This paper examines the reception of the Greek hero Jason and his quest for the Golden Fleece in ephemeral dramatic performances produced at the Burgundian Court in the fifteenth century. It explores the metamorphoses of this ancient Greek figure as he is reinvented to serve the political ambitions of the Duke of Burgundy. We focus on the accounts of the Banquet du Faisan organised by the Duke in 1454, one year after the fall of Constantinople, to announce his vow to embark on a crusade. The Duke had already chosen Jason as the patron saint of his order of chivalry, the Order of the Golden Fleece, and he included Jason and the conquest of the Golden Fleece in the performances of the banquet. We analyse how the dramatic performances presented during the ceremony constitute a unified whole and how they form a complete play, whose synopsis and character speeches are preserved in the written accounts of the event. The staging of the ancient Greek hero gives rise to a series of religious personifications urging the Duke to launch a crusade against the Ottomans. Through the use of dramaturgy, Jason’s quest for the Golden Fleece is recomposed and reinterpreted as an allegory of the triumphant future of a Christian ruler.
Catherine Gaullier-Bougassas (Tue,) studied this question.