Agathocle

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Data
Title: Agathocle
Genus: tragedy
Original language: French
Author: Voltaire
Premiere: May 31, 1779
Place of premiere: Paris
people
  • Agathocle , tyrant of Syracuse
  • Polycrate , son of Agathocle
  • Agide , son of Agathocle
  • Ydasan , an ancient warrior in the service of Carthage
  • Egeste , officer in the service of Syracuse
  • Ydace , daughter of Ydasan
  • Elpenor , council of the king
  • a priestess of Ceres
  • Retinue and soldiers

Agathocle is the last tragedy in Voltaire's five acts . The play was written by the 84-year-old author in 1777 directly after the tragedy Irène and, after a private performance in Ferney, it was publicly premiered in Paris in 1777 on the first anniversary of the author's death .

action

The action takes place in Syracuse between the palace of the tyrant Agathocle ( Agathocles ) and the ruins of the Temple of Ceres . Peace is to be concluded between Syracuse and Carthage. The Punic warrior Ydasan wants to release his captive daughter Ydace. The two sons of the tyrant Agathocle desire Ydace. Polycrate is ready to undermine the peace treaty to the satisfaction of his desires. The selfless Argide, on the other hand, renounces and releases Ydace after his brother is killed. Agathocle recognizes the motives of his son Argide, reintroduces the cult of the goddess Ceres and gives Argide the rule of Syracuse. As a pupil of Plato , Argide turns against tyranny and restores the rule of the people.

Contemporary reception

The performance of Agathocle attracted little attention after Voltaire's death and was hardly received by critics. The sketchy execution is emphasized in the Kehl edition.

Performances

Voltaire's Agathocle was first performed publicly on the first anniversary of the author's death on May 31, 1779 in the Comédie-Française . Before the performance, the actor Jean Baptiste Brisard read a discours written by Jean-Baptiste le Rond d'Alembert , prononcé avant la première Representation d'Agathocle , which preceded the reprint of the tragedy in the Kehler edition. A private performance at Voltaire's private theater in Ferney preceded it in September 1777. The tragedy Agathocle was removed from the program after four performances.

Going to press

The tragedy Agathocle was first published in the sixth volume of the Kehl edition. Separate prints of the time are not known.

First editions

  • Agathocle , in the Oeuvres Completes de Voltaire, Kehl, 1784, Volume 6, pp. 337-393. [1]

literature

  • Manuel Couvreur: Agathocle, in: Dictionnaire Voltaire, Hachette Livre, 1994, p. 16f.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Manuel Couvreur: Irène, in: Dictionnaire Voltaire, Hachette Livre, 1994, p. 16f.