25 November, 1595 - The Second Part of Hercules

Here's what the Admiral's Men performed at the Rose playhouse on this day, 424 years ago...

Henslowe writes: y^e 25 of novmbȝ 1595 ... R at 2 pt of hercolos ... xvij^s 

In modern English: 25^th November, 1595 ... Received at Second Part of Hercules ... 16 shillings

The Embarkation of the Argonauts by Lorenzo
Costa (16th century). Hercules is on the prow
of the Argo.

Today, the players revived the second part of their lost Hercules play. Part Two continued the story of the Greek mythological strongman and may have included Hercules' participation in the quest for the Golden Fleece. You can read more about it in the entry for 23rd May.

Three weeks ago, the players experimented with performing The Second Part as a stand-alone play. They have not repeated that experiment this time, instead going back to performing the two plays as a pair on sequential days. The box office has declined markedly, though.

Henslowe links

• Transcript of this page of the Diary (from W.W. Greg's 1904 edition)
• Facsimile of this page of the Diary (from the Henslowe-Alleyn Digitisation Project)

Comments?

Did I make a mistake? Do you have a question? Have you anything to add? Please post a comment below!