Revisitar o Mito
Myths Revisited
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!"#$%$&'()*)+$&*),)+-&.%)!"#$%$&"/)!"#$%$&'()(*$&)("()(*)+)(,)*)("-"(&'.&)( /"!'("('-$*".&'()($*'/$.0!$)(12*'.)(+"(&)+)%()%(&"*3)%("(-2/'!"%4(,)*)( 9 !"#$%&%'(&%()'(*""+$*#,+-('*.#-/0*$#1(2+".*,&#(&#(3-4#($-566*$#7(#6($#, 9 &!$52&)%(*2-&$+$%,$3-$.'!"%(!"2.$+)%(."%&"(#)-2*"($.,$+"*(%)5!"('(3-'% (!"#$%$&%(*=&1('.+(1)>($&(1'%(5)&1(/"."!'&"+( !"#$%$&'()*)+$&*),)+-&.%)!"#$%$&"/ '.+(.2!&2!"+(12*'.($*'/$.'&$).(',!)%%(&$*"('.+(%3',"4('.+('--)>"+(2%(&)( $!!'&$).'-@(A))&"+($.(&1"(,-'%%$,'-(!"3)%$&)!=4(&1"(,).&!$52&$).%('%%"*5-"+( $.(&1$%(#)-2*"(3!$#$-"/"(+=.'*$,('.+($.&"!+$%,$3-$.'!=('33!)',1"%(&)(&1"(3-'%&$,$&=( #>('?.@7(+6('+,*>%6.(*,(-*.%"+"?7(+".*6.*$7(!#-*.*$+-(#"(6$*%,.*3$(%A!"%66*#,1REVISITAR O MITO | MYTHS REVISITED
Organização: Abel Nascimento Pena, Maria de Jesus C. Relvas, Rui Carlos Fonseca, Teresa Casal
Capa: Sandro Botticelli, O Nascimento de Vénus, ca. 1485 (pormenor) Conceito gráfico: Maria de Jesus C. Relvas
Paginação: Ângela Andrade © EDIÇÕES HÚMUS, 2015 End. Postal: Apartado 7081 4764 -908 Ribeirão – V. N. Famalicão Tel. 926 375 305
E -mail: [email protected]
Impressão: Papelmunde, SMG, Lda. – V. N. Famalicão 1.ª edição: Fevereiro de 2015
Depósito legal: 387047/15 ISBN 978 -989 -755-112-3
EROS PLAYING WITH WALNUTS IN THE COMEDIES OF
JORGE FERREIRA DE VASCONCELOS
Silvina Pereira!
In all the works of Jorge Ferreira de Vasconcelos, there is a pervasive and inspiring allusion to myth and ancient figures that are constant in literature, and that are part of a pleasant freedom of thought and expression. The characters of Vascon-celos, imbued with a libertarian Eros, rejoice in their unequivocal pagan vitality, in an obvious connection with the spirit of the time. In his “pintura que fala” the ingenious dialogue becomes complex and the plot sprouts wings with the power-ful example of the ancients 1.
The theatre of Vasconcelos takes advantage of the greco-latin world. The scope of this work is to show the use that Jorge Ferreira de Vasconcelos makes of classical mythology and how the allegorical repository allows you to tell about his conception of love and sensuality. An understanding that goes beyond the rigid view accepted by the post-tridentine catholic morality that was beginning to be imposed ever more effectively in the second half of the sixteenth century.
In Vasconcelos’s comedies, Eufrosina Aulegrafia and Ulysippo, the gods visit our “prouincia Lusitania” (Vasconcelos, Aulegrafia 3) and familiarly take up resi-dence here, because they found in Portugal a fertile land for their craft: as declares Momo, the Greek god of censorship, of mockery and satire, in the prologue of the Aulegrafia, to the courtiers who saw and heard him, and so affirms the Roman de-ity Mercury, “idolo das mercancias” (Vasconcelos, Ulysippo 3v), to the bourgeois in Ulysippo. And even the character of João d’Espera Deus in Eufrosina, refers to himself as Janus, the Roman god of two opposing faces, one looking forward and the other looking back, and to whom is attributed the ability to see both into the future as well as into the past.
* University of Lisbon, Centre for Classical Studies | Teatro Maizum.
1 Horace, the author of the most widespread theory among portuguese authors of the time, says in his
Arte Poética “Vt pictura poesis” (Horace 150). Raul Miguel Rosado Fernandes points out that the
com-parison between the image of the painting and poetry is common in antiquity, remembering when Plu-tarch says: “ser a pintura poesia calada e a poesia pintura que fala” (Horace 150 note 361). It should be noted that the character Momo, in the prologue of Comedia Aulegrafia, realizes that tradition by asserting that: “pretende mostraruos a olho nu o rascunho da vida cortesaã em que vereis hũa pintura que fala” (Vasconcelos, Aulegrafia 15).
