Il pastor fido (Guarini)

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Il pastor fido is a tragic comedy by Battista Guarini in five acts or 6862 verses. It was written from 1580 to 1584 and first published as a book in 1590. The first performance possibly took place in 1593 in Siena ; the first historically established performance in Crema in 1595 . In Italian literature u. a. Il pastor fido the transition from Italian Renaissance to Baroque theater.

Venetian first edition of Guarini's Il pastor fido (1590)

content

Argomento (plot)

The Arcadians annually sacrificed a virgin from their land to the goddess Diana to avert an old curse. According to the oracle, this curse will not end until Cupid unites two children of heaven and the mercy of a faithful shepherd makes up for the ancient sin of an unfaithful woman. Since the Dianen priest Montano himself was descended from Hercules , he was moved by this divination to marry his son Silvio to the nymph Amarilli, daughter of Titiro, who was descended from Pan . But the wedding was not to come because Silvio was only interested in hunting. In Amarilli, a shepherd named Mirtillo fell passionately in love. Mirtillo is the son of Carino, a shepherd who moved to Elide from Arcadia a long time ago . Amarilli is also in love with Mirtillo, but does not dare to reveal her feelings as she fears death and is punished with the unchaste behavior of women. However, Corisca also desires Mirtillo and uses a ruse to try to eliminate her rival. The trick is that Corisca leads the two of them into a cave. Both are indicated and captured by a satyr . Amarilli is sentenced to death because she cannot prove her innocence. Mirtillo, however, decides to atone for the crime of which she is accused of instead of Amarillis. This is so provided for in the Arcadian laws. When Mirtillo is about to be executed, Carino suddenly appears. Due to his close friendship with Mirtillo, Carino tries to acquit his friend by arguing that he is a stranger and therefore, according to the law, cannot be sacrificed or executed instead of another person. In his defense speech it also emerges that Mirtillo is in fact a son of Priest Montano. Montano does not have to carry out the execution of his son, as the seer Tirenio reveals to him that the situation shows that the prophecy of the oracle has become a reality and from now on no more sacrifices are necessary. The Arcadians decide that Mirtillo and Amarilli have to get married. Meanwhile, while hunting, Silvio almost fatally injured Dorinda, who was in love with him, because he had met a wild animal. Out of pity for Dorinda, Silvio falls in love with her, and so they marry each other. Corisca, who, in turn, was taught better by the happy end, asks the bride and groom for an excuse and prepares to change her life.

prolog

The prologue is spoken of Alfeo , an Arcadian river. Alfeo, who had fallen in love with the nymph Aretusa when she was bathing in its waters, pursued her to take possession of her. In order to evade Alfeo, Aretusa asked the goddess Diana, to whom she was consecrated, to help her. Diana then transformed Aretusa into a spring, the water of which flowed beneath the sea, only to rise again in Sicily. But Alfeo followed her and caught up with her on the island of Ortigia near Syracuse . When Alfeo arrives in Italy, he compares the country to his idyllic homeland. This has now changed. Once she was free and beautiful. Now let it be subjugated and devastated. Alfeo weeps after the golden age that found its last bulwark in Arcadia. Because while wars raged in the rest of Greece, there was always peace in Arcadia. In contrast to the other Greek cities, Arcadia did not defend its freedom by force of arms, but solely through prayer addressed to the gods. Although the inhabitants of Arcadia were shepherds, they were by no means clumsy, because there were star explorers, hunters, people experienced in boxing and undefeated arrow shooters among them. The once highly valued occupations are now underestimated in Arcadia. In Italy, however, a new Arcadia was emerging. In this context, Alfeo begins a hymn of praise to Catherine Michaela of Spain , to the rule of her father, King Philip II of Spain and in general to the Habsburg dynasty and their world empire, in which the sun never sets. The hymn of praise ends in a kind of dedication intended for Emanuel I of Savoy , the husband of Catherine Michaelas of Spain. He is celebrated by Alfeo as the ruler of Piedmont . He and his descendants are prophesied of victory over the Turks advancing in the east. Finally, with the spectacle ahead, Alfeo desires the audience's attention.

