‘Bright Cynthia comes to hunt and revel here’ : constellations mythologiques et cynégétiques dans Titus Andronicus et Thomas of Woodstock

The various aspects of the myth of Diana the Huntress are normatively described by mythographers in their dictionaries or by emblematists; typically, she is the goddess of chastity as one can understand from the set phrase: “as chaste as Diana”. Once included in a dramatic text however, the myth of...

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Main Author: Agnès Lafont
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Presses universitaires de Rennes 2008-03-01
Series:Revue LISA
Online Access:https://journals.openedition.org/lisa/384
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author Agnès Lafont
author_facet Agnès Lafont
author_sort Agnès Lafont
collection DOAJ
description The various aspects of the myth of Diana the Huntress are normatively described by mythographers in their dictionaries or by emblematists; typically, she is the goddess of chastity as one can understand from the set phrase: “as chaste as Diana”. Once included in a dramatic text however, the myth of Diana can turn out to be only a mask under the cover of which bloody deeds may be perpetrated. Thus, in addition to appearing on stage as a revengeful huntress in the anonymous tragedy, The First Part of Richard II or Thomas of Woodstock, she also provides the perverted guise worn by the lascivious Tamora to seduce and kill her victims in Titus Andronicus. An analysis of the proper / improper reinterpretations of this classical myth within the performance text of these two tragedies allows us to draw a new portrait of the once virtuous and amiable deity that presided over amorous love sonnet sequences of the period – Delia by Samuel Daniel (1592) and Diana by Henry Constable (1594).
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spelling doaj-art-a28695fea2974635bc24948b8de2d8f32025-08-20T02:45:18ZengPresses universitaires de RennesRevue LISA1762-61532008-03-016312313810.4000/lisa.384‘Bright Cynthia comes to hunt and revel here’ : constellations mythologiques et cynégétiques dans Titus Andronicus et Thomas of WoodstockAgnès LafontThe various aspects of the myth of Diana the Huntress are normatively described by mythographers in their dictionaries or by emblematists; typically, she is the goddess of chastity as one can understand from the set phrase: “as chaste as Diana”. Once included in a dramatic text however, the myth of Diana can turn out to be only a mask under the cover of which bloody deeds may be perpetrated. Thus, in addition to appearing on stage as a revengeful huntress in the anonymous tragedy, The First Part of Richard II or Thomas of Woodstock, she also provides the perverted guise worn by the lascivious Tamora to seduce and kill her victims in Titus Andronicus. An analysis of the proper / improper reinterpretations of this classical myth within the performance text of these two tragedies allows us to draw a new portrait of the once virtuous and amiable deity that presided over amorous love sonnet sequences of the period – Delia by Samuel Daniel (1592) and Diana by Henry Constable (1594).https://journals.openedition.org/lisa/384
spellingShingle Agnès Lafont
‘Bright Cynthia comes to hunt and revel here’ : constellations mythologiques et cynégétiques dans Titus Andronicus et Thomas of Woodstock
Revue LISA
title ‘Bright Cynthia comes to hunt and revel here’ : constellations mythologiques et cynégétiques dans Titus Andronicus et Thomas of Woodstock
title_full ‘Bright Cynthia comes to hunt and revel here’ : constellations mythologiques et cynégétiques dans Titus Andronicus et Thomas of Woodstock
title_fullStr ‘Bright Cynthia comes to hunt and revel here’ : constellations mythologiques et cynégétiques dans Titus Andronicus et Thomas of Woodstock
title_full_unstemmed ‘Bright Cynthia comes to hunt and revel here’ : constellations mythologiques et cynégétiques dans Titus Andronicus et Thomas of Woodstock
title_short ‘Bright Cynthia comes to hunt and revel here’ : constellations mythologiques et cynégétiques dans Titus Andronicus et Thomas of Woodstock
title_sort bright cynthia comes to hunt and revel here constellations mythologiques et cynegetiques dans titus andronicus et thomas of woodstock
url https://journals.openedition.org/lisa/384
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