Eugenio Asensio explains that upon first reading, Comedia Eufrosina disori-ents us due to the exuberant jungle of erudite reminiscences inspired mostly by Ancient Mythology in which the text abounds. Nevertheless, the reader can find in the work an orienting guideline: almighty love. For Vasconcelos, the positive estimation of women is the “principal incrinação portuguesa” (Vasconcelos, Eu-frosina 312),and, in this comedy, all the characters live for love, except for Filtra, the panderer, who incarnates it. Venus is the tutelary figure of this work, whether she is defending chaste love, or inflaming sensual love, which is not surprising, as Asensio notes: “One should not be surprised that a book as vigorously Christian as Eufrosina should be so lacking in references to the Bible and the Holy Fathers, while at the same time there are so many mythological evocations and sentences from the great pagan wise men” (Asensio XXIII) 2.
COMEDIA EUFROSINA
The Comedia Eufrosina tells the story of the love affair between Zelotypo, a young courtier, and Eufrosina, a noble and rich maiden.
Overcome by the power of Eufrosina’s beauty of and tormented by the realiza-tion that this is an impossible love, because she is of a higher social status, Zelotypo recognizes that “Amor [...] me meteo em hum laberinto de dores, de que desespero saluarme” (Vasconcelos, Eufrosina 19). He cannot bear the confusing and painful situation of feeling, he says: “antre o malho e a bigorna” (Vasconcelos, Eufrosina 19). Perturbed and unhappy, in his point of view, he finds himself in a state “como quem se vee tam estranho de si que se desconhece qual o Sosia de Plauto” (Vasconcelos, Eufrosina 20). Embarrassed, and a prisoner of love, he is reluctant to confess it to his friend Cariophilo, and only after much insistence of this “desenfardelay ja os fumos desse rapaz Cupido” (Vasconcelos, Eufrosina 28) that he dares to name her. Fearful, he hesitates to act because, for the first time, he feels “o verdadeyro e puro amor”. The first scene of Act I indicates the importance of Classical Mythology in the imagery and cultural background of the author. For instance, when describing the feeling that invaded him after he was struck by Cupid’s arrow:
ZELOTYPO: [...] vi a senhora Eufrosina em ora que não deuera, tam fermosa. [...] erguia de quando em quando huns olhos de Juno, verdes, claros, humidos: orvalha-dos, de alegria sossegada. [...] e pondoos em mi a tempos furtados com hum olgar quebrado, [...] atravessame como Filomena a Tereo (Vasconcelos, Eufrosina 29-31). 3 2 “No hay que sorprenderse de que en un libro tan vigorosamente cristiano como la Eufrosina, escaseen
tanto las referencias a la Biblia y a los Santos Padres, mientras pululan las evocaciones mitológicas y las sentencias de los grandes sabios de la gentilidad” (Asensio XXIII).
Figura 1: Frontispiece of the 1st edition of Comedia Eufrosina 4
There is a pervasive analogy between the characters and fabulous beings in-herited from mythos, and the author provides parallels with situations from this mythical universe, through successive comparisons, as in the following dialogue:
ZELOTYPO: Aparecialhe hum pee de Thetis, que enchia hũa çapata amarela, pera me de todo entristecer o coraçam desesperado do bem que via. [...] sahialhe per hum golpe hum dedo como que tinha nelle cravo, e foy pera mi encrauarme a alma.
CARIOPHILO: Nem podia ser menos. Ora vos dou minha fee que sois bom pera espia: hum lince não vee tanto [...]. E esteuestes laa muyto?
ZELOTYPO: Esteuera mil annos sem me lembrar virme, como quem ouue o canto das Sereas, tam embebido me tinha aquella visão do amor [...].
CARIOPHILO: Nem esse não he mao sinal, que o amor nace da vista e os olhos o palram, pois como vos viestes.
ZELOTYPO: Eu inda que estaua trasportado na señora Eufrosina como Argos na seringa de Mercurio, [...] e despedindome de minha prima, pedilhe que lhe fezesse por mim grandes oferecimentos. (Vasconcelos, Eufrosina 31-33)
In this passage, we see that Cupid’s power leaves young Zelotypo in a state of need and dependency. The evolution of his character will be punctuated through-out the work by the help providedby Cariophilo’s sugestions offers, which consist of devising strategies that will help him reach a satisfactory conclusion, as part of a long journey marked by advances and retreats, in the course of which the protago-nist will experience a kind of torment similar to the one of Tantalus.
Therefore, in this play, Cupid will be held responsible for the emotional tor-ture agitating the character Zelotypo. In the monologue of the first scene of the Act II, Zelotypo presents himself being held hostage by love, in a state of extreme disorientation. His crisis and inner conflict seem to be accentuated, as the follow-ing words illustrate:
ZELOTYPO: O quam pouco repouso o amor permite [...] tiranamente tomou posse [...] segundo o que de mim sinto, e a dilação me mata e atormenta [...]. Assi ando fogindo de mim como a filha de Inaco da sua noua figura, porque muyto mais me estranho eu do que sohia ser [...]. Oo cego menino, [...] Triste de quem te he tam sogeyto, que conhecendo e padecendo teus danos, corro par’eles com con-tinos desejos [...]. Amor nam, mas comũa desauentura segundo dizia Sophocles [...]. Finalmente em ti se encerram a verdade, a mentira, a quietaçam e assessego, a fraqueza e a força. Tu reynas em todo genero de animal na terra e no mar, e nhum dos deoses escapou de tua tirania (Vasconcelos, Eufrosina 92-93) 5
This monologue confirms the devastating power of this tyrannical god, for Zelotypo can no longer sleep. He finds himself awash in indecision, hopelessness, and even in fear of himself. In his raving about love, marked by an overwhelming commotion, he exalts the powerful force of Eros.
