The wedding of Achilles
The wedding of Achilles , in the Polish original Achilles i Panny , is a “barbaric comedy ” in 2 acts by Artur Marya Swinarski from 1956. It was published in German in 1963.
It had its first performance on New Year's Eve 1955 at Teatr Satyry (Estrada Satyryczna) Poznań; It was first found in regular theater in 1956 at the Polish Theater in Warsaw . Numerous other performances at important Polish houses followed, some of them in the same and the following years. One of the more noteworthy recent performances took place in 1985 at the Teatr Narodowy in Warsaw.
action
Excitement in the Amazon state! Soon the new Queen Penthesilea is due to return from her first campaign. The Amazon army helped the Trojans to catch Greeks for reproduction, which they want to send back home after their wedding night. With a stallion as a present. In the preparations for the victory celebration it is completely lost that the guardians Talestris and Thaomyris have sighted a strange ship off the coast. Queen Hippolyte in particular, who is in charge of internal affairs, is looking forward to her first wedding. Until her teacher tells Gorgo that the Greeks are all gay. From now on everything goes wrong. The queens' mothers, Medusa and Myrrine, quarrel and only the retired soldier Antiope can get some rest when Penthesilea arrives. But the campaign was a big fiasco. Penthesilea knows nothing about warfare and so 3,000 women soldiers died on the battlefield. The only prisoner is Achilles, who did not want to fight women and was therefore unarmed. Of course there is a dispute about who of the queens can marry him. Penthesilea shouldn't have it because she loves him and Hippolyte doesn't want him, although Achilles has fallen in love with her. Now the Artemis priestess Marpessa intervenes, who wants to transform the country into a kind of giant brothel because of the angry Amazon subjects. However, this proposal is rejected and Achilles should therefore become the property of the temple. Then Odysseus appears disguised as the cook Penelope and tries to save Achilles. However, he wants to stay and marry Hippolyte. Odysseus is supposed to take Penthesilea, but is hit on by the homosexual cook Lampeto. Hippolyte falls in love with Achilles when it turns out that he is not gay. They plan for her to pretend to hate him so they can get married. But the mothers decide that Achilles should marry both queens. Shortly before the wedding, Odysseus is caught by Gorgo, Talestris and Thomyris trying to abuse Lampeto in the kitchen. Now Penthesilea and Hippolyte also notice that they do not want Achilles because they are afraid of having sons. Male newborns are thrown from the Black Rock into the sea. Achilles and Odysseus head back to the battlefields of Troy in their ship, which was sighted that morning.
Figure inventory
Overview
- Penthesilea (first queen of the Amazons )
- Hippolyte (second queen of the Amazons)
- Medusa (mother of Penthesilea)
- Mhyrrine (mother of Hippolyte)
- Achilles ( Greek general )
- Odysseus (King of Itaka)
- Talestris (Sergeant, Sentry)
- Thomyris (female soldier, sentry)
- Antiope (retired general)
- Marpessa (Artemis priestess)
- Gorgon (teacher)
- Lampeto (cook)
Figure of Penthesilea
Penthesilea is a bit of a stupid person in this piece. She won first place in the queen exam, but that is hard to understand. Her biggest stupidity in the whole piece is that she says aloud that she loves Achilles, even though she knows that Amazons are not allowed to love.
Everything went wrong in their campaign. The lances were forgotten in Themiskyra, only Achilles could be caught because he doesn't want to fight women and she also stole sundials from the Trojans, which nobody in the state knows how they work. In the legend, Penthesilea is killed by Achilles in a battle. When he takes the helmet off the dying woman, he falls in love with her. But he gets clever too late.
In Kleist's play “Penthesilea” she kills Achilles even though she loves him.
Hippolyte
Hippolyte is one of the smarter ones in the Amazon state. As queen, she is responsible for internal affairs and spends her time learning the sacred rules or taking care of life in the castle. Like Penthesilea, she is in love with Achilles, which she keeps to herself. A romance even develops between the two in the play. Despite the argument about the husband, Penthesilea and Hippolyte are best friends. In the sagas of the Amazons, Hippolyte is represented either as Penthesileas or Antiope's sister.
Medusa
Medusa's IQ is even below that of her daughter. She is vain, quick-tempered and just plain stupid. It actually has nothing to do with the dreaded Medusa from the Greek world of legends. Medusa did not have a husband until she was 37. Nevertheless, she only became the mother of Penthesilea after 7 sons. Behind its slightly crazy facade there is a sad and thoughtful figure. Her favorite hobby is arguing with her friend Myrrine. Outwardly, the Medusa in this piece has nothing to do with her snake-haired Gorgon sister, who turns anyone to stone who looks at her. Only our Medusa can also become very poisonous if you go against the grain.
Myrrine
Myrrine is the mother of Hippolyte and a reasonable and serious woman. She was nearly 30 when she was given a husband, but was fortunate not to have given birth to any sons. She never lets herself be provoked by Medusa and is more of the calm pole in the queens-mothers quartet.
Achilles
Achilles is shown here as a vain young man who is terribly embarrassed that he has been arrested by a simple-minded woman. He wants to eke out the great offensive in front of Troy and not his existence with this insane women's state. But when he meets Hippolyte, he is no longer in such a hurry to return and that is why he does not want to be saved by Odysseus, who comes rushing from Troy to his rescue. In stark contrast to the heroic demigod Achilles from the legends of antiquity, he is depicted in this play as a vain wimp.
Odysseus
Odysseus is a strong warrior known from the Odyssey. But here he disguises himself as a cook to save his friend Achilles from the clutches of the Amazons. With a dress and wig on, he sets off for Themiskyra with a small troop and a ship. There he is initially puzzled when Achilles suggests that he marry Queen Penthesilea. But first he wants to be satisfied with the real cook Lampeto, which then turns out to be a failure.
Talestris & Thomyris
The two guardians of the castle are a fundamentally different couple. Talestris is always depressed and has not had a husband for 7 years. That's why she is always teased by Thomyris, who is always in a good mood and a real whirlwind.
Antiope
Antiope was once the best general in the Amazon army. But now she is retired and sees herself as an idol of the people and a role model for all young women. She tries to keep order in the castle and still cannot let go of her old job. In the legend, Antiope was one of the first queens of Themiskyra.
Marpessa
Marpessa is a priestess of Artemis. That's explaining everything. Priestess is every Amazon's dream job. She is the only cleric who wants to revolutionize the state by buying men.
Gorgon
Gorgo is an old, bitter maid who works as a teacher for rich young girls like Hippolyte. She has had bad experiences with men. Her first, a Skyte, hung himself up when she saw her, her second, a Greek, was homosexual and her third swam away. Since then, she has been ignored in the distribution of prisoners.
Lampeto
She is the plump cook in the castle, whose favorite hobby is to pamper Achilles or to chat with him. Nevertheless, she falls in love with the supposed new cook Penelope alias Odysseus.
Others
For a performance in Poland, the artist Wieslaw Walkuski created a special poster in 1982 that shows Achilles' heel as a naked male buttocks.
Individual evidence
- ↑ List of performances in Poland on e-teatr.pl (accessed on September 11, 2008)
- ↑ http://www.polishposter.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Product_Code=1139&Category_Code=T