first act

Scene from Act 1, copper engraving from the edition published in Venice in 1602

Scene 1 and 2

While the equally skilful and misogynistic hunter Silvio refuses to marry the Amarilli that has been awarded to him, Mirtillo is heartbroken that Amarilli is already engaged because he is immortally in love with her. Similar to Aminta in the shepherd's game of the same name Tassos (1573), Mirtillo intends to take her own life due to this circumstance. He only found out later from Ergasto that Amarilli Silvio had been promised. He tells Mirtillo that Silvio is not in love with Amarilli and that both should be married to each other in order to avert the calamity of Arcadia prophesied by the oracle. Apparently, Mirtillo seems so new to Arcadia that he is not even familiar with the oracle that is so important for the lives of the local people. Therefore Ergasto explains to him what this is all about and tells him the story of Aminta and Lucrina. Aminta was once a shepherd who was madly in love with Lucrina. First, Lucrina returned his love - possibly out of coquetry, because when another shepherd showed interest in Lucrina, Aminta had ignored Aminta and no longer wanted to know anything more about him. Aminta, unhappy about the turn of fate, then turned to the goddess Diana with a prayer and asked her to punish Lucrina's faithlessness. Diana then sent the plague to earth. Thousands of people have died. When the people of Arcadia turned to the oracle to find out how to overcome or avert the calamity, they replied that Diana would be appeased in her anger if Lucrina or a virgin from the Arcadian people instead were sacrificed . Lucrina was then led to the sacrificial altar so that Aminta could sacrifice her to Diana. Instead, Aminta committed suicide. It was only when Aminta was dying that Lucrina felt pity for Aminta and finally judged herself again. The death of the two did not calm Diana's anger because the plague continued to rage. A second oracle proclaimed that Diana demanded every year in her honor the sacrifice of a virgin or a woman who was not younger than 15 and not older than 20 years old. Furthermore, Diana let it be known through the oracle that every woman who is unfaithful to a man will be sacrificed to the goddess. Only when Cupid unites two children of heaven and a faithful shepherd makes amends for the old sins of an unfaithful woman, Diana will be appeased in her anger. The reason why Silvio and Amarilli should be married to each other against their will is that for the first time two children of heaven are among the population of Arcadia: Silvio, a descendant of the demigod Hercules and Amarilli, a descendant of the god Pan.

Scene 3–5

Corisca and the satyr

While Mirtillo is unhappily in love with Amarilli, Corisca is unhappily in love with Mirtillo. Corisca is described as a vain city dweller who was spoiled by success with men (from the point of view of the time it was also: whore). She is hurt by the lack of interest Mirtillo shows her. Corisca decides to convince Mirtillo first of all with charm. If this does not work, she will go over to a ruse and also take revenge on Amarilli, who dared to become her rival. Meanwhile, Titiro and Montano discuss the meaning and purpose of the forced marriage between Silvio and Amarilli. From the conversation between the two it emerges that Montano had a dream. In this context, Montano reveals that, in addition to Silvio, he had another son - a toddler - whom he lost in a flood. The floods would have carried it away. Now he has dreamed that he was fishing and that an old man would step out of the water and give him his long-lost son - with the words: he should be careful not to kill him. When he took the son away, a storm suddenly broke out that threatened to tear the child away. But when Montano called on the gods in a dream, the storm died down as suddenly as it began. In the forest, however, the third unhappy lover complains of his suffering: Since Corisca has not returned his love and has often mocked him, the satyr intends to take revenge on her. In contrast to Tasso's Aminta , the satyr does not intend to force Corisca to love, but to do her (non-sexual) violence. At the end of the first act the choir praises the power of Jupiter, i. H. God as the (male) mover of all things. This is also the case with regard to the oracle addressed to the Arcadians. As in Tassos Aminta , the choir is a crowd of shepherds, because the choir asks Jupiter to avert the disaster of the Arcadians by enforcing his providence (against the chaos-causing Amor and Anger). Finally, however, the choir rejoices that happiness is hidden in the apparently looming disaster. However, the knowledge of it exceeds man's ability.

