Τα παραμυθοδράματα του Ιωάννη Πολέμη: Ο ρόλος της λαϊκής παράδοσης και η επίδραση του ρομαντισμού

Ioannis Polemis (1862–1924), a poet and playwright whose work is to be placed in the interim period running from the Romanticism of the First Athenian School to the New Athenian School, wrote, among other things, plays of one or more acts, many of which were staged during his lifetime. His theatrical works include the dramatized fairy tales The Bet, The Bewitched Glass, The Obscure King, and Once Upon A Time, which are distinguished for both their fable-like tones and the elements taken from folk tradition. Folklore and fable together with medieval legends and the people's national history have been fundamental sources for Romanticism since the nineteenth century. In Polemis's dramatized fairy tales, we can find romantic themes such as nature worship, nocturnal landscapes illuminated by the moon, intense local colour, the hero's solitary journey, wandering, the use of symbols, idealized condemned love, death, the absolute, the emotional, the Supreme. However, although the author oft en makes use of these elements of Romanticism, he doesn't reach destructive passion, pessimism, or deep melancholy. He just creates an idyllic atmosphere and uses picturesque descriptions and intense feelings.