now opposes Anarda cross-dressed as Colombo, and Colombo cross-dressed as the king’s champion. Hurt by Anarda, Colombo falls to the ground; When she discovers her opponent’s true identity, she faints. Learning about Anarda’s feats, Ginacra decides to leave her alone. Tendilla hesitates between her two suitors: her father decides that she will marry Guascarre, the oldest of the two.

Automaton

Ottoboni Pietro

Rome

Peru

Geographic discoveries

Explorer

Rivalry in love

Sacrifice

Edifying

Pietro Ottoboni, Il Colombo ovvero L'India scoperta, 1690.

overo L'India scoperta

Christopher Columbus

Wife

Slave

Interpreter

Young woman

King

Prince

Lady-in-waiting

Mermaid

Chorality

Boat mounted on wheels

Board meeting

Sleeping character

Spying scene

Fall of a character

Release of a prisoner

Sword fight

Duel scene

Character mistaken as a member of the other sex

Final wedding

Il Colombo

The play begins on the banks of the Tiber river, where Costantino (Constantine) is about to fight the usurper Massenzio (Maxentius), son of Massimiano (Maximian), whose crown he stole. The Sky opens, and Religion appears to announce Costantino’s victory to him. Costantino promises to avenge his sister Costanza (Constantia), who was betrayed by Licinio (Licinius): the latter was supposed to marry her and make her queen of Orient, but he joined the enemy. In Rome, Arsace passes on Costantino’s offer of peace to Massimiano, who rejects them. Fausta, Massimiano’s daughter, announces her brother’s defeat: her father asks her to swear fealty to the winner. Arsace, whom the audience believed to be in love with Fausta, gives unclear reasons to explain that he cannot love her. During a triumphant procession, the legitimate Emperor moves with the chariot of Fama (Renown), pulled by winged horses; then Fama promises Costantino victory. When the latter makes a speech to the Romans to bring them peace, Fausta throws herself at his feet. In the procession, Planco, Costanza’s servant, is looking for Licinio. Thanks to a portrait, he recognises Arsace as his mistress’ future husband. Convinced that Licinio betrayed her, Costanza promises that she will take revenge on him. Informed by Planco, Costanza pretends not to have recognised Licinio—she wants to feel just how badly she was betrayed. Licinio is won by love and reveals himself to her; he manages to make her reconcile with him: she suggests that she remains hidden before she is certain that her brother will be merciful. Drusilla learns from Planco that Costantino no longer has a wife, and that he can therefore become Fausta’s lover. But Massimiliano despairs and asks his daughter to avenge her dead brother by leading Costantino into a trap, at which point Arsace will kill him; then, he promises to marry his daughter with the murderer. Fausta refuses; Costantino finds her as she is crying. When he tells her that he wishes everyone could unite thanks to his peace proposal, she lets him know that his father left to cry from sorrow. He asks her to take him to her father, insistent despite Fausta’s vague warnings. In the forest, Massimiano is waiting for Costantino; he is with Arsace, who vainly tries to talk him into choosing peace. Costantino arrives with Fausta. As he is about to embrace the defeated king, conspirators ambuscade him. Arsace intervenes to save him; so does Fausta. Not knowing who to believe in this confusing situation, Costantino sends the three suspects to prison. When he tries to find out who the culprits are, Costantino reconciles with Arsace, whom he recognises as Licinio. But Costanza, convinced that her husband betrayed her with Fausta, wants him dead. Announcing that Massimiano is threatening his own daughter as punishment for having saved Costantino, Drusilla tells Costanza the truth. Fausta flees into the forest, looking for her father who went insane. She manages to control him, then denounces herself to Costantino. In the dungeons of the place, Arsace is locked up; Costanza meets him there. Suspecting that the two conspirators, Arsace and Fausta, are meeting, Costantino walks in on them: Costanza, leaving the prison, throws herself at his feet to tell him the truth. In the final scene, Costantino is accompanied by a procession and celebrates peace; he gives up his plan to take revenge. The play ends with two marriages, and Massimiano is said to be on the run. Then, Faith appears, surrounded by the Liberal arts.