Second act

Scene 1

Amarilli crowns Mirtillo

As in Machiavelli's Mandragola (1518) and Ruzante's La Piovana (1533), Ergasto has difficulties in disturbing Mirtillo because he is in love and therefore moving from one place to another. When Ergasto finally found Mirtillo, he told him that he had betrayed Corisca, that Mirtillo was in love with Amarilli and that Corisca could win Amarilli's confidante and friend to bring Mirtillo and Amarilli together. In order to know how to proceed, however, Corisca asks Ergasto to find out from Mirtillo how he fell in love with Amarilli. Mirtillo recalls that Amarilli came to Arcadia with her mother that summer during the Olympic Games. When Mirtillo saw Amarilli, he immediately fell in love with her. He then confided in a sister or a sister of the same friend. This led him to Amarilli in Megara disguised as a nymph (which was possible because Mirtillo's beard had not yet started growing). In Megara it turned out that the pastime of the nymphs, including Amarilli, included a game in which the nymphs were supposed to kiss each other and then the best of the kissers was to be honored. When it was Mirtillo's turn to be kissed by Amarilli, he was almost overwhelmed by the kiss. At the end of the game, Amarilli found Mirtillo to be the best among the kissers. He returned the wreath Mirtillo won to Amarilli. Amarilli, in turn, gave him his wreath, which he still wears today as a souvenir of those kisses. Mirtillo also says that after the said kissing bet he moved to the town of Amarillis, where his father happens to own another house. But Amarilli did not return his loving looks here, but rather punished him with contempt, and the father, meanwhile, had become ill, abandoned by his son, so that Mirtillo had to return to him. At home the father recovered. Mirtillo, on the other hand, fell ill in his love pain. It was only when the father, in his desperation, asked the oracle for advice on how his son could recover and Mirtillo was instructed to move to Arcadia, that his health improved. However, this increased his soul pain.

Scene 2-6

Change of scene: Silvio loses his dog Melampo during the hunt, because Dorinda, who adores him, and her servant Lupino have confiscated the dog that they ran into. When Silvio meets Dorinda while looking for his dog, she gives the dog back to him on the condition that Silvio gives her a kiss. When Silvio gets the dog back, he doesn't keep his promise. Meanwhile, Corisca, who is in the forest, rejoices that fate is inclined to her. She was able to lure Amarilli, without her having the slightest inkling of anything (because, as is assumed, a woman would normally not go into a forest alone). Amarilli learns from Corisca that she should get married on the same day. Amarilli is anything but happy about this news, but Corisca offers her to prevent the wedding. The problem, however, is that Amarilli agreed to her father's promise and also given Diana the marriage promise. Corisca persuades Amarilli to talk to Mirtillo and listen to his concerns. In reality, Corisca's intention is to make Amarilli docile through the presence of Mirtillo. After Amarilli and Corisca have separated, Corisca is brought into his power by the satyr. Corisca tries in vain to soften it with her flattery and by reminding him of the past love affair. She finally manages to escape the satyr through a trick: Since she is bald, she unties the hair that the satyr is holding onto her. The satyr falls as she makes off. At the end of the second act the choir sings about the curse the Arcadians suffered because of Lucrina. In heaven, from which punishment against the Arcadians proceeds, one treasures virtue and love. People, on the other hand, cared about material things such as B. about the gold or the beauty of a woman. But nothing more is worthy of love than love itself. Only souls can love souls, but not bodies. Therefore, bodies are not worthy of love. A kiss on beautiful lips has no value in itself. A kiss only gains value when both people love each other dearly. Because when people loved each other dearly, it wasn't the lips that communicated with each other, but the souls of the two people through the lips.

