Ο Oλυμπος στον γαλάζιο Δούναβη: Μυθολογικές παρωδίες στο λαϊκό θέατρο της Βιέννης (1750-1850)

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The Nachleben of ancient drama in European theatre tradition can be divided in translations, adaptations, theatre performances and literary use of mythological and historical topics dramatized in ancient drama, as this was the case in Italian opera before the 19th century. A subcategory of this use are the parodies of mythological topics in the popular suburb theatres of the great European capitals as Paris, London and Vienna. The mythological parodies in the last metropolis between 1750 and 1850, before and during Enlightenment, are examined under two aspects: thematically and typologically. Mythological parody is a medium mainly for social satire of habits and manners, behaviour and usances of the society of the time. In terms of dramatic genres the mythological parody can be traced in a wide range of forms, from opera buffa and Singspiel, to ballet, regular prose theatre plays,  "machine comedy" and pantomimes, in many cases the stereotypic comic figures of  Harlekin, Kasperl, Hanswurst, Bernadon etc. playing the central role or being disguised in gods or goddesses  from the Olympus. These parodies presuppose an astonishing knowledge of Greek mythology among the lower class people of the cosmopolitical capital of the Habsburg monarchy.