The lover’s state of exaltation and exasperation of such extreme proportions not only contributes to making the scene highly dramatic, but it also reveals the emotional situation of the character. Zelotypo, desperate, unsure of his own iden-tity, rebels against himself and his weakness and, finally, comes to envy the fate of Cariophilo and his glorious loves. Suddenly, a change takes place within himself. Aware that “o coruo não pode ser mais negro que as asas” (Vasconcelos, Eufrosina 94), the character emerges from the blackness of indecision and decides to take action and tempt fortune. After being tested by love, and although weakened by its power, he decides to confront the tyrant.
In these passages, two playwrights of antiquity are called on stage: Plautus and Sophocles. The first, when the character refers to his own extreme confu-sion and awkwardness: and who better than Plautus and his dramatization of the myth of Amphitryon to illustrate this identity crisis? (see Anastácio) The latter is evoked as a poet of tragic fate, for whom man is nothing more than a cog in the machinery of the gods.
5 Zelotypo’s whole speech, from which only an excerpt is transcribed here, maintains the same evocative record, with references to other fables known to Greco-Latin mythology, which exemplify similar dra-matic situations.
Gods, mythological figures, ancient authors and the classical heritage, popu-late this work, swinging to the flavour of intrigue. In the fourth scene of Act III, featuring Zelotypo and Silvia de Sousa, after he confesses his love for Eufrosina, he pleads for her help. And he does not hesitate to resort to emotional blackmail, faced with Silvia’s reluctance and regret, for she too has feelings for her cousin. The argumentation used here by Zelotypo, is Platonic in inspiration, but parodies its source and ultimately touches the absurd and ridiculous, giving rise to a scene of enviable theatrical effectiveness.
SILVIA: Ora não vos quero mais ouuir, hiuos, hiuos muyto embora, ja sey que me quereis mal.
ZELOTYPO: Mais mo quereis vos senhora, voume pois me assi mandais [...], e j’agora ninguém me matou señao vos.
SILVIA: […] nunca vi mortos falar senão agora.
ZELOTYPO: A morte não he mais que o apartamento que a alma faz do corpo. SILVIA: Porisso digo que não sois vos inda morto pois tendes alma.
ZELOTYPO: Não tenho, que a alma claro esta que reside onde ama e não onde anima [...].
SILVIA: Ay primo primo. [...] Pois como andais e fazeis tudo como viuo? ZELOTYPO: - Ficoume hum bafo d’alma que me sostem assi os membros. [...] SILVIA: Oo ma cousa quanto sabeis. Nam vos quero mais falar qu’estou muyto mal conuosco. [...] Ora, senhor hiuos que tudo se fara bem, o demo me fez tam affeyçoada conuosco.
ZELOTYPO: Voume logo dereyto. Lembrevos que viuo em quanto quiserdes. SILVIA: Leyxayme palreyro que nunca acabays. (Asensio 209-210)
Evidently, Zelotypo is not lacking resourceful devices to get his way. Although mentally troubled while under the spell of tyrant love, he does not fail in his ability to find the best arguments, gleaned from the greatest authors. Obviously, litera-ture serves this purpose and he has no shortage of models. The soul, separated from the body, for the soul lives where love lives, is an idea that derives from Plato. But the fine reply of “Ficoume hum bafo d’alma que me sostem assi os membros” (Vasconcelos, Eufrosina 210), is a thought that originates from the skill and art of the dramatist, who knew how to create in his first comedy, an optimistic utopia where, in the end, Eros and reason triumph.
COMEDIA AULEGRAFIA
Comedia Aulegrafia, a word that textually means “escrita sobre o Paço”, tells the sto-ry of the misfortunate love of the jealous Grasidel de Abreu and how he ends up losing the favors of Filomela, due to the intrigues of Aulegrafia, a lady of the Palace. In the second scene of Act I, Grasidel, aware of the “laberinto de desauen-turas” (Vasconcelos, Aulegrafia 8) of which he is a victim, regrets his state of subjec-tion to a woman that triumphs over him. Helpless, he establishes a parallel with
the biblical text, when he remembers “Sansão que afogou hum leam, não afogou o amor, quebrou as prisões de seus imigos, & não as da sua afeição” (Vasconcelos, Aulegrafia 8 v). He surrenders and waits for the news brought by Rocha, the servant.
Figura 2: Frontispiece of the 1st edition of Comedia Aulegrafia. 6
This is a different starting point from the one presented in Comedia Eufrosina, because it is not a question of conquering but rather of keeping the affections of the beloved. However, whether Zelotypo in Eufrosina, or now Grasidel in Aulegrafia, they both share a similar plight, for they are presented as hostages of the god of love. Also the manner of enunciation unites the two characters: both claim to find themselves in a labyrinth, in a new state of confusion, afflicted by loss of sleep and vanquished by the almighty power of love, described as a winged being that “voa de hũns noutros” to whom unconditional surrender seems to be the only possibility.
