Penthesilea (Kleist)

Achilles and Penthesilea (1801), by Bertel Thorvaldsen

Penthesilea is an 1808 tragedy by the German playwright Heinrich von Kleist about the mythological Amazon queen, Penthesilea, described as an exploration of sexual frenzy.[1] Goethe rejected it as "unplayable".[2] It was first performed on 25 April 1876 at the Königliches Schauspielhaus in Berlin, 65 years after the author's death.

  1. ^ Banham (1998, 603).
  2. ^ Lamport (1990, 161).