Tributo a Aristóteles: Edipo Tiranno de Martello

Euripides is the model for Pier Jacopo Martello's (1665‐1727) Greek tragedies yet he also wrote LʹEdipo Coloneo and Edipo Tiranno under the influence of 'Longinus' and Aristotleʹs Poetica respectively. Edipo Tiranno was the first work conceived by Martello and the last to be published. It was dedicated to Cardinal Bentivoglio, the author of Compedio della Filosofia Morale secondo la mente di Aristotile, and the translator of Statiusʹ Thebaid where Oedipus is in keeping with orthodox Catholicism. Martello's dedication to the learned Cardinal might be the key to understand his approach to such a complex play in his late years. Martello shows his awareness of the difficulties involved in the play, the need to adapt it to the theatre of his time and the religious concerns underlying the dichotomy 'predestination vs free will' in Oedipus. As a result, Edipo Tiranno is an unusual reworking of a Greek play within Martello's literary production.