Hercules, Parts 1 and 2: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 16:45, 22 March 2021

Anon. Play Titles A (1595)

Historical Records

Performance Records

Playlists in Philip Henslowe's diary

Fol. 11^v (Greg I.22)

y^e 7 of maye 1595

. . . . . . . . . ne . .

Rd at the firste ꝑte of herculous

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . iij^l xiij^s

Fol. 12^v (Greg I.24)

y^e 20 of maye 1595		Rd at hercolas	. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . iij^l ix^s
y^e 23 of maye 1595	. . . . . ne . .	Rd at 2 ꝑ of hercolas	. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . iij^l x^s
y^e 27 of maye 1595		Rd at j ꝑte of herculos	. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ii^l
y^e 28 of maye 1595		Rd at 2 ꝑte of herculas	. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . iij^l ij^s
y^e 12 of June 1595		Rd at the j ꝑt of herculos	. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . iij^l j^s
y^e 13 of June 1595		Rd at the 2 ꝑt of herculos	. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . iij^l ij^s
y^e 1 of septmbʒ 1595	—————	Rd at j ꝑte of hercvlos	. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . iij^l iiij^s
y^e 2 of septmbʒ 1595		Rd at 2 ꝑte of hercvlos	. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . iij^l

Fol. 13 (Greg I.25)

y^e 22 of septmbʒ 1595	—————	Rd at j ꝑte of herculos	. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xxxj^s
y^e 23 of septmbʒ 1595		Rd at 2 ꝑt of herculos	. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xxiij^s
y^e 12 of octobʒ 1595	—————	Rd at j ꝑte of herculos	. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xxix^s
y^e 13 of octobʒ 1595	—————	Rd at 2 ꝑte of herculus	. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xxv^s
y^e 25 of octobʒ 1595	—————	Rd at j ꝑte of herculos	. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xxxij^s
y^e 2 of novmbʒ 1595	—————	Rd at the 2 ꝑt of hercolas	. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xxviij^s

Fol. 14 (Greg, I. 27)

y^e 24 of novmbʒ 1595	————	Rd at j herculos	. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xx^s
y^e 25 of novmbʒ 1595		Rd at 2 ꝑt of herculos	. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xvj^s
y^e 18 of desembʒ 1595	. . m^r pd . .	Rd at j ꝑt of herculos	. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xiij^s
y^e 6 of Jenewary 1595		Rd at hurculos the j ꝑte	. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xx^s

Inventories

Philip Henslowe's papers in the Dulwich College Library

List of Properties

See above, under Fleay, BCED and Greg II.

List of Playbooks

Greg, Papers (APX. I, art. 1, p. 121, col 2. ll. 188-9)

Under the heading “A Note of all suche bookes as belong to the Stocke, and such as I have bought since the 3d of Marche 1598

1 ꝑ^t of Hercules:

2 ꝑ^te of Hercoles

Theatrical Provenance

The Admiral's men offered the two parts of "Hercules" in serial fashion at the Rose playhouse over a nine-month period beginning in May 1595.

Probable Genre(s)

Classical Harbage

Possible Narrative and Dramatic Sources or Analogues

No doubt the traditional resources for stories of ancient mythology and heroic legend provided the narrative material for both parts of the "Hercules" plays.

References to the Play

It is a good guess that Thomas Heywood was remembering one or more commercial plays featuring Hercules when he referred in "An Apology for Actors" to actions he had seen dramatized. This pair is the only one known now, but of course there could have been others, given the popularity of the Herculean character.

Critical Commentary

Malone asserted without identifying his evidence that "Hercules" was "written by Martin Slaughter" (p.297, n.7).

Collier also attributed the authorship of both parts to Martin Slaughter (p. 51, n.3). He claimed that the authorship was confirmed "[i]n another part of the Diary" but did not specify which part. Nonetheless, he was most probably thinking of the bulk purchase by the Admiral's men from Martin Slaughter on 16 May 1598 that included "v boocks of martine slather," two of which were "ij ꝑtes of hercolus" (Fol. 45^v Greg, I.86). Collier, commenting on that bulk purchase, did not claim explicitly that Slaughter was the original author of the "Hercules" pair (or the others), but he attributed authorial activity by asserting that Slaughter "must again have had them in his hands, perhaps for alteration and addition" (p. 123, n.2).

Fleay, BCED had a different opinion of Martin Slaughter's relationship to the "Hercules" plays. Using the bulk purchase moment as his focus, he declared that Slaughter "had been a sharer with Alleyn in the properties and plays" of the Admiral's men, and he had a "right to plays acted before then [sic.?], but he was certainly not the author of them" (2.303, #166). Stepping thus on Collier's supposition, Fleay offered another:, identifying the first part of "Hercules" as "probably [Thomas] Heywood's Silver Age and the second part as "[p]robably Heywood's 'Brazen Age'" (2.304, #167). In his Chronicle History (p. 114), Fleay assigned the following properties in Henslowe's inventory lists to the "Hercules" plays:

for "1 Hercules" (which he considered a forerunner of Heywood's Silver Age):

Iris's head and rainbow ("Ierosses head, & raynbowe" Greg, Papers, APX. I, art. 1, p. 117, l. 70)

Cerberus's three heads ("Serberosse iii heades" Greg, Papers, APX. I, art. 1, p. 117, l. 73)

the Caduceus ("j Cadeseus" Greg, Papers, APX. I, art. 1., p. 117, l. 74)

Mercury's wings ("Mercures wings" Greg, Papers, APX. I, art. 1., p. 117, l. 80)

for "2 Hercules" (which he considered a forerunner of Heywood's Brazen Age):

the Golden Fleece ("j golden fleece" (Greg, Papers, APX. I, art. 1, p. 116, l. 63)

the boar's head ("j bores heade" Greg, Papers, APX. I, art. 1, p. 117, l. 73)

Hercules's limbs ("Hercules limes" Greg, Papers, APX. I, art. 1, p. 114, l. 25)

the chain of dragons ("j chain of dragons" Greg, Papers, APX. I, art. 1, p. 118, l. 82)

Greg II followed Fleay in identifying these plays with Thomas Heywood's pair, The Silver Age and The Brazen Age, asserting there could be "little doubt." However, like Fleay, he presented no evidence beyond the presumed common subject matter (#'s 71 & 72, p. 175). In Papers, Greg added the following properties to the list generated by Fleay:

for "1 Hercules"

the lion skin ("j lyone skin" Greg, Papers, APX. I, art. 1, p. 117, l. 66)

the altar ("j littell alter" Greg, Papers, APX. I, art. 1, p. 117, l. 70)

the bull's head ("j bulles head" Greg, Papers, APX. I, art. 1, p. 118, l. 83)

for "2 Hercules"

Juno's coat ("Junoes cotte" Greg, Papers, APX. I, art. 1, p. 119, l. 122)

Gurr

Wiggins, Catalogue