I viaggi di Dioniso attraverso le culture. Questioni traduttive in The Bacchae of Euripides di Wole Soyinka

Abstract The aim of this article is to show how the Italian translation produced by F.Lamioni of The Bacchae of Euripides by the Nigerian playwright Wole Soyinka, manipulates the source text thus projecting a different image of it. Starting with an overview of the rewritings of Greek classics by African authors and the ideological motivations of such rewritings, in particular the political agenda underlying Soyinka’s adaptation of Euripides’ tragedy, the article then focuses in particular on three terms – bastardy, alien and tyranny – taken from Dionysos’ initial speech. These terms are central to the message the Author intends to convey since they present the main themes of the work, yet, in the Italian version by Lamioni are inappropriately translated, thus conveying a message which is rather different from Soyinka’s original work, and censoring the ideological reasons implied in his adaptation of Euripides’ tragedy.