Timon of Athens (Shakespeare)

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Illustration from Tales from Shakespeare , McLoughlin Bros. , 1890

Timon of Athens ( The Life of Tymon of Athens in Early Modern English ) is a tragedy by William Shakespeare . The play is about the revenge of the generous Timon on his ungrateful friends. The scene is ancient Athens in the 5th century BC. The drama is believed to have originated around 1605-06. The only authoritative text is found in the First Folio from 1623. The first documented performance of an adaptation of the work dates from 1674, the first known performance of the original work was in 1851. Shakespeare's main source is Thomas North's English translation of the French version of Plutarch's Lives of the Noble Grecians and Romans from 1579. Shakespeare probably also used William Painter 's Palace of Pleasures (1566). Due to the use of irregular verses and other technical peculiarities of the text, the work is suspected to be co-authorship of Thomas Middleton .

action

When Timon, a wealthy and respected citizen of Athens , learns that his friend Ventidius has been jailed by creditors, he decides to settle his debt so that he can be released. He gives his slave Lucilius money so that he can marry his beloved. He accepts a poet's poem, a painter's painting, and admires the jeweler's jewelers that caress him. His numerous guests appear at one of his celebrations and receive presents from Timon; Apemantus is also present, but only wants to see the flatterers at work. Timon disregards his manager Flavius, who wants to warn him about his precarious financial situation, and ultimately wastes his entire fortune, is in debt, and his lands are pledged.

The servants of three believers appear in his house and demand payment. Therefore Timon sends three servants to his "friends" and asks them for help, but his servants are turned away - completely surprising for Timon. Ventidius is not ready to lend him any money either. Timon then decides to have one last party. - In the Senate House, some senators deliberate the fate of a man and sentence him to death; Alcibiades protests against this and is banished. Many of his "friends" appear at Timon's invitation; but when they want to dine, they must realize that they were only served steaming water and stones. Timon insults his guests, beats them and explains that from now on he hates everyone.

Thereupon he withdrew bitterly into the forest. By chance, digging for roots, he finds gold there. Compared to Alkibiades, who appears in the forest with two prostitutes, Timon describes himself as a misanthropist and accordingly rejects Alkibiades' offer of friendship. But when Timon learns of Alkibiades' planned campaign against Athens, he gives him gold. He told the prostitute, who was also given gold, to continue with their profession and spread diseases. Then Apemantus seeks him out, both of them engage in a battle of words that sometimes crosses the line to insult. He again gives gold to two thieves and orders them to break into Athens' shops and steal as much as he has given them. Finally Flavius ​​comes to Timon and wants to give him money; Timon admits that there is definitely a decent man among the villains of the world.

Lured by the news of Timon's gold, the poet and painter appear to ingratiate themselves again, but Timon sees through them. The attempt by two senators to persuade Timon to return to Athens, apparently so that he might help the city against Alcibiades, is also in vain. Meanwhile, Alkibiades begins a siege of Athens. Ultimately, Timon dies while Alcibiades conquers the city without a fight with the promise not to harm anyone but his and Timon's enemies.

Adaptations

Henry Purcell composed an opera of the same name in 1694 based on Shakespeare's tragedy.

Text output

English
Bilingual
  • Markus Marti (Ed.): William Shakespeare: Timon of Athens. English-German study edition. Stauffenburg, Tübingen 1995 ISBN 978-3-86057-551-2

literature

Web links

supporting documents

  1. ↑ Schabert, Handbuch, p. 566.