To Konstantynowa Sobieska on her Leaving Żółkiew: On a Translation of the Latin Octavia
Choose format
RIS BIB ENDNOTETo Konstantynowa Sobieska on her Leaving Żółkiew: On a Translation of the Latin Octavia
Publication date: 05.11.2013
Przekładaniec, Issues in English, Special Issue 2013 – Selection from the Archives, pp. 102-123
https://doi.org/10.4467/16891864ePC.13.040.1457Authors
Translators
To Konstantynowa Sobieska on her Leaving Żółkiew: On a Translation of the Latin Octavia
The paper discusses a translation of the Roman tragedy Historia albo tragedia Oktawii cesarzówny rzymskiej (History or Tragedy of Octavia the Roman Emperor’s Daughter) by Józef Jan Woliński, published in 1728 and completed shortly beforehand. Its author presents himself as a faithful servant of the Wessels and dedicates his adaptation of the fi rst-century praetexta Octavia to Maria Józefa Wessel, Konstanty Sobieski’s widow. The translator adapts the Latin text, on the one hand emphasising Nero’s ferocity and despotism, on the other employing the stereotype of the abandoned wife. The cruel emperor is charged with all the responsibility for the evil which consumes Rome and his relatives, while Octavia is depicted as a fragile and passive victim of his malice. However, the translator does not disregard the protagonist’s intimacy with her brother and her nurse. Woliński underlines the moral aspect of the drama, hinting at the imminent collapse of Nero’s power and his violent death by suicide, which does not feature in the original. By removing Octavia’s final lamentation, the Polish translator makes her follow her nurse’s advice and desist from expressing her grief. Given Woliński’s closeness to his benefactors around the time of writing his Historia albo tragedia, it seems plausible to suggest the drama was privately commissioned, and conceived as a solace to Wessel’s concerns when handing her beloved estate at Żółkiew to her odious brother-in-law, Jakub Sobieski.
Bardziński, J.A. 1696. Smutne starożytności teatrum [The Sad Theatre of Antiquity]. Toruń.
Bartoszewicz, J. 1867. Encyklopedia Orgelbranda, Vol. 26, s.v. “Wesslówna.” Warsaw: Orgelbrand.
Bartoszewicz, J. 1880. Dzieła [Works], Vol. 7: Szkice z czasów saskich [Sketches from the Times of the Saxonian Dynasty]. Warsaw: Gebethner i Wolff.
Castagna, L. 2000. “La ‘meditatio mortis’ di Ottavia nella pretesta attribuita a Seneca.” In: Il potere e il furore: giornate di studio sulla tragedia di Seneca: Brescia, febbraio 1998. Ed. R. Gazich. Brescia: Vita e pensiero.
Czołowski, A. 1892. “Dawne zamki i twierdze na Rusi Halickiej” [Ancient Castles and Fortresses in Galician Ruthenia]. Teka Konserwatorska. Lwów: Drukarnia W.A. Szyjkowskiego.
Grzegorzewska, S. 1965. Pamiętnik o Maryi Wesslównie [A Memoir of Marya Wesslówna]. Warsaw: Czytelnik.
Korotaj, W., ed. 1965. Dramat staropolski od początków do powstania sceny narodowej. Bibliografi a [Old Polish Drama from its Beginnings to the Foundation of the National Stage]. Wrocław: Ossolineum.
Krasicki, I. 1781. Zbiór potrzebniejszych wiadomości porządkiem alfabetu ułożonych [A Collection of Important News Set in an Alphabetical Order], Vol. 2. Warsaw: Digital-Center (reprint).
Osiński, M. Zamek w Żółkwi [The Castle at Żółkiew], Lwów: Towarzystwo Opieki nad Zabytkami Sztuki i Kultury we Lwowie.
Piwarski, K. 1939. Królewicz Jakób Sobieski w Oławie [Prince Jakub Sobiecki at Oława]. Krakow: PAU.
Roszkowska, W. 1969. “Diariusz życia teatralnego na dworze Jana III. Próba rekonstrukcji” [A Diary of Theatre Life at the Court of John III: An Attempt at a Reconstruction]. Pamiętnik Teatralny 18 (4), 72.
Sikorski, A. 1999. “Maria-Józefa z Wesslów, żona królewicza Konstantego Sobieskiego” [Maria-Józefa of the Wessels, Wife to Prince Konstanty Sobieski]. Rocznik Polskiego Towarzystwa Heraldycznego, 4.
Sikorski, A. (in print) “Rodzina Wesslów herbu Rogala w XV–XX wieku” [The Wessel Family of the Jelita coat of arms in the fi fteenth to twentieth centuries]. Suetonius. 1914. The Lives of the Twelve Caesars. Loeb Classical Library.
Tacitus. 1895. Annals. Trans. A.J. Church, W.J. Brodribb. London: Macmillan.
Information: Przekładaniec, Issues in English, Special Issue 2013 – Selection from the Archives, pp. 102-123
Article type: Original scientific article
University of Warsaw
Poland
Jagiellonian University in Kraków
Poland
Published at: 05.11.2013
Article status: Open
Licence: None
Percentage share of authors:
Article corrections:
-Publication languages:
EnglishView count: 2789
Number of downloads: 1908
