Telo furoris impio amoris potior vis
- First performance: 30th June 1731, Uherské Hradiště, the highest grammar class
- Author: Thomas Robolt, SJ (1706-1741)
The play The Power of Love Stronger than the Godless Arrow of Fury belongs to a group of dramas that take place at the ruler’s court. These plays were usually also adjusted by the Jesuits to correspond to the age of their students. The main focus is usually not on the ruler, but on his sons, the most frequent topic being the brothers’ fight for power. This holds true for this play as well. Its author, Thomas Robolt, drew inspiration from an exemplum about a deceased king, whose sons were to fight over the throne by shooting arrows at the body of their deceased father. The one to hit the heart was to become the winner. This theme was very popular among Jesuit dramatists. In the Bohemian Province, it was staged at least five times at various Jesuit gymnasiums; two plays have survived in their entirety. In Robolt’s version, two older sons — Elpistus and Philetes — desire the throne, yet they both miss the target while shooting. Patrophilus, who is the youngest, refuses to shoot at the body of his beloved father and kisses his chest instead. By doing so, he symbolically hits the heart with a shot of love and thus becomes the new king. More info in Czech
Text
Thomas Robolt: Telo furoris impio amoris potior vis, Patrophilo, natu minimo, imperii
corona olim ab exanimi patris corde Cimmerias inter umbras illustris reddita, nunc pro
theatro adumbrata ab Ingenua supremae classis [grammaticae] juventute in gymnasio S.
Jesu Hradistii a. 1731, mense Junio, die 30.
National archives, fond Jesuitica, sign. IIIo–446, box 175, f. 129r–142v
Synopsis
Not preserved
Magdaléna Jacková: Nejmírnější Pallas. Hry určené gramatikálním třídám jezuitských gymnázií. Praha: Academia, 2016. (= Theatrum Neolatinum. Latinské divadlo v českých zemích, 2.), p. 276–339.
Bibliography
Magdaléna Jacková: Jesuit school plays from provincia bohemia SJ written for grammar classes. In A. Steiner-Weber– F. Römer (eds.): Acta conventus Neo-latini Vindobonensis, Leiden, Brill 2018, p. 369–378. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004361553_029
