Turkish Mahomet and Hiren the Fair Greek, The

George Peele (1589?)

Historical Records

In The Merrie Conceited Iests of George Peele Gentleman (1607), one jest is entitled, "How George Read a Play-book to a Gentleman." It recounts that the playwright entertained a dull-witted dandy at his lodgings of an evening with a reading of his latest play, which is named as “The Turkish Mahamet and Hyrin the fair Greek.”

In the jest, Peele finishes the reading at a late hour. He therefore persuades the listener to bed down in his lodging. But when the man falls asleep, Peele dresses him in clothes of his own and slips away, leaving the hapless gentleman now mistaken for Peele to pay the four nobles owed on the rent of the room.

Theatrical Provenance

The date of the original run and the company owners are unknown. The link with Peele is the only clue about the debut of the play, and it is not much help. Peele's plays appear in the holdings of the Queen's men (Old Wives Tale, Q1595) and Admiral's men (The Battle of Alcazar, Q1594; Plot, 1598-1601?). The debuts of these plays, too, are uncertain.

However, if "The Turkish Mahomet and Hiren the Fair Greek" is the "Mahomet" in Henslowe's Diary introduced without "ne" on 14 August 1594, running through 5 February 1595, it can be located in 1594 with the Admiral's men (see "Critical Commentary," below). On 22 August 1601, the Admiral's men bought the text of "Mahomet" from Edward Alleyn for 40s. At that time, they evidently mounted a revival based on purchases of a crown, apparel, and various other things. There is a property in Henslowe's Diary for "owld Mahemetes head," which scholarly tradition associates with the play of "Mahomet."

Probable Genre(s)

Romantic tragedy

Possible Narrative and Dramatic Sources or Analogues

In 1566 William Painter, in The Palace of Pleasure, appropriates from Matteo Bandello's Novelle the story of "Hyrenee the faier Greke" (vol. 1, #40, fols. 107v-112). Painter prefaces the narration with this blurb: "Mahomet one of the Turkishe Emperours executeth curssed crueltie vpon a Greke maiden whom he toke prisoner, at the winning of Constantinople." A second edition of The Palace of Pleasure appeared in 1569.

The basic narrative consists of the following episodes:

Mahomet acquires Hiren: During the conquest of Constantinople in 1453, in which Mahomet (Mehmed II) defeated Constantine, one of Mahomet's captains takes Hiren prisoner (Painter says she is 16 or 17); "to gratifie his Lorde" presented her, "A Iewell," to Mahomet, who had her put aside until the battle was concluded. Then at leisure, Mahomet, whom Painter calls "young and wanton beyonde measure" (f. 107v) sends for Hiren. He is soon so enamoured that he wants only "to plaie and dallie with her, in suche sorte, that his spirities beyng in Loues full possession, Loue dealt with hym so cruellie, that he could take no rest daie nor night" (f. 108).

Mustapha confronts Mahomet about his obsession with Hiren

Mahomet resolves the conflict

Richard Knolles, in The Generall Historie of the Turks (1603, tells essentially the same story as Painter, but with some different flourishes.

William Barksted, in "Hiren: or, the Fair Greek (1611), makes significant changes in the narrative.

• Mahomet discovers Hiren himself during the seige, Hiren in chapel

• debate about Hiren's chastity, Mahomet promises her she may exercise her own free will
• debate continues, they kiss, she yields
• Mustapha's arguments
• The elaborate courtship does not deter Mahomet from making his decision

References to the Play

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Critical Commentary

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For What It's Worth

One conflict between the sources before 1588 and those later is the virtue of Hiren. Painter (1566) and Knolles (1603) do not comment on Hiren's feelings in the affair with Mahomet. Barksted (1611), in contrast, has Hiren vigorously defend her virtue through lengthy epyllionic foreplay until she at last surrenders her maidenhead. Yet The Merrie Jests of George Peele (1607) tag the title of the play with a litany of slang terms for "Greek": “in Italian called a curtezan, in Spain, a margerite, in French, une curtain, in England, among the barbarous, a whore, but among the gentle, their usual associates, a punk … [and] croshabell” (1607: 394-5). In 1 Henry IV (1597) Shakespeare links Hiren and Doll, making Pistol and Doll into debased versions of Mahomet and Hiren, who are then aligned with other warriors and their female champions (Tamburlaine [and by implication, Zenocrate]; Muly Mahamet and Calipolis).

Works Cited

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