Heldendom in herinnering: mythologie en geschiedenis in Jacob Duyms Nassausche Perseus

In Nassausche Perseus (1606) Jacob Duym uses the Ovidian myth of Perseus to illustrate historical progress in the period between the arrival and departure (1567-1573) of the Duke of Alba in and from the Netherlands. The text interferes between two worlds, as the play tells the story of the myth and highlights actual historical events of the Revolt in between. The poet, being one of the characters in this play, steers the understanding by addressing a prologue and epilogue, and by explaining the allegory a few times in between. This article gives an analysis of the special way in which the text creates a dynamic process between past and present, between fiction and reality. It is shown how the myth, as a narrative strategy, has been exploited as to actualize history, in order to persuade the readers to think in a direction desired by the author.