Jean Mekol Garindañekoaren "Edipa" pastorala (1793)

Abstract

Pastorals or tragerias are popular plays characteristic of Zuberoa. Even nowadays they are staged every year by amateur actors during festivals. Additionally, pastorals are experiencing increased attention as objects of study. Nevertheless, many manuscripts from the XVIII and XIXth centuries are still unpublished. In this paper we include an edition for one these manuscripts. It contains a version of the pastoral Edipa and was written in 1793 by Jean Mekol de Garindañe. This play is named after the famous Greek mythological character, but it includes passages from the whole Theban cycle. As far as we know, a pastoral under this name was staged in Zuberoa in 1759 for the first time and in 1816 for the last time. Undoubtedly, this is an important play for the study of how a classical tradition subject was received in the Basque Country.