LA VIDA Y MUERTE DE HERODES

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REPARTO

I

Antípatro, King of Idumea, is going to marry his eldest son, Faselo, to Mariadnes, the daughter of the Hebrew king, Hircano, and his daughter, Salomé, to Hircano's son, Aristóbulo, when Herodes, Antípatro's second son returns victorious from the wars, telling of his merciless way of dealing with his enemies.  During his absence Herodes saw the picture of a young Jewish woman in a palace, and he fell in love with her.  Upon seeing a picture of Mariadnes, Faselo's future bride, Herodes recognizes her as his beloved.  He tells Antípatro, but it is too late.  Salomé and Faselo have already set out for Hircano's court in Jerusalem.  Herodes, blaming his father for his unhappy situation, decides to go to Jerusalem himself, in order to turn Mariadnes against Faselo by telling her that he is a disagreeable, rude, and generally obnoxious person.

In the meantime, Mariadnes and Aristóbulo are out hunting when she is thrown from her horse.  Herodes and Josefo, on their way to Jerusalem, happen by at this moment, and Hercules rescues Mariadnes, taking her to a nearby shepherd's house to revive her.  When she awakens, she fears for her honor, but Herodes has restrained himself. Dressed as a shepherd, he comes after she wakes up and tells her that he brought her there after driving away a man who had tried to violate her and who said he was named Faselo.  As evidence he shows her his own clothes.  They leave the shepherd's house before "Faselo" can return.

Hircano, Faselo, Aristóbulo, Salomé and others come looking for Mariadnes, only to find that she has gone, leaving behind Herodes's clothes, which Faselo recognizes.  They believe that some shepherds have killed Mariadnes and Herodes for their money and are going to force them to tell what they know.

II

Herodes makes up false names to tell Mariadnes his own life story, but hen finally admits to her who he really is.  She's won over and they want to marry.  Meanwhile, their fathers and brothers and sisters are looking for them and grieving over what they fear may have been their fate, when Mariadnes sees them.  Herodes hides and Mariadnes tells the others about a shepherd who found her and saved her honor.  After finishing the story, she says that the man who found her really was not a shepherd but a noble whom she loves and wants to marry.  Hircano tells her that she could marry his son.  Thereupon she exclaims that she can marry the noble and her father can keep his promise at the same time, because the noble who found her is the other son of Antípatro.  The two kings then agree to the marriage of Mariadnes and Herodes.

This turn of affairs makes Faselo both angry and jealous.  He decides to get revenge by aiding his friend, but Herodes's enemy, Marco Antonio, in his was against César Augusto.  He receives a letter from Marco Antonio asking him to help him by taking Herodes prisoner and bringing him and Mariadnes to him. He has heard a great deal about her beauty.  Faselo doesn't take Mariadnes to Marco Antonio because he thinks that the latter may be tiring of Cleopatra and he does not want to put Mariadnes in the position of having Marco Antonio use his power in order to conquer her.  He does take Herodes prisoner, however, and also has Mariadnes, Hircano and Antípatro put under guard.  Instead of taking Herodes to Marco Antonio, Faselo decides that he will not kill his brother if he will renounce Mariadnes.  Meanwhile Herodes has made Josefo promise to kill Mariadnes if he (Herodes) is killed, so that they can be together and Faselo cannot have her.

III

Hircano has died.  Faselo gives Herodes the choice of being killed or of giving up Mariadnes and swearing allegiance to Marco Antonio.  Herodes refuses, but at this point César Augusto arrives with the news that Marco Antonio has fled to Egypt in defeat.  Augusto makes Herodes king, takes Faselo prisoner, and then goes on his way to Egypt to capture Marco Antonio. Herodes keeps Faselo imprisoned, and when Efraím arrives with a letter for Faselo, Herodes takes it from him and reads it.  The letter, which is anonymous, accuses Mariadnes of being unfaithful with Josefo.  In a jealous rage, Herodes is determined to find out if his honor has been offended and sets out for Jerusalem to accomplish his purpose.

Salomé tells her husband, Aristóbulo, that she has written a letter to Faselo accusing Mariadnes of being unfaithful because Mariadnes claims to be better than Salomé because she's a descendent of David and Salomé is tired of her snobbishness.

Soon Herodes arrives, and he overhears a conversation between Mariadnes and Josefo, in which Josefo is pretending to be Herodes, returned triumphant, with her giving him an enthusiastic welcome.  Herodes misunderstands the situation, of course, and has the two of them seized.

Efraím comes to tell Herodes of the shepherds and wise men who are traveling, led by a star in the East, to where the King of the Jews, a descendent of David, has been born, as had been prophesied long ago.  On hearing this Herodes determines to kill all of David's descendants, among them Aristóbulo, so that he can ensure the throne for himself.  Her also orders Josefo to be garroted and that more guards be posted around Mariadnes.

The shepherds go to worship the newborn babe, and the wise men join in adoring Him.  The wise men had gone first to Herodes's palace to bring him to see the baby, but they became suspicious of him and left without him.

Herodes, meantime, in a rage, continued his plan to keep his throne by exterminating all the descendants of David.  To this end he orders Mariadnes killed, as well as all male babies under the age of two, even his own son by Mitilene, who is of the house of David.  Thus he hopes to avoid the fulfillment of the prophecy.  Babies are snatched from their mothers' arms and murdered.  The last scene of the play shows Herodes, who has died in a barbarous rage, with the bloody corpse of an infant in each arm.