in Herod and Antipater — Markham, Gervase; Sampson, William
Metadata
Play
Herod and Antipater
Author
Markham, Gervase; Sampson, William
Year (catalogued)
1622
First performance
1622
Decade
1620s
Genre
Tragedy
Play type
Adult Professional
Company
Red Bull (Revels) Company (first)
Theater
Red Bull;Outdoor Professional
Speech prefix(es)
P. Alex. | Y. Alex.
Words
373
Characters
2003
Typicality
0.40 (cosine to cluster centroid)
TCP id
A06982
BritDrama no.
1901
Cluster
Cluster 21 — Old fathers & plain counsel
Important excerpts
Passages from this character's speech that contain the most distinguishing words for Cluster 21 (gar, shillings, alii, yongrave, ogenes, nat…). Matches are highlighted.
you must; Upon my knees I beg compassion; Compassion for my Mother. How, forget The chased womb which did bear us; or the paps Which gave us suck? Can there in Nature be A Lethargy so frozen? Mercy, Sir. Mother, hold life but one hour and we'll rescue you. Did ever Kings own bowels thus become The Typhon of sedition; or, can't
These Slaves shall murder Princes. Oh truth, for shame awaken; this Slave will Exile thee from all Mankind. Sir, I beseech you, howsoever you loose The force of Nature, or the touch of blood; Loose not the use of Justice; that should live, When both the rest are rotten: all these proofs Are false as Slander, and the woe ke
Full speech
Indeed it's but and invitation Of others Love, not their confederacy. Good Sir, think— Woe the time. 'Tis a brave recreation. 'Tis a work Worthy our duties. Sir, of my life all this is counterfeit, And this great Devil inchants you; for these slaves, They speak but what is taught them. Stay, great Sir, Do not and act t'amaze all Israel; Oh look with mercies eyes upon the Queen; The Innocent Queen our Mother; let not Slaves Blast her with false reproaches; be a God And find out Truth by Miracle. Oh sacred Sir, you must; Upon my knees I beg compassion; Compassion for my Mother. How, forget The chased womb which did bear us; or the paps Which gave us suck? Can there in Nature be A Lethargy so frozen? Mercy, Sir. Mother, hold life but one hour and we'll rescue you. Did ever Kings own bowels thus become The Typhon of sedition; or, can't be, I could beget these Serpents? Ift be so Under the Aetna of their damned pride, I'll smoother and consume them. Yet Sir, hold. Hear but our innocent answer. We obey; and, with our weapons offer up our lives, To have our cause but herd indifferently. Falsehood, th'art grown a mighty one, when these; These Slaves shall murder Princes. Oh truth, for shame awaken; this Slave will Exile thee from all Mankind. Sir, I beseech you, howsoever you loose The force of Nature, or the touch of blood; Loose not the use of Justice; that should live, When both the rest are rotten: all these proofs Are false as Slander, and the woe ke hewed out Only by malice; when w'are taken away, 'Tis you your self next follows: why alas, We are your Armour; he that would strike home, And hit you soundly, must unbuckle us. Sir, Oh Sir. Yet that man Seeing your Rigor, and our Innocence, Shall turn his fear to pity, and condemn The malice of your rashness: Sir, to die Thus, as we do, not guilty, is a death, Of all, most blessed, most glorious; for, it is To brave death, not to feel it; and this end Revives us, but not kills us. Mother, the King is gracious. So shall mine.
Plot summary
Plot — Herod and Antipater
Queen Alexandra attempts to flee to Egypt with her son, the High Priest Aristobulus, after King Herod commands a bloody purge of their family. Herod’s troops arrive in time only to seize their luggage, but they are found hiding inside. Herod makes a public gesture of sparing them, but has his bastard son Antipater arrange an ‘accidental’ drowning for Aristobulus during a swimming contest. Herod backed the wrong side in the recent Roman civil war between Mark Antony and Augustus. He goes to Rome to make his peace with Augustus, the new master of the Empire, leaving Antipater with instructions to kill Mariam, the Queen, in the event of his failure. When Herod presents himself, Augustus offers two slaves the chance to murder him: the Briton conscientiously refuses, whereas the Roman eagerly accepts the job. But Augustus was only toying with Herod: he rewards the British slave, has the Roman thrown into the sea, and confirms Herod in his kingdom as an ally of Rome. Mariam learns that Herod has ordered her death, which compounds his crime in killing Aristobulus. Antipater, who seeks the crown, draws inspiration from Hell, and is shown a vision of the murder of Agamemnon. He procures false witnesses to accuse Mariam of attempting to poison her husband in order to facilitate an incestuous liaison with his brother. Herod sentences them both to death; he later changes his mind and tries to reprieve Mariam, but is too late. His two sons, Alexander and the younger Aristobulus, raise rebellion against him to avenge their mother. War is averted when Augustus intervenes: Herod’s authority is reinforced, the rebel princes are forgiven, and they are given nominally equal status with Antipater, though Herod gives precedence to the bastard. Antipater receives further hellish inspiration in a vision of Jugurth’s murder of his half-brothers. More false evidence is arranged, implicating Alexander and Aristobulus in plots to assassinate Herod and sow sedition in the army: a mason working on the rebuilding of the Temple is induced to say that he was bribed to drop a stone on Herod as he came to inspect the works, and Herod’s barber is asked to cut his throat. The barber shows the letter to Herod, who kills him to be on the safe side, and then has Alexander and Aristobulus strangled. Antipater is now the only surviving son. Wishing to retire, Herod sends Antipater to Rome, asking Augustus to make him King of Judah. Before he leaves, Antipater suborns Pheroas, Herod’s cupbearer,…