Vrchlického Hippodamie a její dobová recepce

This paper is a continuation of our study “Jaroslav Vrchlický’s Dramas Inspired by Classical Antiquity and Their Contemporary Reception” (“Antické hry Jaroslava Vrchlického a jejich dobová recepce”) in the previous issue of this journal. It deals with Vrchlický’s trilogy of Hippodamia (1890-1891), a stage melodrama with music by Zdeněk Fibich. We discuss its relationship to the Greek tragedy, in particular to the Aeschylus‘s Oresteia (quotations and paraphrases of Greek texts, use of the chorus, themes of guilt and atonement, etc.) and view it in the context of general tendencies of the fin de siècle culture. We also pay attention to the reception of the Hippodamia trilogy in the contemporary press. As in the case of other Vrchlický’s dramas inspired by Classical Antiquity, Hippodamia was appreciated mainly for modernization of the Greek myth and for transmission of the spirit of the remote ancient civilization to the 19th century audience.