Hercules, Parts 1 and 2
Historical Records
Performance Records
Playlists in Philip Henslowe's diary
- Fol. 11v (Greg I.22)
ye 7 of maye 1595 . . . . . . . . . ne . . Rd at the firste ꝑte of herculous . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . iijl xiijs
- Fol. 12v (Greg I.24)
ye 20 of maye 1595 Rd at hercolas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . iijl ixs ye 23 of maye 1595 . . . . . ne . . Rd at 2 ꝑ of hercolas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . iijl xs ye 27 of maye 1595 Rd at j ꝑte of herculos . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . iil ye 28 of maye 1595 Rd at 2 ꝑte of herculas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . iijl ijs ye 12 of June 1595 Rd at the j ꝑt of herculos . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . iijl js ye 13 of June 1595 Rd at the 2 ꝑt of herculos . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . iijl ijs ye 1 of septmbʒ 1595 ————— Rd at j ꝑte of hercvlos . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . iijl iiijs ye 2 of septmbʒ 1595 Rd at 2 ꝑte of hercvlos . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . iijl
- Fol. 13 (Greg I.25)
ye 22 of septmbʒ 1595 ————— Rd at j ꝑte of herculos . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xxxjs ye 23 of septmbʒ 1595 Rd at 2 ꝑt of herculos . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xxiijs ye 12 of octobʒ 1595 ————— Rd at j ꝑte of herculos . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xxixs ye 13 of octobʒ 1595 ————— Rd at 2 ꝑte of herculus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xxvs ye 25 of octobʒ 1595 ————— Rd at j ꝑte of herculos . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xxxijs ye 2 of novmbʒ 1595 ————— Rd at the 2 ꝑt of hercolas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xxviijs
- Fol. 14 (Greg, I. 27)
ye 24 of novmbʒ 1595 ———— Rd at j herculos . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xxs ye 25 of novmbʒ 1595 Rd at 2 ꝑt of herculos . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xvjs ye 18 of desembʒ 1595 . . mr pd . . Rd at j ꝑt of herculos . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xiijs ye 6 of Jenewary 1595 Rd at hurculos the j ꝑte . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xxs
Theatrical Provenance
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. 45v 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).
Gurr
For What It's Worth
Works Cited
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