Medea in Korinth (1786) e Das goldene Vliess (1821)

Il mito di Medea in due riscritture tedesche

Abstract

Myth, a primordial narrative freed from the absolute  concepts of space and time, has a universal character and is therefore more easily exported to different times and  places, within different expressive codes. The myth of  Medea, which transcends the original myth in the process of rewriting, demonstrates a constant dialogue between the archetypal works of Euripides and Seneca and, at the same time, an overcoming of them, through which new meanings are formed for the character. Among the most  significant results of this process are those of Friedrich M. Klinger and Franz Grillparzer, who reinterpreted the story of Medea for the theatre by focusing on the extraordinary
romantic individuality of the former and the ethnic and  political isolation of the latter. The aim of this paper is  therefore to examine the reception of the myth from the perspective of Medea in Korinth (1786) by Friedrich  Maximilian Klinger and Das goldene Vließ (1821) by Franz Grillparzer. Both are two representative examples of how the Medeastoff h as c hanged over t he course of a century, demonstrating its inexhaustibility in not developing stale and worn themes, while at the same time not being able to completely disregard the model. In the
body of this essay, therefore, a comparison will be made between the two works in terms of the conception and reworking of certain basic themes within the same cultural reference area, the deutschsprachiger Raum.