El Consejo de los Dioses is a play written in Spanish by Filipino writer andnational hero José

Rizal, first published in 1880 in Manila by the Liceo Artistico Literario de Manila in 1880, and
later by La Solidaridad in 1883. El Consejo de los Dioses was written by Rizal when he was only
nineteen years old, and reveals the humanistic education of the Philippines at the time and his
answer to scholasticism.

El Consejo de Los Dioses (The Council of the Gods) is an allegorical play written in 1879 by our
national hero Jose Rizal. It was first published in Liceo Artistico Literario de Manila review in
1880, latterly in La Solidaridad in 1883. In December 1900 this was translated in Tagalog. This
version was adapted into sarswela by Pascual H. Poblete and published in El Comercio de
Filipinas. Hucapte made arrangements for the staging in 1915 afterwards, in 1961 it was edited
with a prologue by Astrana Maria in El Cervantismo de heroe Filipino Rizal. Nick Joaquin
translated the play in English. The play won the first prize award in a 1880-1881 literary contest
commemorating the death of Cervantes sponsored by the Liceo Artistico Literario de Manila. “I
enter the future remembering the past”, Rizal's epigraph for the award. This is considered as the
most sensuous of Rizal's writings, reveals his magnificent showy side as hispanist and classicist.

Summary Jupiter, the Roman chief of the Gods, is planning to give three grandiose gifts (a golden
lyre, trumpet, and a golden crown made of laurels) – crafted by Vulcan – to a mortal who did best
in literature. Juno, Jupiter’s wife, suggests Homer, the writer of “Iliad”. Meanwhile, Venus,
thegoddess of beauty, recommends Virgil, author of “Aedes.” On the other hand, Minerva
(goddess of wisdom) goes for Cervantes, author of “Don Quixote.” With this disagreement, the
other gods were also supposed to fight but were stopped by Jupiter by allowing Justice (a goddess
not found in the original Roman lineup yet introduced by Rizal in his allegory) to weigh the
circumstances without any bias in her balance. She weighed the “Aedes” with the “Iliad” and found
them equal. The same goes with “Don Quixote.” With this, Jupiter decided to give the lyre to
Virgil, the trumpet to Homer, and the laurels to Cervantes.