In the second scene of Act III, the courtier Filelfo Correa enters and starts a conversation with Dinardo Pereira and Grasidel de Abreu. After talking about stu-pidity, foolishness and astrology, recurring themes of the playwright, they take up the topic of love’s triumphs. Filelfo, confessing that he wants nothing more than to stuff himself with “pensamentos amorosos”, begins to describe the
tal experience that Dinardo and he had with some girls which he calls Nymphs (“hũas ninfas”) 7.
In the third scene, of Act III, the characters Grasidel and Filelfo, exempt from love, confide their torments. Filelfo reads a long “Carta”, (“letter”) written accord-ing to him “Da cama” (“from bed”). The long letter begins in Italian, and then proceeds to Portuguese, Latin, and Castilian. The tone is hilarious:
FILELFO: [...] Sou já tísico no meu mal, entregue ao despacho do t!po [...]. Só a erua Melisa pode sararme, falta Alexandre que ma busque: por onde estou em fame & sede de Tantalo, vendo, & desejando, temendo, & ousando, vivendo, mor-r!do. Lembrastesme nesta afronta, & juntamente a queixa de Phebo:
Hei mihi quod nullis amor est medicabilis herbis.
Antre as armadas, & redes do amor, andaua eu tão solto, & auentureiro, que logo dissereis vendo-me: este não teme, nem deve: não me lembrando, que a muyta fouteza deu com Ycaro no mar. Enleuei-me no fauor da ventura: [...] não tinha inda cipilhados os sintidos para sentir como Dido: Vulnus alit venis, & ceco carpitur igne. Quantas vezes me ri dos aleyjados deste furor, que fere a modo de rayo, abrasando a alma, leixando saõ o corpo, como tinha por graça hauer Venus piedosa, ou vin-gativa. [...] Fazey o que em vos for se achardes que volo mereço: lembrando ante a minha bella 8 a yra de Nemesis, sobre Narciso. (Vasconcelos, Aulegrafia 96-99)
As this passage reveals, it seems to be impossible for Vasconcelos to speak of love and its hardships without resorting to myth, the ancient pagan concept, which is primarily the expression of a vital and intense freedom to be and to feel. The humorous wit of Vasconcelos leads him to make fun of himself, because his character denounces, at this point, one of the characteristics of the writing style of his work. Grasidel, a bit flustered says: “Nunca vi carta de girões senão esta, & se fora mays curta, parecera melhor” (Vasconcelos, Aulegrafia 99). After the delivery of the message they continue reading the letter, both commenting and lamenting about the hardships of love, until Filelfo confesses that:
FILELFO: hum dos mayores trabalhos que tenho, he temporizar com o mundo, mostrando que vyvo, sendo morto no espírito (Vasconcelos, Aulegrafia 99 v).
Now, curiously, we find in this speech by the young courtier the same senti-ment expressed by Zelotypo regarding the love he felt for Eufrosina. By way of conclusion, Filelfo will say that: “amor he azougue, traça, & caruncho, que ateado nalma não cessa, nem se satisfaz tè fazela po” (Vasconcelos, Aulegrafia 100).
7 Citations from the Comedia Aulegrafia follow the text printed in 1619, Taking into account the variants of the manuscript - II 1519 – that is housed in the Real Biblioteca de Palacio. The manuscript reveals that the seventeenth-century edition of Aulegrafia was also censored, as were, in fact, Eufrosina and Ulysippo. 8 “idola”, cf. Ms. f. 141v.
An analysis of the Comedia Aulegrafia, allows us to see the relationship between men and women as something difficult, an idea that may have been inspired by the rigid protocol at the Court of King John III. Let us look at the second scene of Act IV, a highly theatrical scene, where three simultaneous actions take place. There are three pairs of men: the nobles, D. Ricardo and D. Galindo, who commented on a story set at the Palace which is liable to end in a duel; their respective servants, Miranda and Xarales, tired of being exposed to the elements, listen and make fun of the situation of their masters, and the two courtiers, Germínio 9
and Artur, pre-vented from achieving their nocturnal amorous courting, make critical comments on the nobility. And, if real life does not allow almost any contact at all, in the realms of myth and literature the characters breathe a little more freely.
Among others, the figure of Eros / Cupid from the Greco-Latin culture is re-framed according to the new context of Christian Humanism, making possible the celebration of sensuality. Thus, we can understand the presence, in the works of Vasconcelos, both of the representation of this god and allusions to famous pairs of lovers taken from fables of antiquity. This is the same humanistic culture that val-ues poets like Ovid, in the matters of love. When forging an appropriate language to the dramatic development of the subject of love, Vasconcelos could hardly find a better source than the repository of images and narratives provided by Myth.
In this second comedy byJorge Ferreira de Vasconcelos, “amor he portugues” (Vasconcelos, Aulegrafia 38 v). We witness the defeat of love, since the palatial in-trigue of Aulegrafia prevails, a lie that leads Filomela to marry another servant, even thoughshe still loves Grasidel. The latter can only give up and forget, and in his suffering he concludes: “a condição & natureza do homem he, querer, & não querer” (Vasconcelos, Aulegrafia 178). It is a weakened Eros, “pregação de padecente” (Vasconcelos, Aulegrafia 178v) that, not convincing, has at least the ad-vantage of offering reconciliation with reality. Rather than Eros, we find here An-teros, his brother, who contrarily delights in discord and the death of Love itself.
