what can i say? this book is exquisite! having only had the pleasure of hurried, cursory perusals at the local uni library
(thank god they have a copy!), i fell in love immediately with the beautiful illustrations and lovely text. of course the author is italian!

worth every drachma, i'd venture to opine.
break out the lire for this singular book.

Most people think of Machiavelli as only a political thinker; but he was also an accomplished military tactician and playwright. The Mandragola is a classic Renaissance comedy; somewhat reminiscent of the works of Shakespeare or Marlowe, and the play, a farcical work involving love potions, and mistaken identity, and is quite funny even today.

Good reading for any drama student interested in the period.

Machiavelli is best known for his treatises on political action, most notably Il Principe. Most readers don't realize he was also a playwright, however, and an accomplished one. Mandragola is one of his best plays.

One of the themes that runs through all of Machiavelli's works is the art of the crafty assault, and it is present here in spades. His greatest respect is for the man behind the puppet, and in this case it is Ligurio. The plot has already been outlined in a previous review, so it will not be discussed here, but the primary purpose of the plot is to develop the intricate artifice that Ligurio uses to help his friend Callimaco.

The translation here is great also. At some points the translation interferes with the meter, but this is rare; most of the play flows along very naturally. The language is clear and easy to read, and yet Flaumenhaft, the translator, captures the essence of such difficult words as virtu, animo, and remedio without losing any of their meaning. Alternate meanings are often given in the footnotes.

This is an excellent play, and the translation more than holds up its end. For those who appreciate the use of strategem, want a more thorough understanding of Machiavelli, or simply want to read a great play, this is a wonderful book.

Most people know Niccolo Machiavelli, author of "The Prince (Il Principe)", as the infamous apostle of power politics. But in his own day, Machiavelli was celebrated for his witty, sometimes satirical, plays. Perhaps the most entertaining of these--"Mandragola" (1518)--is available in this very readable edition.

The protagonist is Callimaco, a libidinous young man who sets about to seduce Lucretia, the enchanting wife of a wealthy merchant. Callimaco fortuitously learns that the merchant has tried desperately to father a child, but to no avail. The clever Callimaco thereupon disguises himself as a physician and in this guise examines Lucretia, finding her even more alluring than he has dreamt. He deftly diagnoses her condition and prescribes a curious concoction that he must produce from the root of the mandrake plant--thus "mandragola"--to cure Lucretia of her affliction. If Lucretia drinks this potion, he declares, she will most certain! ! ly conceive a child.

The gullible merchant is overjoyed, until he hears that the potion has one very severe side-effect: The first man to join with Lucretia carnally after she has partaken of the drink will die from the potion's effects! The merchant, Nicias, understands immediately: On no account must he be the first to sleep with his wife after she has taken the potion. He knows what he must do: He must find another. He explains the predicament to his wife, and she (reluctantly?) agrees to go along with her hustband's plan.

As the reader might have guessed, the "physician" Callimaco informs Nicias that he just happens to know a young man who might consent to this indecent proposal. This man is, of course, Callimaco himself, who reappears in yet another disguise.

Machiavelli's mischief is deliciously entertaining. The characters are true, and the innuendos are still fresh 480 years after Mandragola was first published.

SOURCES:

Muir, D. Erskine. Machiavell! ! i and His Times. New York: E.P. Dutton and Co., 1936.

Lun! dmark, Thomas. Niccolo Machivelli: The Return of the Prince (Il Ritorno del Principe). London: Transaction Publishers, 1998.