Le vele viola di Cleopatra

The study unfolds through the multilingual translations and intertextuality, from Plurach (Βίοι Παράλληλοι) to  Shakespeare, Dryden, and T.E. Eliot and other authors, on ‘parallel texts.’ It reflects the surveys of Frances Yates on the alchemism and occultism of the Elizabethan age. It is a pioneering survey on the comparative multi-translations from Shakespeare into European languages (including references to translations into the languages of India). Le Vele Viola features a semiotic approach in outlining the esoteric symbolism and the visual and verbal imagery, and pictorial representations. In particular, the text features Enobarbus’s description of Cleopatra’s barge, and its chromatic symbolism and metaphors. It has been likewise inspired by the works of Reuben Brower on the visual and verbal translations of Greek myths, and intertexuality.