Epimenides awakening
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| Title: | Epimenides awakening |
| Genus: | Festival |
| Original language: | German |
| Author: | Johann Wolfgang Goethe |
| Publishing year: | 1815 |
| Premiere: | March 30, 1815 |
| Place of premiere: | Berlin |
| Place and time of the action: | "A magnificent colonnaded courtyard." |
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Des Epimenides Awakening is a festival by Johann Wolfgang Goethe , written in 1814 on the occasion of the planned Berlin celebrations for the victory over Napoleon Bonaparte . It combines elements of drama and opera with those of oratorio and ballet. Bernhard Anselm Weber composed the music . The background to the plot is the story of the Greek philosopher Epimenides , who is said to have slept in a cave for 57 years without aging and finally waking up with heightened wisdom and vision.
background
Iffland had asked Goethe whether he would write an approximately 20-minute prelude to the celebrations in 1814 for a fee. In the end, the festival was not performed on this occasion, but only on March 30, 1815 in Berlin for the first time.
content
Current events - the ended Napoleonic Wars - are dressed up by Goethe in an allegory. On behalf of the gods, Epimenides is put into a sleep of several years for the second time by two geniuses. After this is done, a centuries-old war machine is set in motion. The demon of war conjures up the forces of destruction (stage direction: "A fire spreads over the theater."). When Epimenides wakes up and becomes aware of the destruction, he propagates a peaceful society as the long-term goal of human activity. Through joint efforts, the peoples finally succeed in leaving the war behind them (symbolized by the personified appearing faith, love and hope).
literature
- B. Plachta, K. Hassan: Des Epimenides awakening. Festival in two acts. In: G. Busch-Salmen, B. Jeßing (Ed.): Goethe Handbook. Volume 1: Music and dance in the stage works. J. B. Metzler, Stuttgart 2008, ISBN 978-3-476-01846-5 , pp. 483-501. ( doi : 10.1007 / 978-3-476-00032-3_41 )
Web links
- Des Epimenides Awakening at Zeno.org .
- First printed in 1815 (with a preface by Konrad Levezow )