699), was
introduced partly to pacify the Countess Guiccioli, who had quarrelled
with him for maintaining that "love was not the loftiest theme for true
tragedy," and, in part, to prove that he was not a slave to his own
ideals, and could imagine and delineate a woman who was both passionate
and high-minded.
introduced partly to pacify the Countess Guiccioli, who had quarrelled
with him for maintaining that "love was not the loftiest theme for true
tragedy," and, in part, to prove that he was not a slave to his own
ideals, and could imagine and delineate a woman who was both passionate
and high-minded.
Byron
All that can be affirmed with any certainty is that within twenty years
of the death of Asurbanipal, the Assyrian Empire passed into the hands
of the Medes;[1] but there is nothing to show whether the period of
decay had already set in before the close of his reign, or under which
of his two successors, ? sur-etil-il? ni or Sin-sar-iskun,
the final catastrophe (B. C. 606) took place (_Encyclopedia Biblica_,
art. "Assyria," art. "? sur-bani-pal," by Leonard W. King).
"I have made," writes Byron (May 25, 1821), "Sardanapalus brave though
voluptuous (as history represents him), and as amiable as my poor pen
could make him. " Diodorus, or rather Ctesias, who may have drawn upon
personal reminiscences of his patron, Artaxerxes Mnemon (see Plutarch's
_Artaxerxes_, _passim_), does not enlarge upon his amiability, and
credits him only with the courage of despair. Byron's Sardanapalus, with
his sudden transition from voluptuous abandonment to heroic chivalry,
his remorseful recognition of the sanctities of wedlock, his general
good nature, his "sly, insinuating sarcasms" (Moore's Diary, September
30, 1821, _Memoirs_, iii. 282), "all made out of the carver's brain,"
resembles _history_ as little as _history_ resembles the Assyrian
record. Fortunately, the genius of the poet escaped from the meshes
which he had woven round himself, and, in spite of himself, he was
constrained to "beat his music out," regardless of his authorities.
The character of Myrrha, which bears some resemblance to Aspasia, "a
native of Phocea in Ionia--the favourite mistress of Cyrus" (see
Plutarch's _Artaxerxes_, Langhorne's Translation, 1838, p.
699), was
introduced partly to pacify the Countess Guiccioli, who had quarrelled
with him for maintaining that "love was not the loftiest theme for true
tragedy," and, in part, to prove that he was not a slave to his own
ideals, and could imagine and delineate a woman who was both passionate
and high-minded. Diodorus (_Bibl. Hist. _, lib. iii. p. 130) records the
exploits of Myrina, Queen of the Amazons, but it is probable that Byron
named his Ionian slave after Mirra, who gives her name to Alfieri's
tragedy, which brought on a convulsive fit of tears and shuddering when
he first saw it played at Bologna in August, 1819 (_Letters_, 1900, iv.
339).
_Sardanapalus, a Tragedy_, was published together with _The Two Foscari,
a Tragedy_, and _Cain, a Mystery_, December 19, 1821.
The three plays were reviewed by Heber in the _Quarterly Review_, July,
1822, vol. xxvii. pp. 476-524; by Jeffrey in the _Edinburgh Review_,
February, 1822, vol. 36, pp. 413-452; in _Blackwood's Edinburgh
Magazine_, February, 1822, vol. xi.
