The Dismissal of the Greek Envoys

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The Dismissal of the Greek Envoys
The Dismissal of the Greek Envoys (1578 first edition)
AuthorJan Kochanowski
Original titleOdprawa posłów greckich
CountryPoland
LanguagePolish
Genredrama
PublisherMikołaj Szarffenberger
Publication date
1577

The Dismissal of the Greek Envoys[1]: 68  (title also rendered as The Dismissal of the Grecian Envoys,[2] The Discharge of the Greek Envoys,[3] and The Envoys[4]; Polish: Odprawa posłów greckich) is a tragedy written by Polish Renaissance poet Jan Kochanowski ca. 1565-66 and first published and performed in 1578.

It recounts an incident leading up to the Trojan War, inspired by the writings of Homer. It is widely recognized as one of Kochanowski's finest works, and one of the most significant early plays written in Polish.

Composition[edit]

Kochanowski

According to Tadeusz Ulewicz [pl], Kochanowski wrote the play probably ca. 1565-66.[5]: 188  However, Czesław Miłosz implies that it was commissioned by Jan Zamoyski for his wedding in the late 1570s.[1]: 68 

In any case, it was not published or performed until debuted 12 January 1578 at Zamoyski's wedding to Krystyna Radziwiłł at Ujazdów Castle in Warsaw, before the royal court and King Stephen Báthory.[5]: 188 [6] Many of the actors in the premiere were royal courtiers, and the play was directed by prominent physician Wojciech Oczko.[3]

The play was translated into English in 1918 by George Rapall Noyes and Ruth Earl Merrill as The Dismissal of the Grecian Envoys; under the same title in 1994 by Charles S. Kraszewski; in 1999 by Barry Keane as The Dismissal of the Greek Envoys; and in 2007 by Bill Johnston as The Envoys.[4][7][8]

Plot[edit]

The plot of the play focuses on the arrival of the titular Greek envoys at Troy, in order to prevent the outbreak of hostilities—an event mentioned in Homer's Iliad. The envoys ask for the return of kidnapped Helen. Some statesmen from Troy, led by Antenor, support such an action, but in the end they are overruled by a more vocal faction led by Helen's abductor Paris.[1]: 68–69 [9]

Analysis[edit]

This was a blank-verse tragedy of eleven and thirteen syllables.[1]: 69 [3] In its structure it is a typical Renaissance work, inspired by Horace and subsequent French and Italian developments (works of Scaliger). It is divided into five acts, from the exposition to the announcement of the tragedy to the tragedy itself. Events that happen outside of the stage are summarized in dialogues, including a vision of Cassandra.[1]: 69  It was the first tragedy written in Polish.[6]

Miłosz wrote that the drama is "neither a tragedy of passions nor a tragedy of a revelead fate... the fatal outcome is due not to an inexorable fatality but merely to stupidy and demagoguery." The tragedy depicted is that of characters who understand what is at stake but who cannot stop the wheels of events put in motion, ushering the impending doom (the Trojan War). As such, Miłosz writes, the play has no heroes outside the state of Troy.[1]: 69 

The works main theme are the responsibilities of statesmanship, critique of weak rulers and failings of power, where the voice of "wise and reasonable" is drowned by that of passionate but selfish and poorly educated youth.[3][6] Edmund Kotarski [pl] commented on its universal values such as "the truth about the superiority of the common good and dependence of the country and of its future on its citizens’ stance".[6] The tragedy also connected to the 16th century reality of Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, with the deliberations of Greek statesmen resembling that of Polish Sejm, and the weakness and impotence of King Priam was a commentary on the Commonwealth's constitutional monarchy.[1]: 69, 74 [10]

Reception[edit]

The play is one of Kochanowski's more important and better known works;[11] already described as well studied by scholars in the mid-1960s.[12] Miłosz called it "the finest specimen of Polish humanist drama".[1]: 68  Kotarski in turn wrote that the work "was Poland’s first really poetic and deeply reflective drama, the first and for a hundred years the only one".[3] Despite its significance, it failed to inspire many imitators in Poland, at least not until centuries later (works of Stanisław Wyspiański).[1]: 70, 72–74 

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i Milosz, Czeslaw (24 October 1983). The History of Polish Literature, Updated Edition. University of California Press. ISBN 978-0-520-04477-7.
  2. ^ Gömöri, G. (1982). "The Dismissal of the Grecian Envoys and Bornemisza's Magyar Elektra". The Slavonic and East European Review. 60 (1): 16–24. ISSN 0037-6795. JSTOR 4208430.
  3. ^ a b c d e Kotarski, Edmund. "Jan Kochanowski". Virtual Library of Polish Literature. Retrieved 21 February 2023.
  4. ^ a b Kochanowski, Jan (2007). The envoys. Bill Johnston, Krzysztof Koehler. Kraków: Księgarnia Akademicka. ISBN 978-83-7188-870-0. OCLC 226295845.
  5. ^ a b Ulewicz, Tadeusz (1968). "Jan Kochanowski". Polski słownik biograficzny (in Polish). Vol. 13. Zakład Narodowy im. Ossolińskich - Wydawawnictwo Polskiej Akademii Nauk.
  6. ^ a b c d Bogucka, Maria; Kieniewicz, Stefan, eds. (1984). Warszawa w latach 1526-1795 (in Polish) (Wyd. 1 ed.). Warszawa: Państwowe Wydawn. Nauk. pp. 157–58. ISBN 83-01-03323-1. OCLC 11843473.
  7. ^ "The Dismissal of the Greek Envoys—A Forgotten Trajectory Within the Web of European Renaissance", Some Renaissance / Early Modern Topoiin the Twenty First Century, Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Łódzkiego, 2016, doi:10.18778/8088-178-5.02, hdl:11089/22765, ISBN 978-83-8088-178-5, retrieved 26 February 2023
  8. ^ "Polish Literature in English Translation:16th Century". polishlit.org. Retrieved 26 February 2023.
  9. ^ Paczkowski, Grzegorz (31 July 2021). "Odprawa posłów greckich - streszczenie – Jan Kochanowski, Odprawa posłów greckich - opracowanie – Zinterpretuj.pl" (in Polish). Retrieved 3 October 2022.
  10. ^ Plachcinska, K. (2006). "ORATIONS FROM 'DISMISSAL OF THE GRECIAN ENVOYS' IN THE LIGHT OF THE SEYM SPEECHES OF JAN KOCHANOWSKI'S TIME". Pamiętnik Literacki (in Polish). 4 (97): 203–228. ISSN 0031-0514.
  11. ^ Swan, Oscar (1975). "Review of Jan Kochanowski". The Slavic and East European Journal. 19 (3): 344–346. doi:10.2307/306298. ISSN 0037-6752. JSTOR 306298.
  12. ^ Welsh, David J. (1963). "Rhetorical Principles in Kochanowski's "Dismissal of Grecian Envoys"". Études Slaves et Est-Européennes / Slavic and East-European Studies. 8 (3/4): 179–185. ISSN 0014-2190. JSTOR 41055844.
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