The Mythographer Baltasar de Vitoria as a Possible Source for the Mythological Narratives of Antonio Jose da Silva, the Jew

This paper tries to identify the presence of Teatro de los dioses de la gentilidad, by the mytographer Baltasar de Vitoria, in the composition of the mytho-logical plays from the Portuguese playwright Antonio Jose da Silva, The Jew. There are three aspects which bring us to recognize this hypothesis: a) there is a space-time coincidence, as Vitoria's text had wide circulation in the Iberian Peninsula in the 17th-18th centuries; b) there is a material coincidence, as we can find almost all mythological narratives used by The Jew in his plays at the Firs Part of Vitoria's work; , c) there is a thematic coincidence, as they both tell certain myths in an unusual similar way. Thereby, after demonstrating several convergence points be-tween both authors in these three aspects, we came to the conclusion that it would be probable that Antonio Jose da Silva have had access to Baltasar de Vitoria's work and also that he had used it to compose his plays.