The Two Lovers of Heaven: Chrysanthus and Daria

by Pedro Calderón de la Barca from 1637

About

Calderón's hagiographic drama follows the Roman martyrs Chrysanthus and Daria — a pagan philosopher converted to Christianity and the priestess sent to reconvert him who instead converts herself — through their shared martyrdom. The play belongs to Calderón's religious drama, which exists alongside his secular comedies as an equally accomplished but less frequently discussed body of work. Its theological argument about the superiority of spiritual to earthly love is prosecuted with the same rhetorical grandeur Calderón brings to his secular plays.

Translated from the original Spanish.

The Two Lovers of Heaven: Chrysanthus and Daria

Characters
34
Words
18.7k
Scenes
9
Duration
~2 hr 20 min

Characters

#CharacterPlayerLines
1
CHRYSANTHUS
158
2
POLEMIUS
90
3
DARIA
85
4
ESCARPIN
76
5
CLAUDIUS
56
6
CARPOPHORUS
51
7
CYNTHIA
43
8
NISIDA
41

9 sections

18.7k words
#TitleWords
1
Scene I.—A Room in the house of Polemius at Rome.
4.8k35:57
Scene III. The extremity of the wood
2
Scene III. The extremity of the wood:
1.4k10:23
3
Scene I.
2.7k19:59
4
Scene II.—The Wood.
1.4k10:11
5
Scene III.—A hall in the house of Polemius, opening at the end upon a
3k22:29
6
Scene I.—The Garden of Polemius.
3.6k26:54
7
Scene II.—The hall of a bordel.
8256:11
8
Scene III.—The Wood.
4103:05
9
Scene IV.—A wilder part of the wood near the cave.
6895:10