The article describes a net of hermetic motives in Juliusz Słowacki’s early dramatic works ‘Balladyna’ (1834/1839), ‘Beatryks Cenci’ (1840), ‘Lilla Weneda’ (1839) and ‘Fantazy’ (1844). Unlike in Słowacki’s later work, the hermetic imagery is intrinsically tied to classical myths that can be revealed in a philological analysis. At the center of the hermetic imagery are several interpretations of the myth of Adonis, i. e. of the transformation of white flowers into red flowers. The Adonis myth is connected to the medieval iconographic tradition of roses, e.g. to the story of Floire et Blancheflor in ‘Beatryks Cenci’. In ‘Balladyna’ and ‘Lilla Weneda’ the vessel connected to red flowers is given an additional attribute which makes it recognizable as a hermetic image: a snake in a chalice filled with red liquid. ‘Beatryks Cenci’ and ‘Fantazy’ contain a figure (Giano Giani and Jan, who is explicitly compared to St John the Baptist) that can be read as a hermetic interpretation of St John the Baptist.