''Erofili'', also spelled as ''Erophile'' ( el, Ερωφίλη), is the most famous and often performed

tragedy Tragedy (from the grc-gre, τραγῳδία, ''tragōidia'', ''tragōidia'') is a genre of drama based on human suffering and, mainly, the terrible or sorrowful events that befall a main character. Traditionally, the intention of tragedy ...

of the Cretan theater. It was written around 1600 in

Rethymno Rethymno ( el, Ρέθυμνο, , also ''Rethimno'', ''Rethymnon'', ''Réthymnon'', and ''Rhíthymnos'') is a city in Greece on the island of Crete. It is the capital of Rethymno regional unit, and has a population of more than 30,000 inhabitants ...

Crete Crete ( el, Κρήτη, translit=, Modern: , Ancient: ) is the largest and most populous of the Greek islands, the 88th largest island in the world and the fifth largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, after Sicily, Sardinia, Cypru ...

(then a Venetian colony) by Georgios Chortatzis and first published in 1637 in

Venice Venice ( ; it, Venezia ; vec, Venesia or ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto region. It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400 bridges. The isla ...

, probably after Chortatzis' death. Erwfili exwfyllo

Composition

Although the exact date is unknown, Chortatzis must have started to work on ''Erofili'' during the last few years of the 16th century. As was customary at the time, ''Erofili'' was written in verse. The composition consists of 3205 verses in Cretan Greek, rhymed in fifteen-syllable except from the

choral A choir ( ; also known as a chorale or chorus) is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform. Choirs may perform music from the classical music repertoire, which s ...

parts which are in hendecasyllable terza rima form. ''Erofili'' is organized in five acts, between which there are four lyrical interludes ( intermezzi). ''Erofili'' is modeled after '' Orbecche'' by Giovanni Battista Giraldi (published in 1547), however it includes several changes in the plot and is dramatically more concise. The interludes are inspired by the

Rinaldo Rinaldo may refer to: * Renaud de Montauban (also spelled Renaut, Renault, Italian: Rinaldo di Montalbano, Dutch: Reinout van Montalbaen, German: Reinhold von Montalban), a legendary knight in the medieval Matter of France * Rinaldo (''Jerusalem Li ...

and Armida episode from

Torquato Tasso Torquato Tasso ( , also , ; 11 March 154425 April 1595) was an Italian poet of the 16th century, known for his 1591 poem ''Gerusalemme liberata'' ( Jerusalem Delivered), in which he depicts a highly imaginative version of the combats between ...

's '' Jerusalem Delivered''.Puchner (1991), pp. 130–131

Plot summary

Filogonos, king of Memphis in

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Med ...

, murders his brother to gain his throne and marries his widow. Filogonos has a daughter, Erofili, which he raises together with Panaretos, an orphan boy of royal descent. Due to his competence at war, Panaretos is proclaimed general of the King's army. A love affair develops between Panaretos and Erofili and leads to their secret marriage. Filogonos, who planned to wed Erofili to the heir of a rival kingdom, asks Panaretos to act as an intermediary. This results in the secret marriage's disclosure and the King's rage. Filogonos orders the death of Panaretos and sends his head, heart and hands as a wedding gift to his daughter. Upon receiving the appalling gift, Erofili stabs herself to death. The chorus of maids overthrows Filogonos and kills him.

Reception

Along with ''

Erotokritos ''Erotokritos'' ( el, Ἐρωτόκριτος) is a romance composed by Vikentios Kornaros in early 17th century Crete. It consists of 10,012 fifteen-syllable rhymed verses, the last twelve of which refer to the poet himself. It is written in ...

'', a long romantic

poem Poetry (derived from the Greek '' poiesis'', "making"), also called verse, is a form of literature that uses aesthetic and often rhythmic qualities of language − such as phonaesthetics, sound symbolism, and metre − to evoke meanings ...

, ''Erofili'' stands at the apogee of the Cretan Renaissance literature. It became a popular read in several Greek-speaking regions and parts of it were even orally passed from generation to generation.

References

Sources

External links

*{{cite web, url= http://anemi.lib.uoc.gr/php/pdf_pager.php?filename=/var/www/tkl-portal-neo//metadata/7/9/d/attached-metadata-265-0000116/72205.pdf&pageno=5&width=426&height=605&maxpage=187&pagestart=1&lang=en , title=''Erofili'' in digital form by C. Sathas Greek plays Greek literature Greek poems 1637 plays Cretan Renaissance literature