Naamioita V: Tarquinius Superbus; Shakkipeli

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Naamioita V by Eino Leino is a collection of plays written in the early 20th century. It showcases Leino’s drive toward highly stylized, simplified stagecraft in pursuit of a “sacred drama,” and includes the classical tragedy Tarquinius Superbus alongside another piece. The volume centers on power, ambition, and moral transgression, dramatized through figures such as Tullia, Tarquinius Superbus, Servius Tullius, Brutus, Collatinus, Sextus, and Lucretia.

The opening of the volume combines a combative foreword—where Leino outlines his aesthetic program, seeks a distinct Finnish dramatic form, and chastises shallow critics—with the first movements of Tarquinius Superbus. In Act I, the ruthless Tullia goads Tarquinius into usurping power, reveals her husband’s murder, and pushes him to confront her father, King Servius. In Act II, Tarquinius claims the Curia, hurls Servius down the steps, and when he falters, Tullia kills her father as Brutus looks on. Act III introduces Sextus returning from Delphi with ambiguous prophecies, Tarquinius brooding over fate as war with the Volsci is set in motion, and patrician revelry contrasts with rising unease. At the start of Act IV, in Collatia, the chaste Lucretia spins by lamplight while Sextus arrives in the rain, entranced by her modest virtue and addressing her with seductive flattery.