Third act

Scene 1-5

Ergasto has ordered Mirtillo into the forest. After a while, Amarilli comes blindfolded. A kind of blind man's heel game begins, the aim of which is actually that Amarilli should not catch her friendly nymphs as she pretends, but that Mirtillo throws herself into the arms of the apparently unsuspecting Amarilli. Since Mirtillo doesn't dare, Corisca finally pushes the frightened Mirtillo into Amarilli's arms. Amarilli believes or pretends to believe that the person holding her captive is Corisca. But when Mirtillo frees her from the tape covering her eyes, she is surprised to find that Mirtillo is standing in front of her. Similar to Silvia in Tasso's Aminta , who runs away as soon as Aminta frees her, Amarilli also makes a move to run away. But Mirtillo threatens Amarilli with drilling an arrow in his chest because of her and then confesses his love for her. Amarilli, however, is on her honor, i. H. consider their chastity. Even her request that Mirtillo not commit suicide is intended to prevent his love for her from being revealed to everyone. When Amarilli has left Mirtillo and believes she is alone, she again confesses her love for Mirtillo in a monologue, which she cannot reciprocate for fear of punishment. Corisca, who overheard Amarilli's monologue, emerges from her hiding place and tries to persuade her to start a secret affair with Mirtillo. But Amarilli would rather die than stain her honor. Corisca then uses a ruse and tells Amarilli that Silvio is not as squeamish as she is because he has a lover. When Silvio pretends to go hunting, he is actually visiting them. Another ruse that Corisca has come up with for Amarilli is to tell Amarilli the story of lies that (Corisca's friend) Lisetta had an appointment with Silvio in a cave. Amarilli should also go there to catch them both red-handed. Amarilli should go into the cave in advance and hide in a small niche in which there is a hole to the main part of the cave, from which she can watch what is going on there. If she caught Silvio and Lisetta (who also wanted to convict him of adultery), she should go to the priest and break the vows. While Amarilli goes to the temple to pray for the success of the prank, Corisca reveals her true intention to the audience in a monologue. She will not send Silvio, not Lisetta, into the cave, but her lover Coridone, followed by some priests, who are to convict Amarilli of infidelity and later execute. In this way, Corisca hopes to have Mirtillo to herself.

Scene 6–9

Corisca ends her monologue when she sees Mirtillo. She also tries to make Mirtillo jealous by claiming that Amarilli is so brittle towards him because she is already having an affair with Coridone. And indeed: Mirtillo sees Amarilli secretly sneaking into the cave. Not least because of Amarilli's insistence on her chastity and respectability, Mirtillo feels mocked by the latter. Before Mirtillo takes his own life, he wants to murder the supposedly lover Amarillis in order to get revenge - not only on the lover, but also on Amarilli, who, Mirtillo suspects, will die of pain at the sight of her lover's corpse. The satyr, meanwhile, thinks he sees Corisca and Mirtillo go into the cave and now intends to take revenge on Corisca again by blocking the entrance to the cave. Since Corisca had given Coridone the promise to marry, he concluded that he could convict her of infidelity and demand the death penalty. At the end of the third act, the choir sings about love. Love gives people the feeling that the soul is mortal, as it primarily arouses physical lust. But if virtue were to awaken in the same people, they would notice that the soul is just as immortal as virtue. Furthermore, Jupiter and the sun and finally women are sung about with the power of their beauty. Woman's beauty is compared to the sun. The woman is symbolically placed above the man. The man is seen as the woman's prey. At the end of its song, the choir prophesies that Mirtillo will be proof that the beauty of women knows how to conquer all of humanity.

Fourth act

Scene 1-3

Silvio and Dorinda

Corisca, who, contrary to what the satyr believed she saw, did not enter the cave with Mirtillo, notices that it is now closed by a rock. She suspects that Mirtillo had the strength to loosen the rock from its anchoring and push it in front of the cave entrance in order to lock Amarilli and Coridone there. To find out what actually happened, she enters the cave through another entrance. Meanwhile, Dorinda has wrapped herself in a wolf's skin so that she can sneak up on Silvio without being noticed. Her foster father Linco is with her. Dorinda got the wolf skin from her servant Lupino. It seems to be a common costume among male shepherds, as Dorinda wears it in order to be mistaken for one by Silvio, so that he doesn't run away as soon as he sees her. However, Dorinda apparently did not stand in Silvio's way, but instead watched the hunt from a distance together with the other shepherds. Consequently, Dorinda describes the course of the hunt, which is of interest to the Arcadians because the hunted animal, a gigantic wild boar, destroys their harvest. Dorinda is still wearing the wolf robe, since Lupino has her robes with her, but did not appear at the meeting point of the two at the agreed time and she does not want to enter her house in wolf robes. Then the choir celebrates Silvio's heroic deed: He killed the wild boar. The hymn of praise is abruptly interrupted by Ergasto's cry of lament, who tells the shepherds in detail what happened: In the temple, the father Silvios and Amarillis each made sacrifices, but the signs were not as favorable as they would have liked. The satyr then came to them and told them about Corisca and Coridone, who were both indecent in a cave. One of the temple priests then went to the cave with other priests. However, they would not have found either Coridone or Corisca there, only amarilli. When the priest stepped out of the cave with Amarilli, Mirtillo fell out of nowhere at the priest and tried to stab him. Now Mirtillo will be convicted of the attempted murder, which is particularly serious, since he had offended a priest. The choir should now pray for Mirtillo.