COMEDIA ULYSIPPO
In the Comedia Ulysippo various amorous intrigues are interwoven. One of these is protagonized by Hypolito, son of dissolute Ulysippo and the matron Philotec-nia. Hypolito loves Florença, a young courtesan exploited by her mother, old Mac-arena, and compelled to accept the harassment of several suitors. One of them is Crisofilo, the Medecis Clerk.
In the fifth scene of Act III, Barbosa, a servant of old Ulysippo and an ac-complice of young Hypolito, comes to tell him that there will be a banquet at the home of “La gentil Florença la bella”, paid by Crisofilo. Then, both concoct a plan to boycott the supper. In the next scene the feast takes place. The theatrical
tion develops simultaneously in two spaces, and is full of movement: drink, touch, recitation, dancing and listening to music both inside and outside the house. Hy-polito’s asides on the street, Parasito’s performance inside the house, animating the banquet, as well as eating, drinking and adulating Crisofilo and gentle Flor-ença, are all highly theatrical and humorous 10.
Figura 3: Frontispiece of the 2 st edition of Comedia Ulysippo. 11
Inside the House, during the banquet financed by the Medices Clerk, we en-counter four characters at Macarena’s home: Parasito, Macarena, Crisofilo and
10 Through what he says and what he does, we’re recognizing the characteristics of Parasito character: opportunist “camaleaõ da còr do t!po” (Vasconcelos, Ulysippo 109), flattering “Falo sempre à todo homem ao som do seu padar” (Vasconcelos, Ulysippo 109), mocking “Praguejo, & digo mal de mim mesmo: zombo do alto & baixo” (Vasconcelos, Ulysippo 110v) guzzler, brazen, tapering at diapason of various Parasites of Greco-Latin comedy, namely Terentius. Also, one of the distinctive traits of this character is the extreme effectiveness of his sycophantic capabilities, and its main weapon is the word that captures and seduces, and a considerable persuasion that allows him to achieve its objective. 11 Available online: <www.purl.pt/12066>.
Florença, having supper and celebrating the reconciliation between Crisofilo and Florença. Parasito livens up the party with his ballads and his guitar but, above all, he wants to drink, and therefore he never gets tired of bragging about the wine, evoking inevitably, the god Bacchus:
PARASITO: Emquanto a cea se adereça ami bibavuus por amor da senhora Flo-rença. Oula, dorelha he o vinho, por sam pisco [...] O grande senhor Baco? Ò melhor licor dos licores? Este cria o corpo, dà saúde, sostenta, &conforta mais q[ue] todo outro manjar. (Vasconcelos, Ulysippo 157-157v)
Parasito, at Florença’s request and to please Crisofilo, at whose expense he lives, rants about the virtues of wine and the harm of water and recites some lines about his condition of being very much in love and a servant of love. Florença then asks him: “E amor que cousa he?” (Vasconcelos, Ulysippo 164).
Parasito, who from the beginning of the scene tries to eat all that is being served without succeeding in getting anything, starts discoursing on the theme of love in general, not without first mentioning, by the way, that there are in the matter “ceitas differentes de Philosophos”, and he concludes that the source of love lies in the old adage: “Quem me quer bem, disme o que sabe, dame do que tem”. The proverb hits home for Macarena who, as stated previously, is greedy for money, a procuress of her own daughter and even accused by her for wanting to procure too many sons-in-law for only one daughter. When Crisofilo finally claims to want to own gold mines solely to be able to turn them over to Florença, the dec-laration is immediately understood by all present. Florença asks Parasito to con-tinue the story “tornai à vossa prática dos amores, que folgaua de vos ouuir”. The flatterer does not wait to be begged to resume the narration of a myth that appears in a dialogue of Plato, set during a banquet analogous to the one experienced by the characters, and Parasito plans to take inferences from this:
PARASITO: Ora seguindo meu proposito diruosei o que ouui deste rapaz do amor. Diz que no dia do nacimento de Venus, q[eu] os deoses celebravão com grande solenanidade cada anno. Foi hũa vez feito hũ grande conuite ao qual veyo Poro filho do conselho, & deos da abastança. E como nunca falta hum ruim, veyo tambem Penia, deosa da pobreza, pera se prouer dalgũa miseria do sobejo. O regozijo foi grande, & como destas festas sempre alguns saem musicos, outros tartaros, & muitos com frieiras nos pès: aqueceo que o senhor Poro se meteo tãto naquele nectar dos deoses, que se emborrachou, & foise deitar a cozer no horto de Jupiter, & Penia junto a elle; dõde se lhe azou nacer o amor filho da abastança, & da pobreza. O que em caso que vos aos dous aquecesse, diriamos que nacera da riqueza, & da fermosura, que era mais honesto. (Vasconcelos, Ulysippo 168v)
The Platonic interpretation of the myth indicates that Eros is a genius, an intermediary between gods and men, born of the Union of Poro (The Expedient) and Pénia (Poverty). In Plato’s Banquet it is stated that on the day of Aphrodite’s birth the gods made a feast, to which all of the deities were invited. Poros was one
of the guests of this great feast. While the banquet was taking place, Pénia, Pov-erty, came begging for the leftovers from the table. Meanwhile, Poros inebriated by gods’ nectar, lays in the garden of Zeus to sleep. Pénia came up with the idea to lie down by his side, and to conceive a son with him, Eros, by doing so to alleviate, her poverty. That is why Eros owes to his parents the well-defined qualities that he possesses: constantly in search of his object, he always knows how to find the means to an end.
