ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on comedy as the successful humanist adaptation of classical and Italian Renaissance theatre in Portugal. It attempts to bring something new to the Portuguese stage, drawing on the authoritative work of the Latin grammarians and especially the new Renaissance playwrights like Ariosto. The chapter presents the new dramatic genre to the Portuguese public, whilst still claiming originality on the basis of authorized imitation. It focuses exclusively on Teive's Ioannes Princeps, a classical tragic play by a Portuguese associated with a discussion about the nature of tragedy. The chapter explores the polemical choice of subject matter and the relation between rhetoric and drama which is illustrated by the play. It explores the eulogy delivered by Teive before the entire humanist congregation in Coimbra, the oratio funebris which was published in the Opiisaihi Aliquot, immediately preceding the Ioatmes Princeps.
