The English tragedy Jocasta was first performed during the Christmas revels in 1566 at Gray’s Inn. The play is based on Euripides’ tragedy The Phoenecian Women (Phonessiae), which focuses on the sufferings of Antigone and Jocasta as a result of a civil war between the brothers Polynices and Eteocles. The play also addresses the question of obedience to a tyrant and the nature of political rebellion. In its late-Tudor English context it further explores the topic of the role of women in politics. The English authors, George Gascoigne and Francis Kinwelmershe, base their text on Ludovico Dolce’s Senecan imitation of Euripides’ tragedy. Dolce’s version of Phoenissae is called Giocasta, and it is …
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Citation: Ward, Allyna. "Jocasta". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 02 February 2014 [https://staging.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=4314, accessed 01 November 2024.]
