Almost exactly two-hundred and four years ago, Ugo Foscolo‘s tragedy Ajace premiered at the Scala Theatre in Milan.

In 1811 the flamboyant and patriotic Foscolo was quite the name when it came to poetry – but it may be that the stage was not his cup of tea…

The tragedy was very high-minded, very Greek in conception, very long-winded, and the audience was thoroughly bored – until a herald stepped in to announce the arrival of “Ajace, Re dei Salamini,” which translates to “Ajax, King of the inhabitants of Salamis”* but unfortunately in Italian sounds exactly like “Ajax, King of Little Sausages”… Continue reading →