ABSTRACT
Claudio Monteverdi created Il ritorno d'Ulisse in patria for public performance in Venice in 1640. Contemporary Italian society was no stranger to the violence, political ruthlessness, and torture, which had also been unquestioned features of Homer's world. Giacomo Badoaro was a noted poet and a member of the celebrated Accademia degli Incogniti; Il ritorno d'Ulisse in patria was his first libretto. In Il ritorno d'Ulisse in patria, Monteverdi laid down the parameters for all further serious operatic adaptations from Greek tragedy and epic. Monteverdi replaced Badoaro's original Prologo for Fate, Prudence and Fortitude, celebrating the power of Fate, with a new one which he wrote himself. Monteverdi's pessimistic Prologo is inconsistent with Badoaro's libretto, which reflects the buoyant spirit of the Venetian Republic. Like the Odyssey, Badoaro's Ulisse presents a fundamentally optimistic view of human life. The theodicy of Ulisse has proved to be of limited interest to many modern directors.
