The Works of Lord Byron | Page 6

Medes;[1] but there is nothing to show whether the period of
decay had already set in before the close of his reign, or under which of
his two successors, [)A]sur-etil-il[=a]ni or Sin-[)s]ar-i[)s]kun, the final
catastrophe (B.C. 606) took place (_Encyclopedia Biblica_, art.
"Assyria," art. "[)A]sur-bani-pal," by Leonard W. King).
"I have made," writes Byron (May 25, 1821), "Sardanapalus brave
though voluptuous (as history represents him), and as amiable as my
poor pen could make him." Diodorus, or rather Ctesias, who may have
drawn upon personal reminiscences of his patron, Artaxerxes Mnemon
(see Plutarch's _Artaxerxes_, _passim_), does not enlarge upon his
amiability, and credits him only with the courage of despair. Byron's
Sardanapalus, with his sudden transition from voluptuous abandonment
to heroic chivalry, his remorseful recognition of the sanctities of
wedlock, his general good nature, his "sly, insinuating sarcasms"
(Moore's Diary, September 30, 1821, _Memoirs_, iii. 282), "all made
out of the carver's brain," resembles _history_ as little as _history_
resembles the Assyrian record. Fortunately, the genius of the poet
escaped from the meshes which he had woven round himself, and, in
spite of himself, he was constrained to "beat his music out," regardless
of his authorities.
The character of Myrrha, which bears some resemblance to Aspasia, "a
native of Phocea in Ionia--the favourite mistress of Cyrus" (see
Plutarch's _Artaxerxes_, Langhorne's Translation, 1838, p. 699), was
introduced partly to pacify the Countess Guiccioli, who had quarrelled
with him for maintaining that "love was not the loftiest theme for true
tragedy," and, in part, to prove that he was not a slave to his own ideals,
and could imagine and delineate a woman who was both passionate and

high-minded. Diodorus (_Bibl. Hist._, lib. iii. p. 130) records the
exploits of Myrina, Queen of the Amazons, but it is probable that
Byron named his Ionian slave after Mirra, who gives her name to
Alfieri's tragedy, which brought on a convulsive fit of tears and
shuddering when he first saw it played at Bologna in August, 1819
(_Letters_, 1900, iv. 339).
_Sardanapalus, a Tragedy_, was published together with _The Two
Foscari, a Tragedy_, and _Cain, a Mystery_, December 19, 1821.
The three plays were reviewed by Heber in the _Quarterly Review_,
July, 1822, vol. xxvii. pp. 476-524; by Jeffrey in the _Edinburgh
Review_, February, 1822, vol. 36, pp. 413-452; in _Blackwood's
Edinburgh Magazine_, February, 1822, vol. xi. pp. 212-217; and in the
_Portfolio_ (Philadelphia), December, 1822, vol. xiv. pp. 487-492.
TO
THE ILLUSTRIOUS GOETHE
A STRANGER
PRESUMES TO OFFER THE HOMAGE
O F A LITERARY VASSAL TO HIS LIEGE LORD,
THE FIRST OF EXISTING WRITERS,
WHO HAS CREATED
THE LITERATURE OF HIS OWN COUNTRY,
AND ILLUSTRATED THAT OF EUROPE.
THE UNWORTHY PRODUCTION
WHICH THE AUTHOR VENTURES TO INSCRIBE
TO HIM
IS ENTITLED

SARDANAPALUS.[2]
PREFACE
In publishing the following Tragedies[3] I have only to repeat, that they
were not composed with the most remote view to the stage. On the
attempt made by the managers in a former instance, the public opinion
has been already expressed. With regard to my own private feelings, as
it seems that they are to stand for nothing, I shall say nothing.

For