Die Bürgschaft

This article is about the Schiller poem. For the unrelated opera by Kurt Weill, see Die Bürgschaft (opera).

1799 Musen-Almanach, p. 176

The Hostage (German: Die Bürgschaft) is a ballad published by the German poet Friedrich Schiller in his 1799 Musen-Almanach. He took the idea out of the ancient legend of Damon and Pythias issuing from the Latin Fabulae by Gaius Julius Hyginus, as rendered in the medieval collection of the Gesta Romanorum. It magnifies the believe in the love of friendship and fidelity.

Synopsis

Damon and Pythias

The ballad is set in the ancient Greek polis of Syracuse. After a failed attempt by Moerus to kill the gruesome tyrant Dionysius, he is caught and sentenced to death but asks for a delay to marry his sister to her designated husband. Dionysius allows him an extension of three days on condition that his friend remains with him to guarantee Moerus' return. If he would not be back on time, his friend would suffer his punishment, while Moerus would go with impunity.

To Dionysius' astonishment Moerus, despite facing floods, assaults, beating sun and lack of water on the way back to his own execution, at the last minute returns to save his friend. Ashamed by this deed, the tyrant admits the moral value of fidelity and asks to be considered as a friend in their midst.

Versions

Schiller wrote the original version in summer 1798, simultaneously with his poem Der Kampf mit dem Drachen, and published both in 1799. In 1804 he re-worked the ballad and changed the name of the main character Moerus to Damon. It was translated into English by 1842 when it appeared in Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine.

In the late 1930s, Bertolt Brecht wrote a verse commentary Über Schillers Gedicht "Die Bürgschaft", a sonnet ironically praising the Golden Age in which contract had such moral force that the tyrant realizes that he is hardly needed. This has been set to music by Hanns Eisler.

In 1940 the Japanese author Osamu Dazai published the short story Run, Melos! reworking Schiller's poem. It is a widely read classic in Japanese schools.

Musical settings

Franz Schubert set it to music twice: first as a song for voice and piano in 1815 (D 246), and then as an opera in 1816 (D 435) but left off work on the latter the middle of the third act.

External links

Wikisource has original text related to this article:

The Hostage

Die Bürgschaft as a spoken version (4.36 MB, OGG)
The same at Project Gutenberg
A very recent translation
"Die Bürgschaft", song by Franz Schubert: Scores at the International Music Score Library Project
mp3 recording of Franz Schubert's song, legal and free download
Text from "Die Bürgschaft" used in the song "Schiller" (a parody of Michael Jackson's "Thriller") by German a cappella group, Wise Guys.

Works by Friedrich Schiller

Plays	The Robbers Semele Fiesco Intrigue and Love Körners Vormittag Don Carlos Wallenstein Wallenstein's Camp The Piccolomini Wallenstein's Death Mary Stuart The Maid of Orleans The Bride of Messina William Tell Die Huldigung der Künste Demetrius

Selected poems	Ode to Joy Resignation Die Götter Griechenlandes Das verschleierte Bild zu Sais Die Teilung der Erde Xenien Der Handschuh Der Taucher Die Kraniche des Ibykus Ritter Toggenburg Der Gang nach dem Eisenhammer Der Ring des Polykrates Der Kampf mit dem Drachen Die Bürgschaft Das Lied von der Glocke Nänie Der Antritt des neuen Jahrhunderts Das Siegesfest

Selected prose works	Der Verbrecher aus verlorener Ehre Der Geisterseher Eine großmütige Handlung

Selected philosophical works	Die Schaubühne als eine moralische Anstalt betrachtet Über den Grund des Vergnügens an tragischen Gegenständen Augustenburger Briefe Über Anmut und Würde Über das Pathetische Kallias-Briefe Über die ästhetische Erziehung des Menschen Über naive und sentimentalische Dichtung Über das Erhabene

Historical works	Was heißt und zu welchem Ende studiert man Universalgeschichte?

Journals	Wirtembergisches Repertorium Thalia Die Horen

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