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Tragedie
Anticonformista e ribelle nella vita come nella sua opera, Alfieri invade la scena letteraria italiana con una violenza espressiva del tutto nuova, che riflette il suo credo nella forza viva del sentimento, anzi del "forte sentire", unico motore delle grandi e nobili azioni e ingrediente primo e indispensabile della poesia. Le sue tragedie, così direttamente tese alla catastrofe, deliberatamente prive di intrecci complicati e solitamente dominate da un protagonista attorniato da pochi altri personaggi, hanno uno stile nudo ed essenziale, contraddistinto da una nota costante di eroica, prorompente energia.
623 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1876
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About the author
Vittorio Alfieri
917 books32 followersWorks, including 19 tragedies, of Italian playwright Conte Vittorio Alfieri influenced nationalism.
People consider this dramatist and poet as the founder.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vittori...
People consider this dramatist and poet as the founder.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vittori...
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
August 16, 2025
uno dei miei autori preferiti
May 5, 2019
Alfieri is Italy’s great tragedian, reviving (or creating) the Classical Italian form in the 18th century. The topics are largely classical Greek, ancient/historical or Biblical character studies, highlighting the madness of men and women.
The plays I read will probably strike the English/American reader as rather stiff and old fashioned. They are modeled in form on the French tragedies of Racine and Corneille, though Alfieri seems to be freer with the three unities (time, place and action). There’s little onstage action and only a few characters.
French and Italian tragic (i.e., so-called “serious”) drama would struggle against the strict confines of the three unities until the 19th century. Although Shakespeare was widely known and admired, it took critics a long time to move from the Racine model.
For the English-speaking world, Alfieri is not a must read. If you enjoy French tragedy, I would highly recommend it. If you are a student of Italian literature, it is probably worth reading a few plays like Saul or Orestes. For the rest, there’s not much here.
The plays in this edition, if I understand correctly, were primarily translated by Charles Lloyd and published around 1815, but thoroughly edited and corrected by Edgar Alfred Bowring for an 1876 edition with Alfieri’s posthumously published plays added. (Translated solely by Bowring.)
The translations use Elizabethan English (thee’s and thou’s) but thankfully only loosely follow the iambic pentameter form. The adherence is not slavish enough to distort normal syntax beyond recognition. It’s not a terrible translation, but one wonders if something more modern would be better.
Complain all you want about the translation, but the fact is this may be the only one that exists. If there are other translations, they are very rare, and this book itself is rather hard to find.
Volume I
Orestes *** – The play closely follows Sophocles’ Electra (and, regardless what the editor says, not Aeschylus’ Libation Bearers) until the end, where Orestes’ anger gives him away and he’s taken away in chains. However, the Greek citizens find out that Orestes is back and free him and he slays Aegisthus and, accidentally, his mother. (Off stage, of course.)
The seething, uncontrollable anger of Orestes is understandable. Alfieri’s treatment/portrayal of Clytemnestra is a bit more balanced and compassionate than most. She’s not the monster of Electra. A scene that was particularly poignant is when Orestes is captured and he tells Clytemnestra to kill Aegisthus for him, but she cannot.
The play could easily be about Clytemnestra. Unlike Saul, this play includes two interesting characters with depth. In fact, more of a focus on Clytemnestra could have been interesting. The play (or a play) just about Clytemnestra could be compelling.
Volume II
Saul *** ½ – Lauded by most critics as one of Alfieri’s best tragedies, this play tells the story of the Biblical Saul – a man once favored by god, but later rejected and cast off for the great David.
Saul is, by far, the most interesting character in the play. His flights of fancy and madness and sanity punctuate the play as he strives to come to terms with David. It’s not difficult to see why this Alfieri play stands out, though I don’t have the feeling Alfieri took the play as far as it could have gone. It highlights Saul’s struggles on multiple levels – youth vs old age, beauty vs. plainness, eloquence vs bluntness, ease vs struggle, god’s favorite vs god’s forgotten.
Saul is wise enough to know what he is not. But he is cursed to see what he not in the form of David. David makes Saul painfully aware of everything he will never be. And though he wants to love the charming, brave and successful David as everyone else does, his jealousy and his justified fear for his crown and his family prevent him. Thus Saul’s psyche is riven by these conflicting feelings, and driven to madness.
