''Irydion'' is a drama written by Polish poet

Zygmunt Krasiński Napoleon Stanisław Adam Feliks Zygmunt Krasiński (; 19 February 1812 – 23 February 1859) was a Polish poet traditionally ranked after Adam Mickiewicz and Juliusz Słowacki as one of Poland's Three Bards – the Romantic poets who influenced ...

. He began work on it in 1832 and published it in 1836. It debuted on stage in 1913 at

Teatr Polski Polish Theatre in Warsaw ( pl, Teatr Polski im. Arnolda Szyfmana w Warszawie) is a theatre in Warsaw, Poland. It is located at ul. Karasia 2. The current artistic director is Andrzej Seweryn. The theatre was initiated by Arnold Szyfman and design ...

in Warsaw. It remains one of Krasiński's best known works.

Plot

The action of the drama takes place in

Ancient Rome In modern historiography, ancient Rome refers to Roman civilisation from the founding of the city of Rome in the 8th century BC to the collapse of the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century AD. It encompasses the Roman Kingdom (753–509 B ...

around 222 CE. during the reign of

Elagabalus Marcus Aurelius Antoninus (born Sextus Varius Avitus Bassianus, 204 – 11/12 March 222), better known by his nickname "Elagabalus" (, ), was Roman emperor from 218 to 222, while he was still a teenager. His short reign was conspicuous for s ...

. The basic motive of the play is the rebellion of Greek Irydion, son of Amfiloch, against the Romans - a transparent allusion to the tragedy of the Polish

November Uprising The November Uprising (1830–31), also known as the Polish–Russian War 1830–31 or the Cadet Revolution, was an armed rebellion in the heartland of partitioned Poland against the Russian Empire. The uprising began on 29 November 1830 in W ...

. The story is focused on the dilemma that revolves around a contradiction between the legitimate and noble aim of overthrowing despotism and the more prosaic motivation of Irydion's actions (revenge) and the despicable means (deception, ruthlessness) he uses in order to advance his goal. The hero's tragedy results from taking premature actions, as well as the destructive influence of ancient fate.

Theme and significance

In ''Irydion'', Krasiński again takes up the theme of societal decay. He condemns the excesses of revolutionary movements, arguing that motives such as retribution have no place within the

Christian ethic Christian ethics, also known as moral theology, is a multi-faceted ethical system: it is a Virtue ethics, virtue ethic which focuses on building moral character, and a Deontological ethics, deontological ethic which emphasizes duty. It also in ...

; many contemporaries, however, saw the play as an endorsement of militant struggle for Poland's

independence Independence is a condition of a person, nation, country, or state in which residents and population, or some portion thereof, exercise self-government, and usually sovereignty, over its territory. The opposite of independence is the statu ...

, whereas Krasiński's intent was to advocate for

organic work Organic work ( pl, praca organiczna) was a phrase adopted from Herbert Spencer by 19th-century Polish Positivists to denote the concept that the nation's vital powers should be devoted to labour ("work from the foundations"), rather than to fruitle ...

as a means to society's advancement. Krasiński began writing ''Irydion'' before his more enduring work, the drama ''

The Undivine Comedy ''The Undivine Comedy'' or ''The Un-divine Comedy'' ( pl, Nie Boska komedia or ''Nie-boska komedia''), is a play written by Polish Romantic poet Zygmunt Krasiński in 1833, published anonymously in 1835. Its main theme is sociopolitical confl ...

'', but published it after the latter.

Czesław Miłosz Czesław Miłosz (, also , ; 30 June 1911 – 14 August 2004) was a Polish-American poet, prose writer, translator, and diplomat. Regarded as one of the great poets of the 20th century, he won the 1980 Nobel Prize in Literature. In its citation ...

comments that, while ''Irydion'' is a work of considerable talent, especially in its insightful analysis of the decadence of Rome, it is not on a par with ''The Undivine Comedy''.

References

{{Authority control Romantic art 1836 plays Polish plays Polish-language plays Plays set in ancient Rome Plays set in the 3rd century Fiction about rebellions