Scene 4-9

Corisca, meanwhile, is happy about what happened in the cave. The fact that Mirtillo was also taken away is not too dramatic for her, as she does not know that he is to be convicted of attempted priestly murder. Since Corisca suspects that Amarilli will accuse her of her own "offense", Corisca flees into the woods to avoid being interrogated by the priests. Due to the impending death penalty Amarillis, Silvio curses Venus and praises Diana all the more. When Silvio curses Amor, he hears his echo, i. H. Cupid answers him this way. The dialogue between Silvio and Amor shows that Silvio will fall in love with Dorinda. He himself will be the cause of love for Dorinda. The dialogue between Silvio and Amor is interrupted by the fact that Silvio thinks he sees a wolf and shoots an arrow at it. When he hits, he realizes that the arrow hit a person wrapped in a wolf's skin. The person in the wolf skin is Linco, who bends over his foster daughter Dorinda, who is also dressed in a wolf skin, to help her. When Linco sees Silvio, the latter has to put up with serious accusations. Silvio regrets what he did and is ready to atone for it, d. H. To commit suicide. As in Tasso's Aminta , pity is the first symptom of being in love. Instead of suicide, Dorinda demands that Silvio stay alive and regret his deed all the more by renouncing the hunt and devoting himself to love. Silvio finally admits that he is in love with Dorinda and gives her his marriage vows (this is now possible because Amarilli, who was supposed to marry Silvio, has been convicted of adultery). Finally, Linco and Silvio carry Dorinda away on their shoulders. At the end of the fourth act, the choir celebrates the golden age in which everything went its natural course and the people were still unspoiled. As in Tasso's Aminta , the sense of honor (however honor in the sense of vanity, not of virtue) is blamed for the loss of innocence, but also sensuality. In contrast to Tasso's Aminta , the law that is said to have ruled in the golden age is not that of “what is permitted is permitted”, but that of “what is permitted to please”. Accordingly, the golden age is praised that no one has disrupted the monogamous order and the present is criticized for the fact that the laws are constantly broken under the appearance of virtue. The choir finally calls on God and asks him to return to bring the world back to virtue.

Fifth act

Scene 1-3

Uranio and Carino are on the way from Elide to Arcadia. Carino is Mirtillo's foster father and travels to Arcadia, as the oracle prophesied him, his son, who had left his home two months and about whom Carino was now worried, great things awaited him. The conversation between the two is also an occasion to clarify why Carino had left Arcadia: Carino was a singer or poet and moved from his homeland to become famous where the Olympic Games take place, namely in Elide and Pisa. In order to achieve even greater fame, Carino traveled on to Argo and Mycenae, where he suffered badly from the conditions there. Since life there had become unbearable for him, he returned to Elide and bought Mirtillo there, who was supposed to be a support and consolation for him. Furthermore, there is talk of the intrigues and intrigues at court, the mutual envy of the courtiers. Since Carino had an open heart, he was an easy target for the evils of the courtiers. The constant worries and annoyances had brought his work as a poet to a standstill. A messenger notifies Titiro that his daughter Amarilli intends to commit suicide and tells what happened to her. She was taken to the temple, charged, convicted and sentenced because Corisca, the only witness who could testify in her favor, could not be found. Another reason is that the temple has signs that have not existed since Aminta's death: the goddess sweats blood, the earth shakes, the interior of the temple is drowning and stinking steam rises from there. However, when Amarilli was to be led to the sacrificial altar, Mirtillo intervened and offered himself as a victim in her place. In this way there was a competition as to which of the two should die. In this competition Mirtillo won. This is the reason why Amarilli intended to commit suicide. According to the custom, the sacrificial ceremony begins at the place where Aminta once committed suicide. Before Mirtillo is executed, he is allowed to give a farewell speech. Mirtillo demands that Amarilli stay alive at all costs so that he can support her emotionally after death. In the speech, Mirtillo refers to himself as “Pastor fido” (English: “faithful shepherd”). The prophecy has therefore been fulfilled without those present being aware of it.

