The faces of Medea : Medea must not die
Les visages de Médée : Médée ne doit pas mourir
I volti di Medea : Medea non deve morire
Résumé
The Medea myth is one of the most ancient that tradition has handed to us, but paradoxically, is perhaps the most 'modern' and scabrous among those ever known.
For her mysterious character and, in some aspects, demonic, Medea has enjoyed vast fortune in ancient times as well as in modern and contemporary art.
We will focus the dissertation on Christine de Pizan’s text, La Cité des Dames and the figure of Medea that emerges: the terrible Medea becomes, in the writing of Christine, the symbol of knowledge and female loyalty towards others, which is not only faithfulness in love, but total availability of body and soul. We will link the Christine’s Cité with Boccaccio’s De mulieribus claris and we will argue that Christine’s work is not a translation, a plagiarism, of the most famous work of our writer and poet. In the second part of the thesis, I will analyze the version of another special woman; showing that the faces of Medea are numerous and diverse: the Midea of Irina Possamai. Irina is, in fact, one of the first Italian librettiste and chose - as Christine did - to narrate her Medea in an opera that, not surprisingly, she called Midea.
The Medea myth is one of the most ancient that tradition has handed to us, but paradoxically, is perhaps the most 'modern' and scabrous among those ever known.
For her mysterious character and, in some aspects, demonic, Medea has enjoyed vast fortune in ancient times as well as in modern and contemporary art.
We will focus the dissertation on Christine de Pizan’s text, La Cité des Dames and the figure of Medea that emerges: the terrible Medea becomes, in the writing of Christine, the symbol of knowledge and female loyalty towards others, which is not only faithfulness in love, but total availability of body and soul. We will link the Christine’s Cité with Boccaccio’s De mulieribus claris and we will argue that Christine’s work is not a translation, a plagiarism, of the most famous work of our writer and poet. In the second part of the thesis, I will analyze the version of another special woman; showing that the faces of Medea are numerous and diverse: the Midea of Irina Possamai. Irina is, in fact, one of the first Italian librettiste and chose - as Christine did - to narrate her Medea in an opera that, not surprisingly, she called Midea
Le mythe de Médée est un des mythes les plus anciens que la tradition nous a transmis, mais, paradoxalement, c'est peut-être le plus “moderne” et scabreux entre les mythes connus. La thèse s'occupera d'abord de l'œuvre de Christine de Pizan, “La Cité des Dames” et l'image de Médée qui émerge: la terrible reine devient dans les pages de Christine un symbole du savoir et de la loyauté féminine par rapport à l'autre, qui n'est pas seulement fidélité amoureuse mais c'est l'abandon total du corps et de l'âme. On mettra en relation la “Cité” de Christine avec le “De mulieribus claris” de Boccace et on cherchera à démontrer que l'œuvre de Christine n'est pas une traduction, un plagiat de la plus célèbre œuvre de notre écrivain et poète. Dans la deuxième partie de la thèse, je vais analyser la version d'une autre femme spéciale; démontrant que les visages de Médée sont nombreux et variés: la Midea de Irina Possamai. Irina, est, en effet, une des premières librettistes italiennes et a choisi – comme Christine - de raconter dans un opéra lyrique sa Médée qui, ce n’est pas par hasard , qu’elle l’a appelé Midea.