Drama Oslobođenje Betulije by Antun Gleđević is being interpreted in the context of the Dubrovnik librettist dramaturgy, especially for two reasons: fi rst, because the biblical theme is not typical for Dubrovnik or, far beyond, for Croatian melodramatic, librettist production in the early modern period, particularly in the 17th century; and secondly, because the generic form that Gleđević follows is very interesting, especially in terms of comparative approach to literature: partly he follows poetical matrix of the sacral dramas with biblical themes, which were popular in Italy in the 17th century, and according to the compositional features his dramatic production fi ts into Pan-European model of so called dramma per musica. The paper highlights the problem of authorship, since Serafi n Črijević fi rst noted that Gleđević wrote a drama about Judith and Olophern, and then, furthermore, comments on some of the most important reevaluations of Oslobođenje Betulije, particularly works by Miroslav Pantić and Slobodan Prosperov Novak. The attention is put on the premise that this is a translation of the Italian libretto Giuditta (Siena, 1697) by Amaranta Sciaditico, also known by its pseudonymous Girolamo Gigli. Special attention is thus put on the pseudolibrettist impact, obvious in the dramatic composition, as well as on the biblical intertext which is likely hereditary. The full transcription of the drama, that is not included in the author’s opus printed in the book number 15 in the edition Stari pisci hrvatski (1886), nor has so far ever been published, is given after philologic and textologic comments.