Scene 4-6

After Mirtillo's speech, the offering ceremony continues. However, it is interrupted by Carino, who has meanwhile reached the city. A conversation ensues between Carino and Montano. Mirtillo, who was supposed to remain silent until his execution, forgets this when he sees his father and tries to silence him again. This, however, profaned the victim. Mirtillo has to be led back to the temple, where he has to make his vows and finally the sacrifice ceremony has to start again at the place where Aminta and Lucrina took their own lives. First it turns out that Carino is not Mirtillo's biological father and therefore Mirtillo cannot be sacrificed because he is not an Arcadian. Carino raised Mirtillo, but is not his biological father, because he found Mirtillo in a myrtle bush (hence Mirtillo) on the banks of the Alfeos. In the further course of the conversation it turns out that Mirtillo is the son Montano lost during the flood of the Alfeo 19 years ago and whom he believed dead. A servant of Montano, who was supposed to look for the toddler during the flood, had not given it to Montano, but to Carino, contrary to Montano's orders, since the oracle had foretold that Mirtillo would very likely die at the hand of his father if he ever did his father's Re-enter the house. Through Carino's description and the association between it and the dream he had the previous night, Montano recognizes Mirtillo as his own son. But the joy is limited, since Montano now has to sacrifice his son. Eventually, Montano decides to stab himself. The seer Tirenio, who normally resides inside the temple, steps out of the temple, as otherwise only happens on special occasions, and then rebukes Montano for his folly and explains to him that the prophecy of the oracle is through the love of Mirtillo and Amarillis fulfilled: that if two sons of heaven are brought together by Cupid, the age-old mistake of an unfaithful woman would be erased by the mercy of a faithful shepherd. The faithful shepherd is Mirtillo, since he is also the only one who has so far been as good as Aminta in his mercy. In addition, the signs are favorable, because when Mirtillo profaned the sacrificial ceremony with his speech and had to start again, the Diana statue stopped sweating blood, the earth stopped shaking and there was no more noise or stench from the temple pour out of this. Montano is overjoyed at this news. Titiro tells him to prepare for the wedding as soon as possible, because there is still about an hour until sunset and the wedding or the sexual union of the two for some reason must take place before sunset. There is fraternization between Montano and Carino. Titiro's instructions are obeyed.

Scene 7–9

Corisca learns from Linco that Dorinda has since recovered from Silvio's arrow shot. When Silvio tried in vain to pull the arrow out of Dorinda's wound, he realized that he could not do this without causing Dorinda great damage and enlarging the wound. That's why he thought of a herb that would help him pull the arrow out of the wound with ease. When Linco is finished with his description, Corisca sets out to see what has happened to Mirtillo. Corisca meets Ergasto on the way, who shouts with joy. She thinks he is happy that Silvio and Dorinda have come together. But Ergasto teaches her better: it is not the upcoming wedding of Silvio and Dorinda that is the reason for his joy, but the wedding of Mirtillos and Amarillis (which Corisca believed until then that she was dead). The whole city celebrates that the curse on Arcadia has been erased with the wedding of the two. Corisca cannot share Ergasto's joy. Rather, she is faced with the decision to come to her senses or to lose her mind completely. In the face of the wedding celebrations, Corisca becomes aware of her wrongdoing and wickedness. Mirtillo, on the other hand, can still hardly believe his luck. Corisca turns to Amarilli and apologizes for her offenses. Amarilli accepts the apology and merely rebukes Corisca for unnecessarily delaying the wedding ceremony with her long speech. Mirtillo also forgives Corisca. But in the end Corisca does not take part in the wedding celebration, but says goodbye to both of them. At the end of the last act, the Choir of Shepherds sings a hymn to love and virtue. The moral of the story is that mortals who are otherwise too weak or too blind to see real bad and real good should. Not every joy is healthy and not every suffering is bad. The really good is that which comes from virtue that follows suffering.