The rest of the characters are merely types – the loyal friend, the faithful wife, the sinister advisor. David never really comes to life. He is the perfect hero, husband, warrior and singer. But how would you bring someone like that to life in such a short work? I see the difficulty, but that is ultimately why this is a good play and not a great play. (Perhaps it would have been better had David never appears – he’d be an offstage presence that hovers over the play like a ghost.)
As I said, in this tragedy there is a kernel of a greatness.
The plays I read will probably strike the English/American reader as rather stiff and old fashioned. They are modeled in form on the French tragedies of Racine and Corneille, though Alfieri seems to be freer with the three unities (time, place and action). There’s little onstage action and only a few characters.
French and Italian tragic (i.e., so-called “serious”) drama would struggle against the strict confines of the three unities until the 19th century. Although Shakespeare was widely known and admired, it took critics a long time to move from the Racine model.
For the English-speaking world, Alfieri is not a must read. If you enjoy French tragedy, I would highly recommend it. If you are a student of Italian literature, it is probably worth reading a few plays like Saul or Orestes. For the rest, there’s not much here.
The plays in this edition, if I understand correctly, were primarily translated by Charles Lloyd and published around 1815, but thoroughly edited and corrected by Edgar Alfred Bowring for an 1876 edition with Alfieri’s posthumously published plays added. (Translated solely by Bowring.)
The translations use Elizabethan English (thee’s and thou’s) but thankfully only loosely follow the iambic pentameter form. The adherence is not slavish enough to distort normal syntax beyond recognition. It’s not a terrible translation, but one wonders if something more modern would be better.
Complain all you want about the translation, but the fact is this may be the only one that exists. If there are other translations, they are very rare, and this book itself is rather hard to find.
Volume I
Orestes *** – The play closely follows Sophocles’ Electra (and, regardless what the editor says, not Aeschylus’ Libation Bearers) until the end, where Orestes’ anger gives him away and he’s taken away in chains. However, the Greek citizens find out that Orestes is back and free him and he slays Aegisthus and, accidentally, his mother. (Off stage, of course.)
The seething, uncontrollable anger of Orestes is understandable. Alfieri’s treatment/portrayal of Clytemnestra is a bit more balanced and compassionate than most. She’s not the monster of Electra. A scene that was particularly poignant is when Orestes is captured and he tells Clytemnestra to kill Aegisthus for him, but she cannot.
The play could easily be about Clytemnestra. Unlike Saul, this play includes two interesting characters with depth. In fact, more of a focus on Clytemnestra could have been interesting. The play (or a play) just about Clytemnestra could be compelling.
Volume II
Saul *** ½ – Lauded by most critics as one of Alfieri’s best tragedies, this play tells the story of the Biblical Saul – a man once favored by god, but later rejected and cast off for the great David.
Saul is, by far, the most interesting character in the play. His flights of fancy and madness and sanity punctuate the play as he strives to come to terms with David. It’s not difficult to see why this Alfieri play stands out, though I don’t have the feeling Alfieri took the play as far as it could have gone. It highlights Saul’s struggles on multiple levels – youth vs old age, beauty vs. plainness, eloquence vs bluntness, ease vs struggle, god’s favorite vs god’s forgotten.
Saul is wise enough to know what he is not. But he is cursed to see what he not in the form of David. David makes Saul painfully aware of everything he will never be. And though he wants to love the charming, brave and successful David as everyone else does, his jealousy and his justified fear for his crown and his family prevent him. Thus Saul’s psyche is riven by these conflicting feelings, and driven to madness.
The rest of the characters are merely types – the loyal friend, the faithful wife, the sinister advisor. David never really comes to life. He is the perfect hero, husband, warrior and singer. But how would you bring someone like that to life in such a short work? I see the difficulty, but that is ultimately why this is a good play and not a great play. (Perhaps it would have been better had David never appears – he’d be an offstage presence that hovers over the play like a ghost.)
As I said, in this tragedy there is a kernel of a greatness.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews