The Works of Lord Byron | Page 6

within twenty years of the death of Asurbanipal, the Assyrian Empire passed into the hands of the 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
OF 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 the historical foundation of the following compositions the reader is referred to the Notes.
The Author has in