On the other hand, the Parasito’s tale adapts itself very well to its purpose, which is to cause Crisofilo to surrender the “poços de ouro”, thanks to the “fermo-sura” of Florença. To that effect, he uses unsparing flattery and continues on infal-libly, constantly referring to the same myth:
PARASITO: E ouui como està delicado o conto, porque não falo à lume de palhas. Nace o Amor de Poro, q[eu] he a boa razão; & de Penia desejo, q[eu]está claro proceder da necessidade, & falta, donde o juizo claro emuolto cõ o desejo faz amor fino como coral. A natureza do desejo he proceder da pobreza, & mingoa, q[eu] t! do desejado: & a natureza do deleite requere, pera ser, q[eu] tenha falta q[eu] pretenda satisfazer: Que assi como antre os muitos manjares a fame falece o assi na abastança não ha desejo, & na mingoa se gera, & tanto maior he o desejo quanto maior a necessidade em que nos achamos. [...] donde as gentis damas trazem por pratica encarecer!-se, & darem a seus amigos fame, como a gavia!s, polos traze-rem lestes, & desejosos. [...] Exemplo temos antre mãos, que da senhora Florença não ser rica, & vós serdes desejoso, naceo essa afeiçaõ cõ que vos tratais. E daqui se segue, que vos não podeis temer de quem teuer menos q[eu] dar, que vos: de quem mais der, si. (Vasconcelos, Ulysippo 169-170v)
The message is delivered and, indubitably, the Eros of Parasito and Macarena is something that is bought and sold, according to the laws of the marketplace, and where the “poços de ouro” generate esteem and assure position. Enthusiastic and tireless, Parasito continues to discourse with grace on the tradition of the blind, winged and naked boy, introducing on purpose the god Anteros, brother of Eros, since “assi como ha Cupido pera vos seruir, assi ha pera nos vingar: o Deos Amor chamado Anterota” (Vasconcelos, Ulysippo 170). Finally, with so much talk about love, and wanting to eat, the flatterer invites Florença to dance.
As we see, the connection of Vasconcelos’s drama to classical matrices is an indisputable fact, given the constant presence of mythological characters, in par-ticular, the figure of Eros/Cupid. This presence impregnates his dramatic work from beginning to end. Pierre Grimal states that Alexandrian poets painted this winged child who took pleasure in upsetting hearts “playing with walnuts (the an-cient equivalent of marbles)” (Grimal 148). The walnut symbolizes the world, the universe and its various dimensions 12
. Also, in the comedies of Jorge Ferreira de Vasconcelos, Eros plays with the world. Eros, this mighty god, who at the caprice
12 The British astrophysicist Stephen Hawking, best known for his work on the universe, calls his lat-est book, The Universe in a Nutshell, quoting Shakespeare’s character Hamlet, when he says: “I could
of his fantasy, can strike cruel blows, turns out to be pure love in Eufrosina, discord in Aulegrafia, and finally, commerce in Ulysippo.
Bibliography Sources
VASCONCELOS, Jorge Ferreira de. [atributte to Antonio de Noronha]. Aulegraphia. II/1519. – Cat. Mss. II, 70. Manuscript. Real Biblioteca de Palacio.
—. Comedia Eufrosina. [1555]. Ed. Eugenio Asensio. Madrid: CSIC – Instituto Miguel de Cervantes, 1951.
—. Comedia Ulysippo. Lisboa: Pedro Craesbeeck, 1618. —. Comedia Aulegrafia. Lisboa: Pedro Craesbeeck, 1619.
Studies
ANASTÁCIO, Vanda. “Aparência e identidade no Auto dos Anfitriões de Camões.” Ed. João Nuno Alçada. Estudos Portugueses. Homenagem a Luciana Stegagno Picchio. Lisboa: Difel, 1991. 519-568. ASENSIO, Eugenio. Prologo. Comedia Eufrosina by Jorge Ferreira de Vasconcelos. Madrid: CSIC – Instituto
Miguel de Cervantes, 1951. VII–XCIII.
GRIMAL, Pierre. Dicionário da Mitologia Grega e Romana. Trans. Victor Jabouille. Lisboa: Difel, 1992. HAWKING, Stephen. O Universo numa Casca de Noz. Lisboa: Gradiva, 2002.
HORACE. Arte Poética. Trans. Raul Miguel Rosado Fernandes. Lisboa: Fundação Calouste Gulbenkian, 2012.
PEREIRA, Silvina. Tras a nevoa vem o sol – As comédias de Jorge Ferreira de Vasconcelos. Unpublished PhD dissertation. Lisboa: Faculdade de Letras da Universidade de Lisboa, 2010. Available online: <http://hdl.handle.net/10451/6274>.
