Mythological cycles in the drama of Albert Mestres

Abstract

Mythological cycles in the drama of Albert Mestres Albert Mestres (Barcelona, 1960) is one of the most solid and original contributors to modern-day Catalan drama. His work engages eclectically and uninhibitedly with both cultured and popular models, and remarkably heterogeneous literary, artistic and philosophical traditions. A large number of his texts are inspired by the rich tradition of Graeco-Roman mythology, out of which he produces free adaptations from a contemporary perspective. They can be grouped into three mythological cycles: (a) Homeric, focusing mostly on Homer’s Iliad and Odyssey (La bufa, 1714. Homenatge a Sarajevo and Aquiŀles o l’estupor); (b) tragedy, which starts from the three great Greek writers of tragedies, Aeschylus, Sophocles and Euripides (Dramàtic, Temps real, Farsa, Odola, Dos de dos, Un altre Wittgenstein, si us plau o L’holocaust, Una història de Catalunya i Confinament), and (c) orphic, with Hesiod’s Teogonia and Ovid’s The metamorphoses as the principal models (Contes estigis o el cabaret dels morts and Orfeu i Eurídice [Orpheus and Eurydice]).