The Last Days of Pompeii
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Author | Edward Bulwer-Lytton |
---|---|
Country | United Kingdom |
Language | English |
Publisher | Richard Bentley |
Publication date | 1834 |
The Last Days of Pompeii is a novel written by
The novel uses its characters to contrast the decadent culture of 1st-century Rome with both older cultures and coming trends. The protagonist, Glaucus, represents the Greeks who have been subordinated by Rome, and his nemesis Arbaces the still older culture of Egypt. Olinthus is the chief representative of the nascent Christian religion, which is presented favourably but not uncritically. The Witch of Vesuvius, though she has no supernatural powers, shows Bulwer-Lytton's interest in the
A popular sculpture by American sculptor Randolph Rogers, Nydia, the Blind Flower Girl of Pompeii (1856), was based on a character from the book.[2]
Main characters
- Glaucus, The protagonist, a handsome Athenian nobleman and Ione's betrothed.
- Ione, A beautiful and intelligent high-born Greek set to marry Glaucus. Orphaned in childhood, she was Arbaces' ward and becomes the target of his evil attempts at seduction.
- Arbaces, The antagonist, a scheming Egyptian sorcerer and a high priest of Isis, and the former guardian of Ione and Apaecides. Murders Apaecides and frames Glaucus for the crime. Repeatedly attempts to seduce Ione.
- Nydia, A young slave stolen from high-born parents by kidnappers in Thessaly. She weaves and sells garlands of flowers to earn coins for her tyrannical owners, Burbo and Stratonice. Nydia pines for Glaucus and eventually commits suicide rather than suffer unrequited love.
- Apaecides, Ione's brother who is murdered by Arbaces. In the 1984 adaptation, his name is changed to Antonius.
- Sallust, A good-hearted epicurian and friend of Glaucus.
- Calenus, A greedy priest of the cult of Isis who witnesses Arbaces murder Apaecides. First blackmails Arbaces, then tells the truth when Arbaces turns on him.
- Burbo, Calenus's brother, who robs the Temple of Isis during the eruption.
- Olinthus, A Christian who converts Apaecides to Christianity. Sentenced to death for his religion.
- Diomed, A rich, dyspeptic merchant known in Pompeii for his lavish banquets. Julia's father.
- Julia, The handsome but spoiled daughter of Diomed. Has eyes for Glaucus and obtains a potion that will make him love her; instead receives a potion that will make him insane.
- Clodius, A spendthrift noble with a gambling problem. Becomes Julia's suitor after she loses interest in Glaucus.
- Lepidus, Another noble, a friend of Glaucus, Sallust, and Clodius.
- The Witch of Vesuvius, The Witch who provides the mental potion for Arbaces. She eventually prophecies danger and flees Pompeii.
- Pansa, An aedile of Pompeii, based on the historical Pompeiian Gaius Cuspius Pansa.
- Lydon, A gladiator who fights in Pompeii's Amphitheatre to earn money to pay for his father's freedom.
- Medon, A slave of Diomed, a part of Pompeii's Christian community, Lydon's father.
- Stratonice, Nydia's former mistress who treated her with utmost cruelty; wife of Burbo.
Plot summary
Pompeii, A.D. 79.
Glaucus and Ione exult in their love, much to Nydia's torment, while Apaecides finds a new religion in Christianity. Nydia unwittingly helps Julia, a rich young woman who has eyes for Glaucus, obtain a love potion from Arbaces to win Glaucus's love. But the love potion is really a poison that will turn Glaucus mad. Nydia steals the potion and administers it; Glaucus drinks only a small amount and begins raving wildly. Apaecides and Olinthus, an early Christian, determine to publicly reveal the deception of the cult of Isis. Arbaces, recovered from his wounds, overhears and stabs Apaecides to death; he then pins the crime on Glaucus, who has stumbled onto the scene. Arbaces has himself declared the legal guardian of Ione, who is convinced that Arbaces is her brother's murderer, and imprisons her at his mansion. He also imprisons Nydia, who discovers that there is an eyewitness to the murder who can prove Glaucus's innocence—the priest Calenus, who is yet a third prisoner of Arbaces. She smuggles a letter to Glaucus's friend Sallust, begging him to rescue them.
