A historical Cato caught in the vortex of an ancient biography

Abstract

Renaissance Opera is notorious for taking liberties with the facts in its portrayal of historical characters. Vivaldi’s Cato in Utica is no exception. My presentation explores here some strikingly comparable situations in ancient biographies, which value the integrity of plot and character—seemingly at the expense of historical facts. A case in point is Plutarch’s Cato the Younger, which gives us the initial impression that it veers from the reality that was Cato. It can be argued, however, that the literary construction of this biography is as “operatic” in its artistry as is the musical essence of Vivaldi’s Cato.