people

  • Alfeo , river in Arcadia
  • Silvio , son of Montano
  • Linco , old man, servant of Montano
  • Mirtillo , admirer of Amarillis
  • Ergasto , journeyman Mirtillos
  • Corisca , associate of Mirtillos
  • Montano , Silvio's father, priest
  • Titiro , Amarilli's father
  • Dameta , old man, servant of Montano
  • Dorinda , admirer of Silvios
  • Lupino , goatherd, servant of Dorinda
  • Amarilli , daughter of Titiro
  • Nicandro , the priest's chief servant
  • Coridone , Corisca's admirer
  • Carino , old man, foster father Mirtillos
  • Uranio , old man, journeyman Carino
  • Tirenio , blind man, fortune teller
  • Other people: Satiro (satyr), old man, admirer of Coriscas; Messo (messenger); Coro di pastori (Choir of Shepherds), Coro di cacciatori (Choir of Hunters), Coro di ninfe (Choir of Nymphs), Coro di sacerdoti (Choir of Priests)

Literary role models

Ancient Greek literature

Latin literature

Italian literature

Further information

  • Il pastor fido was very successful and was performed in numerous other cities after its premiere. There were also translations into several languages. Il pastor fido has even been translated into Persian and Indian.
  • On the occasion of the wedding of Duke Philip II of Pomerania to Sophie of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg in 1607, Valentin von Winther translated the piece from Italian into Latin. He enriched the piece with references to events that affected Pomerania and in particular Duke Philip II.
  • Manfred Brauneck sees Il pastor fido as one of the main literary works of Mannerism .
  • Il pastor fido was one of the main sources of inspiration for Honoré d'Urfé's monumental shepherd novel L'Astrée (1607–1627).
  • With Corisca as a city dweller, her behavior and attitude should show the pernicious influence of the city on the "innocent" country (similar to how Silvia's supposed coquetry in Tassos Aminta is explained with the negative influence of the city).
  • The comparison of the kiss with a bee sting (which connotes both sweetness and pain) also occurs in Tasso's Aminta .
  • Similar to the nameless city to which Tirsi had gone in Tassos Aminta , Elide and Pisa, in which Carino had presented his poetry and singing skills, represent a parable of the court of Ferrara and the conditions there, although here the court in is depicted in a rather negative light (as for example in Aretinos La Cortigiana [1524/35]); as in Aminta , real people reflect fictional ones, such as B. the poet Egon, who stands for Scipione Gonzaga (cf. Act 5, scene 1, verse 92).
  • The scene in which the betting-kissing is described could pass as a parody of the first chapters of Castiglione's Libro del Cortegiano [1528], since all sorts of unusual games are proposed here too (cf. Chapters 6-12 of the first book). However, Guarini notes with regard to the kissing bet that this or kissing each other was custom in Megara on certain festive days.
  • Like Amarilli, Santilla in Bibbiena's La Calandria (1513) is also surprised by the news that their wedding is imminent.
  • According to Manfred Brauneck, Il pastor fido propagates submission to social conventions. H. Rüdiger sees in Il pastor fido a "justification of bondage and the elimination of subjects from political life". According to Brauneck, the shepherd drama to which Il pastor fido belongs was one of the main genres with this emphasis well into the 18th century.
  • There are several settings of Il pastor fido , including Antonio Salieri ( 1789 ) and Georg Friedrich Handel ( 1712 ). Individual sections from it have also been set to music earlier, for example by Carlo Gesualdo , Sigismondo d'India and Claudio Monteverdi .

literature

Text output

  • Battista Guarini: Il pastor fido (1977). Milano (Milan): Mursia

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Cf. Manfred Brauneck: The world as a stage. History of European Theater. First volume (1993). Stuttgart / Weimar: JW Metzler: 448.
  2. ↑ Cf. Manfred Brauneck: The world as a stage. History of European Theater. First volume (1993). Stuttgart / Weimar: JW Metzler: 448.
  3. ↑ Cf. Manfred Brauneck: The world as a stage. History of European Theater. First volume (1993). Stuttgart / Weimar: JW Metzler: 449.