The flies

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Data
Title: The flies
Original title: Les Mouches
Original language: French
Author: Jean-Paul Sartre
Premiere: June 3, 1943
Place of premiere: Théâtre Sarah-Bernhardt in Paris
people
  • Jupiter ; God over flies and death
  • Oreste ; Son of Clytemnestra and Agamemnon
  • Aegist ; the new king and murderer of Agamemnon
  • The pedagogue ; Oreste's private tutor
  • Elektra ; Daughter of Clytemnestra and Agamemnon
  • Clytemnestra ; old and new queen
  • Agamemnon ; the murdered king
  • Erinyes ; Goddesses of Repentance

The Flies ( Les Mouches ) is a three-act drama written by Jean-Paul Sartre . With the material of a Greek myth , the meaning of freedom, hope, but also repentance is shown.

The premiere took place in Paris on June 3, 1943 in the Théâtre Sarah-Bernhardt , which at that time had been "Aryanized" and was called Théâtre de la Cité. The German-language premiere was on October 12, 1944 in the Zurich Schauspielhaus; the first performance on German soil on November 7, 1947 in the Städtische Bühnen in Düsseldorf.

Mythological significance of the main characters

  • Jupiter : supreme deity in Roman mythology.
  • Oreste : King of Mycenae, Argos and Sparta.
  • Aegist : is murdered by Oreste and Pylades: cousin of Agamemnon and entrusted with the rule of Mycenae during his absence; Lover of Clytemnestra in Agamemnon's absence; murdered Agamemnon with her on his return home; slain by Agamemnon's son Oreste.
  • Electre : helps her brother Oreste to avenge their father.
  • Clytemnestra : was the wife of Agamemnon, king of Mycenae. She was the sister of the beautiful Helena and mother of four children: Orestes, Electre, Chrysothemis and Iphigenia.
  • Agamemnon : according to Greek mythology, was king of Mycenae. He was the son of Atreus (the Atride) and the Aerope. After killing the first man of Clytemnestra, he took her as his wife. With her he was the father of Iphigenia, Electre, Orestes and Chrysothemis. As commander in chief of the Greeks, he led the Greek princes against Troy. After victory and return to Mycenae, he was slain in the bath by his wife Clytemnestra and her lover Aigisthus - as punishment for having sacrificed Iphigenia.
  • Erinyes : goddesses of revenge.

content

The mother and regicide Oreste returns to his hometown Argos after fifteen years in order to free it from the regime of terror that Egisthe, the murderer of Agamennon, set up with Jupiter's approval. He was abandoned and raised by Athenians after his father's death. In Argos he meets his sister Electre, who dreams of the savior of the city. According to her dreams, Oreste is that savior. Oreste kills Egisthe, who killed his father, and his mother Clytemnestra. Not (as was the case with the earlier playwrights) to avenge the murder of his father Agamemnon, but because in the current situation it is a good thing, i. H. expedient, proves, because with this act of freedom he ends the plague of flies, the symbol of fear and guilt psychosis (comparable to the ancient Erinyes ) with whose help Egisthe ruled. After Electre, who persuaded him to do the deed, has left him, he is now tormented by the flies for his part, but is not subject to any deity or king. In the existentialist sense he is free and goes into exile.

Fearful natures are pleasant to gods, and the earthly rulers (here: Egisthe) keep people in check through fear until they believe in fear themselves. Oreste now wants to eradicate repentance and guilt in general with his deed: "Once freedom has broken into a human soul, the gods can no longer do anything against these people." Oreste hopes to finally be able to live in his hometown again. But he is not recognized by the people and eventually leaves Argos.

“With the daring Resistance drama, Sartre proclaimed the resistance against the occupying power and the Vichy regime , without being understood by the German censors . In a later preface, the author emphasizes that he wanted to counteract the national "self-denial" that was widespread after the military defeat and to make the French aware of their humiliation. The concept of freedom developed in Les mouches is closely related to Sartre's existential philosophy, as it is outlined at the same time in the main philosophical work L´être et le néant . [Of the King and Jupiter] [...] Power is based on the fact that people do not know that they are actually free. "

- Richard Mellein : Kindler's New Literature Lexicon , Volume 14, Page 802

See also

literature

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Walter Jens (Ed.): Kindlers new literature lexicon . Study edition. Komet, Frechen 2001, ISBN 3-89836-214-0
  2. ↑ here only: flying; Doors; hands
  3. ↑ also about Huis Clos and "Dead Without Burial"