ABSTRACT
The literary myth of twins is close to that of the double, which it reinforces, while encasing it in a strictly familial setting. It is also related to the androgyne myth, giving an inverted image of it in the case of twins of different sexes. The play reflects a well-oriented use of myth: the entire plot involves the expulsion of the bad spirit of twinhood, recalling a ritual performed for the same purpose by the Irigwe Indians, described by Sangree. It is evident here how Wagner's relaunching of the myth became associated with the sentiments of Decadence, so that twins were presented as witnesses to the fall of the West, portrayed in a theatrical setting. Many writers of modern novels on twinhood implicitly follow the approach adopted in Zazzo's book and in the work of Jacques Lacan on the mirror phase.
