ABSTRACT
Jean Cocteau tells how a Greek shepherd's crook, given to him by Picasso, inspired him to adapt classical tragedy to the rythms of the modern era. The plays of Aeschylus, of Sophocles, and of Euripides were continually being translated into French to inspire contemporary authors. On more than one occasion, the poet of the Plaint-Chant expressed his devotion to Sophocles' heroine: 'Antigone is my patron saint'. Cocteau's "contraction" was produced in the Atelier at Dullin on 20 October 1922 with the set by Picasso, costumes by Chanel, and music by Arthur Honegger, who would later distil from the play a 1942 opera staged with a set by Cocteau himself. The Machine Infernale had its premiere at the Louis Jouvet Theatre on 10 April 1934, with sets and costumes by Christian Berard. The myth of Oedipus, with its dramatic interest, its originality, its pathos, and the timeless problems it poses, has never ceased to provide a subject for playwrights.
