The work, entitled Odprawa posłów greckich in Polish, was translated into Italian by Andrea Ceccherelli, a professor of Polish studies at Bologna University.
The publication was brought out by the Valigie Rosse Publishers in cooperation with Bologna University’s Department of Languages, Literature and Modern Cultures, under the title Il congedo dei messi greci.
Premiered in 1578, The Dismissal of the Greek Envoys is the first drama ever written in the Polish language.
The play focuses on the arrival of the Greek envoys at Troy. They ask for the return of kidnapped Helen, but their plea, though supported by some of the Troy statesmen, is eventually rejected by a faction led by Helen’s abductor Paris.
The tragedy explores the collision and alignment of state interests with varying stands on politics and morals.
In a preface to the Italian edition of Kochanowski’s tragedy, which also includes the original Polish text, Ceccherelli describes it as “the work of outstanding poetical merit which carries a highly universal message.”
Jan Kochanowski (1530-1584) is regarded as one of the finest representatives of the Renaissance period in Central and Eastern Europe. He excelled in a number of literary forms, such as hymns, lyrical songs, epigrams, satires, drama and translations of the Bible.
Jan Kochanowski. Image: Public domain
His deeply moving Laments, written after the death of his two-year-old daughter Urszula, is considered to be the poet’s most famous work.
Ceccherelli’s research into Polish literature includes the output of contemporary poets such as Nobel Prize winners Wisława Szymborska and Czesław Miłosz, as well as Zbigniew Herbert and Fr. Jan Twardowski.
(mk/gs)