in The Golden Age, or The Lives of Jupiter and Saturn — Heywood, Thomas
Metadata
Play
The Golden Age, or The Lives of Jupiter and Saturn
Author
Heywood, Thomas
Year (catalogued)
1611
First performance
1610
Decade
1610s
Genre
Classical Myth
Play type
Adult Professional
Company
Queen Anne's Men
Theater
Red Bull;Outdoor Professional
Speech prefix(es)
Nept. | Nep.
Words
396
Characters
2214
Typicality
0.33 (cosine to cluster centroid)
TCP id
A03205
BritDrama no.
1637
Cluster
Cluster 24 — Gods, cupids & celestial agents
Important excerpts
No keyword-matching excerpt could be extracted (the cluster label doesn't share vocabulary with this character's speech).
Full speech
Noble Saturn, Famous in all things, and degenerate only, In that inhuman practise'gainst his sons, Is fled us, whom we came to visit freely, And filial duties to express. Great Athens The nurse and fostress os my infancy, I have instructed in the seamans craft. And taught them truly how to sail by stars Beside the unruly Jennet I have tamed And trained him to the saddle for my practice. The horse to me is solely consecrate. Of her enclosure in the Darreine Tower, Girt with a triple Mure of shining brass. Have you not herd? Thus it was. The Queen of Arges going great, the King Sends (as the custom is) to oracle, To know what Fortune's shall betide the babe. Answer's returned by Phœbus and his Priests: The Queen shall child a daughter beautiful, Who when she grows to years, shall then bring forth A valiant Princely boy, yet such a one That shall the King his grandsire turn to stone. Danae is born, and as she grows to ripeness, So grew her father's fear: and to prevent His ominous fate pronounced by th'Otacle, He mowlds this brazen Tower, impregnable Both for the seat and guard: yet beautiful As is the gorgeous palace of the Sun. So full of jealous fears is King Acrisius, That, save himself, no man must near the Fort. Only a guard of Beldames passed their lustest, Unsensible of love, or amorous pity, Partly by bribes hired, partly curbed with threats, Are guard unto this bright imprisoned dame. We are his sons, let Saturn be content To let us keep what Heaven and Nature lent. The day is ours, Troos and K. Saturn's fled, And Jupiter remains sole conqueror. And beauteous Juno, Empress of all hearts Whom Neptune thus embraceth. Have you herd Of great Acrisius, the brave Arges King, And of his daughter Danae. Whence are these warlike preparations, Made by the King our brother. And blame her not, the fair Europa's rape, Brought from Aegenor, and the Cadmian rape, Io the daughter of old Inachus, Deflowered by him; the lovely Semele, Fair Laeda daughter to King Tyndarus With many more, may breed a joust suspect, Nor hath he spared fair Ceres Queen of Grain, Who bore to him the bright Proserpina. (she Such escapes may breed joust fears, & what knows But these are to surprise fair Danae.
Plot summary
Plot — The Golden Age, or The Lives of Jupiter and Saturn
King Uranus of Crete is dead. Titan is the eldest son, but his younger brother Saturn is the popular choice to ascend the throne. Titan agrees to make way for him provided that he agrees to settle the succession on Titan’s issue and kill his own sons as soon as they are born. Saturn is declared a god, and under his benevolent rule, the people learn agriculture, ship- building, and architecture, and begin to make weapons for hunting. His wife, Sibylla, becomes pregnant, but Saturn keeps his promise to Titan and kills the baby. During a second pregnancy, an oracle foretells that the child will depose Saturn. This time Sibylla demands the privilege of killing her own child; but neither she nor her women can bring themselves to do it, so the baby is sent to a foster mother, the Princess of Epirus, and Saturn is deceived with the blood of a goat. Jupiter grows up in the court of King Melisseus of Epirus, and is sent as an envoy to conclude a peace with King Lycaon of Pelasgia; but Lycaon has murdered the Epirote hostage and offers his limbs to Jupiter as a cannibalistic banquet. Jupiter deposes Lycaon and the people elect him their King. During the conflict, he encounters Callisto, Lycaon’s daughter, and is attracted to her. She asks him to grant her a boon to prove his love; he promises, but her request is to live a chaste life as a nymph of Diana. She joins Diana, but the nymphs are already paired off, so she must await the next recruit to have a bedfellow. This turns out to be Jupiter in female disguise. During a stag hunt, he diverts her, reveals his identity and rapes her. Months later, the nymphs undress to bathe together; Callisto is reluctant, and is forcibly stripped. She is found to be pregnant. and expelled from the order. Titan learns that Saturn’s sons are alive, and marches on Crete to seize the throne. Saturn learns that Sibylla has deceived him, and sends to Jupiter for help. Meanwhile, Jupiter is curious about his parentage. He meets Callisto, pursued by their son Archas, whom she has brought up among beasts in a remote cave. Saturn’s ===== PAGE 135 ===== 1611 message arrives, confirming Jupiter’s origins, and he goes to Crete, leaving Archas as King in his stead. Meanwhile Titan and his sons have taken Saturn prisoner. Jupiter frees them after defeating Titan in battle, and is granted his sister, Juno, in marriage. Saturn worries about the oracle, and attempts to kill Jupiter, but the plot backfires: Saturn is deposed and sent into exile, and…