714 THE SURVIVAL OF CLASSICAL MYTHOLOGY
Thomas Mann, also treats the idea of beauty through important archetypal im-
ages. This story about a famous writer, Aschenbach, who becomes enamored of
the beautiful boy Tadzio, is framed in terms of concepts of love and beauty that
are familiar from Plato's Symposium; the structure is also mythological because
of the Nietzschean conflict between a restrained Apollo and a passionate Diony-
sus for the soul of the creative artist. Interwoven as well are the allegorical themes
of disease, plague, and death, which go as far back as the Iliad and gain a spe-
cially potent classic expression in Sophocles' Oedipus. Also among Britten's last
compositions is Phaedra (1975), a cantata to a text from Racine's play (in a verse
translation by Robert Lowell), written expressly for the mezzo-soprano Janet Baker.
William Walton (1902-1983) wrote a striking operatic version of an episode
in the Trojan War, Troilus and Cressida, based upon the medieval romance.
Arthur Bliss (1891-1975) turned to Greek themes with his cantata, Hymn to
Apollo; an opera, The Olympians; and a symphony for orator, chorus, and or-
chestra entitled Morning Heroes—the latter written as a tribute to his brother and
his comrades who died in the Great War of 1914-1918; among the texts used are
Hector's Farewell to Andromache (Iliad 6) and Achilles Goes Forth to Battle
[Iliad 19).
Michael Tippett (1905-1998) wrote both the text and the music for an imag-
inative operatic treatment of the Trojan War (largely inspired by the Iliad), King
Priam. From this work, he extracted one of Achilles' songs (with guitar accom-
paniment) and added two others, all focusing upon the relationship between
Achilles and Patroclus, to create an effectively terse and tragic cycle, Songs for
Achilles ("In the Tent," "Across the Plain," and "By the Sea").
Harrison Birtwistle (b. 1934) provided (to accompany a text by Peter
Zinovieff) a lament upon the sorrow and death of Orpheus for soprano soloist,
Nenia, the Death of Orpheus, which relies upon striking gymnastic effects both in-
strumental and vocal. Nenia is a funeral dirge or the Roman goddess thereof.
Birtwistle and Zinovieff have since expanded this work into a larger-scaled op-
eratic composition of note, The Mask of Orpheus.Operetta and Musical Comedy. Other musical genres have inevitably been influ-
enced by classical mythology and legend. The boisterous, satiric, and melodic
works of Jacques Offenbach (1819-1880) provide splendid introductions to the
world of light opera and operetta. His opera bouffe Orphée aux Enfers (Orpheus
in the Underworld) is an absolute delight; surely everyone has heard from this
score some version of the can-can, which Offenbach immortalized. Equally witty
and entertaining is his later La Belle Hélène (The Beautiful Helen). Amid its tune-
ful arias is the famous "Judgment of Paris."
Another charming operetta is by Franz von Suppé (1819-1895), Die Schbne
Galathée (The Beautiful Galatea). In this musical treatment of the story of
Pygmalion, the sculptor despairs of the woman whom he has brought to life;
she is so flirtatious and troublesome that, to his relief, Venus grants his request