PLATÃO. O Banquete ou do Amor. Trans. Pinharanda Gomes. Coimbra: Atlântica Editora, n.d.
be bounded in a nutshell and count myself a King of infinite space” (2nd scene-Act II), seeing in that sentence, the unlimited capacity that the human mind has to explore and dream.
ÍNDICE
5 PREFÁCIO 7 PREFACE
1. MITOS NA LITERATURA ANTIGA MYTHS IN ANCIENT LITERATURE
11 THE APOLLONIAN FEATURES OF PINDAR’S PYTHIAN ODES Emilio Suárez de la Torre
31 O RETRATO DE CLITEMNESTRA NA LITERATURA GREGA Joaquim Pinheiro
41 IPHIGENEIA PARTHENOS Nuno Simões Rodrigues
49 CONSIDERAÇÕES DE COMO OS MITOS ESCATOLÓGICOS DIRIGEM-SE MUITO MAIS À VIDA DO QUE À MORTE
Izabela Bocayuva
59 “NÃO FOI DESTA MANEIRA QUE O TOURO CARREGOU SOBRE O DORSO O PESO DO AMOR” (BATRAC. 78-79)
Rui Carlos Fonseca
69 O MITO DE TAGES NO DE DIVINATIONE Giuseppe Ciafardone
75 MATERNIDADES MALDITAS Cristina Santos Pinheiro
85 VICIMVS VICTI PHRYGES: EQUIPARAÇÃO ENTRE VENCIDOS E VENCEDORES,
TROIANOS E DÁNAOS, NO AGAMÉMNON DE SÉNECA Ricardo Duarte
99 AMOR MORBUS EM PHAEDRA: O MITO E A DOUTRINA ESTÓICA DOS AFFECTUS
Ana Filipa Isidoro da Silva
107 THYESTES DE SÉNECA: O TEATRO DA FRUSTRAÇÃO DA ALMA HUMANA. ENTRE A
TRANQUILLITAS ANIMI E O FUROR REGNI
Mariana Montalvão Horta e Costa Matias
119 READING CLASSICAL MYTHS IN LATE ANTIQUITY: MACROBIUS’ PROPOSAL OF LITERARY IDENTITY IN COMMENTARII IN SOMNIUM SCIPIONIS
2. MITOS NA LITERATURA MODERNA E CONTEMPORÂNEA MYTHS IN MODERN AND CONTEMPORARY LITERATURE
133 MITOLOGIA E MUNDIVIDÊNCIA MANEIRISTA EM O LIMA DE DIOGO BERNARDES José Cândido de Oliveira Martins
145 O MITO DE DON JUAN E LES LIAISONS DANGEREUSES DE LACLOS Ana Isabel Moniz
155 SERVINDO A CIRCE Margarida Vale de Gato
165 A PRESENÇA DO MITO NA POESIA DE JULES LAFORGUE Guacira Marcondes Machado
171 TRAÇOS DE UMA REFLEXÃO MÍTICA SOBRE O FEMININO EM O LIVRO DE ALDA DE ABEL BOTELHO
Rui Sousa
187 APOLLINAIRE E A RELEITURA DOS MITOS EM ALCOOLS Silvana Vieira da Silva
199 THE RECEPTION OF MYTH IN FERNANDO PESSOA Maria João Toscano Rico
217 BABEL AND MERLIN REVISITED IN C.S. LEWIS’S THAT HIDEOUS STRENGTH Maria Luísa Franco de Oliveira Falcão
225 O MITO DE NARCISO E A LITERATURA DE INTROSPECÇÃO Anna Faedrich Martins
239 ULISSES E O VELHO SANTIAGO Maria Mafalda Viana
251 RECEÇÃO MÍTICA EM AGUSTINA BESSA LUÍS Maria do Carmo Pinheiro e Silva Cardoso Mendes
261 RESSIGNIFICAÇÕES DO MITO CLÁSSICO DO MARAVILHOSO NO LIVRO FITA VERDE
NO CABELO, DE JOÃO GUIMARÃES ROSA
Nerynei Meira Carneiro Bellini
273 O MITO REVISITADO NA FICÇÃO DE ANGOLA: O DESEJO DE KIANDA E A
PARÁBOLA DO CÁGADO VELHO, DE PEPETELA
Maria Cristina Batalha
283 O RESSURGIMENTO DE VÉNUS Joana Marques de Almeida
291 “THE MYTH TO END ALL MYTHS” Alexandra Cheira
299 REVISITING THE TUDOR MYTH IN SANDRA WORTH’S THE ROSE OF YORK TRILOGY Susana Paula de Magalhães Oliveira
307 DO CAOS AO COSMOS Helena Malheiro
317 A INEXORABILIDADE DO DESTINO DO MITO GREGO NA MODERNIDADE ATRAVÉS DA POESIA DE SOPHIA DE MELLO BREYNER ANDRESEN
3. MITOS NAS ARTES MYTHS IN ARTS
331 RECYCLING MYTHS IN BYZANTINE ART Livia Bevilacqua
343 AFRODITE E EROS, REVISITADOS POR FRANCISCO DE HOLANDA
Teresa Lousa
