La seconda generazione (Neottolemo)

Abstract

The full text of La seconda generazione (Neottolemo) is reproduced here. The play is a 1988 stage production by Mario Martone that concludes a trilogy on the myth of the Trojan War, featuring a remarkable cast: Remo Girone (Philoctetes), Toni Servillo
(Odysseus), and Andrea Renzi (Neoptolemus). The work is an innovative dramaturgical experiment by Guido Paduano and Massimo Fusillo, based on a montage of quotations from both ancient and
modern authors—Sophocles, Euripides, Virgil, Shakespeare, Ritsos, Pasolini—without the addition of
any original text. Structured as a prologue, three acts, and an epilogue, the play focuses on Neoptolemus as a metaphor for a ‘post-heroic’ generation, burdened by comparison with sublime fathers. Through a shifting interplay of narrative and evocative lyricism, the work explores the contradictions of Achilles' son: from a youth manipulated by Odysseus to a ruthless victor, and finally to his senseless death at Delphi. Other key characters include Andromache, Hecuba, Orestes, and Hermione.