Merope

Merope was the mature fruit of an adaptation of the aspirations of culture to the requirements of stage practice between XVII and XVIII century. It can be considered the fulfilment of Muratori's call for the compromise of the tragic author with the materiality of the stage. The collaboration between Scipione Maffei and Luigi Riccoboni's troupe was very close. It was played on the double track of the needs of tragical reform in Italy and concrete requirements of a company of players.
Merope results canonic for outstandig themes which were to have a resonance in the European theatre culture: ambiguity, incest and its repression, revenge, maternal love as the driving force of the tragedy, tyranny in its twofold dimension, investigated not only as absolute negativity, but also in its scheming, tragicomic aspects.