Glaucus is convicted of the murder of Apaecides, Olinthus of heresy, and their sentence is to be fed to wild cats in the amphitheatre. All Pompeii gathers in the amphitheatre for the bloody gladiatorial games. Just as Glaucus is led into the arena with the lion—who, distressed by awareness of the coming eruption, spares his life and returns to his cage—Sallust bursts into the arena and reveals Arbaces's plot.
Ten years pass, and Glaucus writes to Sallust, now living in Rome, of his and Ione's happiness in Athens. They have built Nydia a tomb and adopted Christianity.
Theatrical, film and television adaptations
Theatre and Concert
- 1853 – opera Die letzten Tage von Pompeii, composed by Peter Müller (1791-1877), with a libretto by his eldest son, based upon the novel, premiered at Staden, Germany, at Christmas.[3]
- 1858 – Caracas, Venezuela, in 1981.
- 1877 – an ambitious theatrical adaptation was mounted at the Queen's Theatre, Long Acre in London that featured a staged eruption of Vesuvius, an earthquake and a sybaritic Roman feast – the earth did not quake, the volcano did not work, acrobats fell onto the cast below, and the production was an expensive flop.[4]
- 1912 – The Last Days of Pompeii a three movement concert suite composed by John Philip Sousa.[5]
- 2008 – Pompeji (Germany), concept for a musical.[6]
Cinema
- 1900 – The Last Days of Pompeii (UK), directed by Walter R. Booth.
- 1908 – The Last Days of Pompeii (Gli ultimi giorni di Pompei) (Italy), directed by Arturo Ambrosio and Luigi Maggi.
- 1913 – The Last Days of Pompeii (Gli ultimi giorni di Pompei) (Italy), directed by Eleuterio Rodolfi and (possibly) Mario Caserini.
- 1913 – Jone or the Last Days of Pompeii (Jone ovvero gli ultimi giorni di Pompei) (Italy), directed by Giovanni Enrico Vidali and Ubaldo Maria Del Colle.
- 1926 – The Last Days of Pompeii (Gli ultimi giorni di Pompei) (Italy), directed by Carmine Gallone.
- 1935 – that, although the movie used the novel's description of Pompeii, it did not use its plot or characters.
- 1950 – The Last Days of Pompeii (Gli ultimi giorni di Pompei / Les Derniers Jours de Pompéi) (Italy/France), directed by Marcel L'Herbier and Paolo Moffa.
- 1959 – The Last Days of Pompeii (Gli ultimi giorni di Pompei) (Italy), directed by Mario Bonnard and Sergio Leone.
Television
- 1984 – The Last Days of Pompeii (Italy/UK/US), a television miniseries.
Audio
- 1980 - The CBS Radio Mystery Theater presented a five-part adaptation featuring a full cast of notable American actors.
Notes
- ^ In the 1913 film adaptation and the 1984 miniseries, it is Clodius who does this.
References
- ISBN 978-1-84511-241-7.
- ^ "Exchange: Nydia, the Blind Flower Girl of Pompeii". exchange.umma.umich.edu. Retrieved 11 March 2020.
- ^ Riemann’s Musik-Lexikon, 7th ed.,1909
- ^ Sherson p. 204
- ^ "Last days of Pompeii". 1912.
- ^ https://herbert-von-krolock.tumblr.com/post/69474149222/pompeji-das-musical%7Ctitle = Pompeji, Das Musical|year = 2008
- Sherson, Erroll. London's Lost Theatres of the Nineteenth Century, Chapter IX (Ayer Publishing, 1925) ISBN 0405089694
External links
- The Last Days of Pompeii at Project Gutenberg
- The Last Days of Pompeii, at Internet Archive. Scanned books.
- Last Days of Pompeii public domain audiobook at LibriVox