Faith

Emperor

Ancient history

Usurper

Roman History

Il Costantino pio (1710), title page

Sister

Chorus

Play in verse

Revelation

Vision

Miracle

Monologue

Allegory

Apparition of an angel

Procession

Attempted assassination

Crowd

Running away

Apparition

Apotheosis

Il Costantino Pio

Constantine the Pious

The shepherd Mitridate took Elcino in and raised him as the brother of his daughter Erenia. Erenia’s love for Arsace, Artemio’s son, and the love of Sandane, Artemio’s daughter, for Elcino are disrupted by the hatred opposing their families. Mitridate tells Erenia that, years before, the King Astiage (Astyages) entrusted Arpago with getting rid of his grandson Ciro (Cyrus) because of a dream. Alone, Erenia remembers that her mother gave birth to a stillborn child, and that his father substituted Elcino for him, caring for him as for his own son. Owing to their love for their respective sisters, Arsace and Elcino reconcile. At the palace, Astiage, suspecting Arpago of not having fulfilled his task, pretends to feel remorse and to wish that Ciro could come back to life. Arpago, Mitridate and Erenia rejoice at this change of heart, and decide to present Elcino to the king: they organise a sacrifice during which Astiage feels drawn to Elcino. To warn him against the tyrant, Mitridate tells Elcino the story of Ciro: the young man decides to take revenge on behalf of the child. When Sandane walks in on him, she confesses her love to him. The act ends with a dance of temple guards. In the forest, Astiage rushes to Erenia’s rescue, as she is being chased by a wild beast. To take revenge for Elcino’s severity toward Arsace, she tells him that the young man is not her brother, and she promises to bring him the baby blanket with which he was found. Elcino, who came back to his flocks, has grand dreams. He is invited to eat with the king, and Arpago tells him that Ciro is alive. Seeing the baby blanket, Astiage understands who Elcino is, and he appeals to the goddesses for revenge. To avenge himself of Arpago’s poor services, the tyrant has him drink a cup filled with his son’s blood; he also sends Elcino to prison. The sky darkens, the sea becomes turbulent, and furies come out of clouds and begin to dance. Sandane worries about her lover’s fate. When she sees him in chains, they exchange vows quickly before Elcino is taken back to his dungeon. Erenia, overcome with guilt, tells Sandane about Ciro’s identity, and she declares her Queen. Astiage declares his love to Sandane: she rejects him and asks to die by her husband’s side, which sparks Astiage’s jealousy. The tyrant decides to set Ciro on fire before his wife’s eyes; but the guards have stopped obeying him. In the meantime, Arsace and Arpago have freed Elcino, who is now arriving with the conspirators. He learns about his true identity from Sandane, and takes the tyrant’s place. Erenia confesses to her father that she betrayed him and revealed Ciro’s identity to the King: he forgives her, because she allowed for fates to be accomplished. The play ends with Ciro’s accession: he ascends the throne accompanied by Sandane.

Tyrant

Child abandonment

Conjuration

Magnanimity

Prophetic dream

Anthropophagy

Pastoral

Pietro Ottoboni, Il Ciro, 1712 (title page)

Captain

Father

Shepherd

Expository scene

Account of a dream

Invisible force

Apparition of demons

Destruction of set elements

Thunderbolt

Scene of recognition

Change of social status

Il Ciro

Cyrus

Jason lands in Colchis with Teseu (Theseus) and an armed escort; he seeks to obtain the Golden Fleece. As he admires the King’s beautiful daughter, Medeia (Medea), and her cousin Creúsa, his servant Sacatrapo is coveting Arpia, Medeia’s servant. Sacatrapo, hidden inside a sideboard, overhears Medeia declaring her love for Jason to her servant. Jason promises to marry Medeia if she helps him find the Golden Fleece. But he is in love with Creúsa: he declares his love to his servant and entrusts him with inquiring into the young woman’s feelings. The King is sceptical about the motifs of Jason’s coming and asks Medeia to find out about his true intentions. Because Jason urges her to, Medeia carries him on a cloud to the enchanted garden. On Pegasus’s back, Jason enters the garden, where he fights against a fire-breathing dragon; laid down, the dragon disappears into flames. Medeia summons Sacatrapo thanks to a dragon who spits the servant out of its month. Casting her spells, she makes the flowers of the garden move and transforms them into nymphs (which Sacatrapo sees as donkeys). Jason confirms again that he loves Medeia, even though he is thinking about Creúsa. Jason is preparing to flee with Teseu and asks Sacatrapo to go fetch Creúsa. The servant tells the King that Jason stole the Golden Fleece from him. Medeia, abandoned, confides in Creúsa. The young women order Jason to explain himself. The King asks Medeia to vouch for Jason; she agrees. Sacatrapo meets Medeia: mistaking her for Creúsa during a night scene, he reveals that Jason is unfaithful. Furious, Medeia buries him slowly to feed the dragons with him, and replaces his head with a donkey’s. He must look for his head in the depths. Arpia fools Sacatrapo by promising that he will discover a donkey with golden droppings; this donkey is said to be kept by an ant. Sacatrapo is determined to kill the ant and steal the donkey using the hat given by Arpia, which should make him invisible. Medeia walks in on Creúsa and Jason during a romantic duo scene; she buries her rival inside a mountain. The King begins a war against the Argonauts: Sacatrapo arrives with a rag on his head and believes that he is invisible. He and Jason are taken prisoners. Riding a chariot drawn by dragons, Medeia divides the armies with a river. The King disowns his daughter, as she raises a tower from which she defies him. While Sacatrapo believes that he has found a treasure, snakes come out of the chest he is dragging: he has once again been fooled by Arpia. Creúsa and Jason flee during a night scene, but Medeia unleashes the winds, leading to a storm scene, so that they are forced to go back to Colchis. The King pardons Jason, offers him to marry Creúsa and promises to kill Medeia, who escapes on a cloud.