351 EROS PLAYING WITH WALNUTS IN THE COMEDIES OF JORGE FERREIRA DE VASCONCELOS
Silvina Pereira
363 O MITO INSTÁVEL DE ORESTES E HAMLET Henrique Miguel Carvalho
373 A PRESENÇA DE ALCESTE NA MÚSICA ERUDITA Ana Alexandra Alves de Sousa
383 TRISTÃO E ISOLDA: O MITO DO AMOR IMPOSSÍVEL Gianmarco Catacchio
391 OS MITOS ARTURIANOS NA PINTURA DO SÉCULO XIX Ana Margarida Chora
403 PAIXÃO, SABEDORIA E NARRATIVA MÍTICA NA XILOGRAVURA DE HEIN SEMKE Joanna Latka
413 ALGUNS APONTAMENTOS NA MITOLOGIA DAS “LOUCAS” Isabel Henriques de Jesus
423 CAGE WAKES UP JOYCE Ana Luísa Valdeira
433 MARGARET ATWOOD’S THE PENELOPIAD Sara Paiva Henriques
445 PERCY JACKSON: O LADRÃO DE MITOS João Peixe
453 BITE ME! BUT PLEASE BE SEXY ABOUT IT – O MITO DO VAMPIRO NO CINEMA
José Duarte
4. MITOS NA HISTÓRIA E NA FILOSOFIA MYTHS IN HISTORY AND PHILOSOPHY
471 THE THEBAN MYTHS IN HERODOTUS: NOT YET A NEGATIVE PARADIGM Pierpaolo Peroni
483 SCIPIO AEMILIANUS AND ODYSSEUS AS PARADIGMS OF PRÓNOIA Breno Battistin Sebastiani
495 RECONFIGURAÇÕES MEDIEVAIS E MODERNAS DO MITO DE ATLÂNTIDA Margarida Santos Alpalhão
503 A CHEGADA DO CARDEAL ALEXANDRINO A LISBOA (1571) André Simões
517 FROM OBSCURITY TO THE PANTHEON OF PORTUGUESE AMERICAN HEROES: RECYCLING PETER FRANCISCO FOR ETHNIC MINORITY ‘FEEL GOOD’ AND UPLIFT Reinaldo Francisco Silva
529 IRACEMA PARA ALÉM DAS EXPECTATIVAS
Tito Barros Leal
539 CASSANDRA REVISITADA Sandra Pereira Vinagre
551 O MITO COMO LEITURA DA HISTÓRIA Ivone Daré Rabello
559 A ERÓTICA DO ÊXTASE Lolita Guimarães Guerra
575 DEVOLVER O FOGO AOS DEUSES Sofia Santos
5. MITOS NA CULTURA POPULAR MYTHS IN POPULAR CULTURE
587 RARIDADE E DIVERSIDADE COMO FACES DA MESMA MOEDA Marina Pelluci Duarte Mortoza
595 MITOLOGIA NA FÁBULA Ana Paiva Morais
Teresa Araújo
607 TEMAS MÍTICOS NOS CONTOS POPULARES PORTUGUESES Cristina Abranches Guerreiro
615 “A SERRANA” E “A GALHARDA”, DOIS RETRATOS DA MULHER DEVORADORA NO ROMANCEIRO DE TRADIÇÃO PORTUGUESA
Ana Sirgado
625 A LENDA DAS ÁGUAS SANTAS DO VIMEIRO Natália Albino Pires
637 O HERÓI MÍTICO E A IMAGEM DO PRÍNCIPE NOS CONTOS DE JOSÉ LEITE DE VASCONCELOS
Teresa M. Gonçalves de Castro 651 MITO E CONTO POPULAR
Maria Auxiliadora Fontana Baseio
659 AS MÃOS DOS PRETOS, DE LUÍS BERNARDO HOWANA
Maria Zilda da Cunha
671 ANGELA CARTER E BARBA-AZUL Cleide Antonia Rapucci
6.MITOS NA RELIGIÃO E NAS CIÊNCIAS MYTHS IN RELIGION AND SCIENCE
685 THE JUDGMENT BETWEEN HORUS AND SETH AS A PARADIGM FOR THE JUDGMENT OF THE DEAD
André de Campos Silva
697 REVISITANDO O MITO EGÍPCIO DAS LUTAS ENTRE HÓRUS E SET José das Candeias Sales
715 DA PALAVRA AO ACTO Miguel Pimenta-Silva
727 LILITH: FROM POWERFUL GODDESS TO EVIL QUEEN Maria Fernandes
737 ENTRE MITO E CIÊNCIA Abel N. Pena
749 A MIGRAÇÃO DOS PORTENTOS Isabel de Barros Dias
763 O MITO DA CRIAÇÃO NO CORÃO E O SEU REFLEXO NA MÍSTICA SUFI Natália Maria Lopes Nunes
777 REVISITAR A CATÁBASE Daniela Di Pasquale
789 REMINISCÊNCIAS DE VERGÍLIO NA OBRA POÉTICA DE PEDRO JOÃO PERPINHÃO Helena Costa Toipa
805 NARCISO E LEONARDO NA PERSPETIVA DE FREUD Isabel Castro Lopes
815 À PROCURA DE UM FINAL FELIZ, OU A NARRATIVA ADÂMICA REVISITADA POR LLANSOL
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