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Hercules Performed
The Hero on Stage from the Enlightenment to the Early Twenty-First Century
Series: - Metaforms, Volume: 25
Volume Editor:
Hercules Performed explores the reception of the ancient Greek hero Herakles â the Roman Hercules â on the western stage from the sixteenth century to the present day, focusing on live theatre, including tragedy, comedy and musical drama. Each chapter considers a particular work or theme in detail, exploring the interplay between classical models and a wide variety of modern performance contexts. The volume is one of four to be published in the Metaforms series examining the extraordinarily persistent figuring of Herakles-Hercules in western culture, drawing together scholars from a range of disciplines to offer a unique insight into the heroâs perennial appeal.
Emma Stafford is Professor of Greek Culture at the University of Leeds and author of numerous works on Greek myth and religion, including Herakles (Routledge 2012). She is co-editor of three other Hercules volumes in Brill's Metaforms series (2020).
Contributors are: Tim Benjamin, Neil W. Bernstein, Deborah Chatr Aryamontri, Lucia Degiovanni, Sofia Frade, Samuel D. Gartland, Sue Hamstead, Owen Hodkinson, Eleftheria Ioannidou, Adriana F. Nogueira, Eleanor OKell, Robyn M. Rocklein, George Rodosthenous, Henry Stead.
Contributors are: Tim Benjamin, Neil W. Bernstein, Deborah Chatr Aryamontri, Lucia Degiovanni, Sofia Frade, Samuel D. Gartland, Sue Hamstead, Owen Hodkinson, Eleftheria Ioannidou, Adriana F. Nogueira, Eleanor OKell, Robyn M. Rocklein, George Rodosthenous, Henry Stead.
"In conclusion, Hercules Performed provides a comprehensive and compelling analysis of Herculesâ representation in theatrical performances and highlights his relevance in culture and academia. [...] It will undoubtedly be a valuable resource for those researching mythological characters in contemporary media and will provide a model for future work in reception studies."
Hannah Jorsh in Bryn Mawr Classical Review 2025.05.38
Hannah Jorsh in Bryn Mawr Classical Review 2025.05.38
Contents
Preface
Acknowledgements
List of Figures and Table
Notes on Contributors
Introduction: Embodying the Hero and His Story
âEmma Stafford
1 Sandow the Modern Hercules: or the Twelve Labours of the Class-Conscious Historian of British Classics
âHenry Stead
2 Hercules and the Tragicomic in the Epic Theatre of Dürrenmatt
âDeborah Chatr Aryamontri
3 âBreaking News: Hercules Is the Son of Zeusâ: the Chorus in Helen Eastmanâs Hercules
âSofia Frade
4 âThe Moral Madness of the Modern Heraklesâ: Collage and Fragments in Tony Harrisonâs The Labourers of Herakles and the Harrison Archive
âOwen Hodkinson
5 The Madness of Hercules from Euripides to the Renaissance
âNeil W. Bernstein
6 Herakles, Medea and the Reality of Filicide
âSue Hamstead
7 Herakles in Orbit: the Role of Space in Modern Versions of Euripidesâ Herakles
âSamuel D. Gartland
8 The Death and Apotheosis of Hercules at the Comédie-Italienne: from Senecan Tragedy to Commedia dellâArte
âLucia Degiovanni
9 The Sweet Vitality of Dancing Bodies: Classical Embodiment, Modernist Poetics, and Fascist Visions in Sophoclesâ Trachiniae at Syracuse in 1933
âEleftheria Ioannidou
10 Herakles, Sex, Death, and Spin: Sophoclesâ Women of Trachis and Its Adaptations
âEleanor OKell
11 Directing The Wife of Heracles (2010) for a Contemporary Audience: Footballers, Hairdressers and Dispensing the Poison
âGeorge Rodosthenous
12 Hercules and Opera at the Court of Louis XIV: Ercole amante
âJon Solomon
13 Shattered Female Virtue: Dejanira as Depicted in Handelâs Hercules
âRobyn M. Rocklein
14 âI Shall Sing of Heraklesâ: Writing a Hercules Oratorio for the Twenty-First Century
âEmma Stafford and Tim Benjamin
15 Herakles in Twenty-First Century Music
âAdriana F. Nogueira
Epilogue
âEmma Stafford
Index
Preface
Acknowledgements
List of Figures and Table
Notes on Contributors
Introduction: Embodying the Hero and His Story
âEmma Stafford
Part 1: Labours
1 Sandow the Modern Hercules: or the Twelve Labours of the Class-Conscious Historian of British Classics
âHenry Stead
2 Hercules and the Tragicomic in the Epic Theatre of Dürrenmatt
âDeborah Chatr Aryamontri
3 âBreaking News: Hercules Is the Son of Zeusâ: the Chorus in Helen Eastmanâs Hercules
âSofia Frade
4 âThe Moral Madness of the Modern Heraklesâ: Collage and Fragments in Tony Harrisonâs The Labourers of Herakles and the Harrison Archive
âOwen Hodkinson
Part 2: Madness
5 The Madness of Hercules from Euripides to the Renaissance
âNeil W. Bernstein
6 Herakles, Medea and the Reality of Filicide
âSue Hamstead
7 Herakles in Orbit: the Role of Space in Modern Versions of Euripidesâ Herakles
âSamuel D. Gartland
Part 3: Death and Apotheosis
8 The Death and Apotheosis of Hercules at the Comédie-Italienne: from Senecan Tragedy to Commedia dellâArte
âLucia Degiovanni
9 The Sweet Vitality of Dancing Bodies: Classical Embodiment, Modernist Poetics, and Fascist Visions in Sophoclesâ Trachiniae at Syracuse in 1933
âEleftheria Ioannidou
10 Herakles, Sex, Death, and Spin: Sophoclesâ Women of Trachis and Its Adaptations
âEleanor OKell
11 Directing The Wife of Heracles (2010) for a Contemporary Audience: Footballers, Hairdressers and Dispensing the Poison
âGeorge Rodosthenous
Part 4: Setting Hercules to Music
12 Hercules and Opera at the Court of Louis XIV: Ercole amante
âJon Solomon
13 Shattered Female Virtue: Dejanira as Depicted in Handelâs Hercules
âRobyn M. Rocklein
14 âI Shall Sing of Heraklesâ: Writing a Hercules Oratorio for the Twenty-First Century
âEmma Stafford and Tim Benjamin
15 Herakles in Twenty-First Century Music
âAdriana F. Nogueira
Epilogue
âEmma Stafford
Index
Academic libraries, students and researchers. Anyone interested in Herakles/Hercules, or classical heroes and myth more broadly, and their representation on the stage, in any genre of drama or music.