Troy’s Revenge, with the Tragedy of Polyphemus

Revision as of 13:03, 8 October 2012 by Misha Teramura (talk | contribs)

Henry Chettle (1599)


Historical Records

Henslowe's Diary

F. 53v. (Greg I.102)

File:HensloweF53vTroysRevenge.jpeg


Lent vnto samvell Rowley the 16 of febreary
1598 to lend in p[ar]te of payment vnto harye
chettell vpon his boocke of polefemos . . . . xxs


Lent vnto Thomas downton the 27 of febreary
1598 to paye vnto harey cheattell in fulle
payment for a playe called Troyes Revenge
wth the tragedy of polefeme the some of fyftye
shellenges & strocken of his deatte wch he owes
vnto the company fyftye shelenges more . . . ls


F. 61 (Greg I.105)

Hary cheattell hath strocken of his deate
as foloweth 1598 vnto the companye [...]
pd of his deate in his boocke of polefeme . . . ls


F. 64v (Greg I.112)

Lent vnto the littell tayller the 4 of
octobre 1599 to bye diuers for the play
of polefeme the some of . . . viijs


Theatrical Provenance

(Content welcome.)


Probable Genre(s)

Classical Legend (Harbage)


Possible Narrative and Dramatic Sources or Analogues

(Under construction; content welcome.)

Ultimately, Homer's Odyssey; Virgil's Aeneid 3; Theocritus, Idylls 6 and 11 (an English translation of the latter was published in 1588); Lydgate's Troy-Book; etc.


References to the Play

(Content welcome.)


Critical Commentary

Greg: "The title Troy's Revenge suggests a play on the fates of the Greek heroes, which would include the story of Odysseus and Polyphemus, though it is a strange incident to select as the central theme of a tragedy." (II.201)


For What It's Worth

(Content welcome.)


Works Cited

Lydgate, John. The Auncient Historie and Onely Trewe and Syncere Cronicle of the Warres Betwixte the Grecians and the Troyans. London: 1555.

Theocritus. Sixe Idillia; that is, Sixe Small, or Petty Poems, or Æglogues, Chosen Out of the Right Famous Sicilian Poet Theocritus, and translated into English verse. Oxford: 1588.


Site created and maintained by your name, affiliation; updated DD Month YYYY.