Rod and string marionette

Giant marionette

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

Portugal

Lisbon

Magic

Dragon

Golden Fleece

Theft

Treason

Unrequited love

Mock-heroic

Parodistic

Summary of the play Os Encantos de Medeia (edition of 1759)

Portuguese

Jason

Theseus

Nephew

General

Medea

Princess

Creusa

Niece

Maid

Soldier

Choir

Enchantment

Set that comes to life

Avista

Fighting a monster

Animalised character

Stormy scene

Shipwreck scene

Animated natural element

Battlefield scene

Battle against a sorcerer

Entering with vehicle

Splitting of the body

Headbutt

Ballet

Os Encantos de Medeia

Medea's Spells

Júpiter, madly in love with Alcmena (Alcmene), sets up a stratagem imagined by Mercúrio (Mercury): while the beautiful woman laments the absence of her husband, the general Anfitriaõ (Amphitryon), who has gone to war, the god disguises himself as her husband and goes to see her. As for the servant Cornucópia, she is talking with Mercúrio, disguised as her husband Saramago. When Saramago arrives and announces his master’s return, he sees Mercúrio, disguised as him: disconcerted, he cannot guide his master when he asks him how the news was received in the house. Juno, Júpiter’s wife, decides to avenge herself for his infidelities. Calling herself Felisarda, she comes down to Alcmena’s house; Júpiter has just left. When the real Anfitriaõ returns, even Juno is fooled and believes that he is in fact her husband Júpiter. The scene also leads to a series of misunderstandings between Anfitriaõ and his wife, who believes that she saw him the day before, and between Saramago and Cornucópia, who reproaches him for his rudeness. Determined to keep the ruse going, Júpiter goes as far as deceiving the soldiers and usurps Anfitriaõ’s military victory. The nymph Iris, disguised as Corriola, attempts to find out the truth by seducing Saramago. Tirésias, in love with Juno, who is pretending to be the daughter of Anfitriaõ’s enemy, agrees to help her: they will take revenge against their husbands. The couples quarrel and reconcile: jealous when she hears the romantic conversations between Saramago and Iris, Cornucópia is forced to think about her own unfaithfulness with the other Saramago. In the meantime, Júpiter reconciles with Alcmena, who was angry with him after a quarrel about the real Anfitriaõ. Mercúrio stops Anfitriaõ from coming by refusing to recognise him: this leads to a violent struggle between the master and his “valet”; when the real Saramago arrives, he is beaten. Anfitriaõ and Saramago break through the door and force Júpiter to leave the house: Anfitriaõ comes face to face with his lookalike. The two suitors are about to kill each other, but they are interrupted by Alcmena, who faints. The scene is paralleled by a confrontation between Mercúrio and Saramago, in front of Cornucópia, who also faints and turns into a dwarf. When Saramago discovers Tirésias and Juno’s love affair, the goddess turns him into an olive tree: Mercúrio and Cornucópia knock down its fruits, then Júpiter engraves the name of his beloved on it, before giving Saramago his original body back. Júpiter meets Alcmena, who is sleeping by the fountain. He is challenged by Anfitriaõ. Mercúrio testifies on behalf of his master, against the real Anfitriaõ. The couple is in a predicament: Tirésias sentences Alcmena to death for her infidelity; doing so, he obeys Juno; Anfitriaõ is put in prison, where he beats Saramago for being the cause of his misfortune. However, the gods intervene, so that the play has a happy ending. Juno frees the prisoners; then, when Alcmena is about to be sacrificed, Júpiter reveals the truth: the stage transforms into an empyrean.