Athalie
| Data | |
|---|---|
| Title: | Athaliah |
| Original title: | Athalie |
| Genus: | tragedy |
| Original language: | French |
| Author: | Jean Racine |
| Literary source: | AT , 2nd Book of Kings , 11th chapter. |
| Publishing year: | 1691 |
| Place and time of the action: | around 836 BC In the forecourt of the temple in Jerusalem |
| people | |
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Athalie is the last tragedy in five acts by Jean Racine from 1691. As the Sun King's reader , the author was persuaded by Madame de Maintenon to write down the Old Testament legend. The play was performed in front of pious noble ladies in the monastery of Saint-Cyr . It inspired Handel to write his oratorio Athalia .
content
Racine took the story from 2 Kings 11 EU .
- 1
After King Ahaziah was murdered by Jehu , the queen mother Athaliah usurped the rule for seven years. She has all of her son's descendants murdered at once. The new queen takes part in the bloody act with her own hands. When Athalja tries to stab the youngest of her grandchildren - that is the infant Joas, lying on the nurse's breast - she does 'half the job'. Joash survives injured and is saved by Josabet, hidden in the temple, guarded and raised under the name Eljakim. No one outside the temple area knows about the surviving son of Ahaziah. Josabet and her husband Joad must keep the secret. Because it is feared, otherwise the grandmother would kill the grandson immediately and have the temple destroyed.
- 2
Athalja - succumbed to Baal - is repeatedly haunted by an overly clear dream face. One of her grandchildren survived the slaughter and is protected in the temple by the high priest Joad. The queen goes there and recognizes Eljakim as the face from the dream. When asked by the king, the child replies that it was found in wolves. Athalja invites Eljakim into her royal house: "[...] by the side of my throne you shall be held right as my own son."
- 3
When Eljakim does not follow, Athaliah sends out Mathan, Baal's servant. He is supposed to fetch the boy - the queen correctly suspects it is Joas. Joad does not give up Joas. Josabet wants to hide the now seven-year-old boy for a second time - this time deep in the desert that she knows well. Joad is against it.
- 4th
The high priest secretly armed the Levites and proclaimed Joash as the new king before the people.
- 5
When Athalja approaches a second time - this time she has surrounded the Temple Mount with her mercenary army - she is lured into a trap by the "rebel" Joad. With a manageable retinue, she enters the temple, apparently resting in deep peace, and sees the crowned Joash on the throne. The mercenaries have already fled when Athaliah sees the dark mark on the king's chest where her sword struck him. Joad has Athaliah led away and judged by the Levites. One of them reports to Joad: "The sword did its duty, Athaliah lived."
reception
- 1808: Schlegel praises the play in his Viennese "Lectures on Dramatic Art and Literature". The drama comes closest to the great style of the Greeks.
Other treatments of the fabric
- July 10, 1733, Sheldonian Theater , Oxford: The libretto of Handel's oratorio “ Athalia ” is based on Racine's poetry.
- Mid-18th century: French libretto (MS, draft) Athalie apparently for the purpose of setting to music (music unknown): Two acts with details of Airs and Choeurs at the end of the scene. Autograph by Wilhelmine von Bayreuth . Secret Prussian State Archives Sign. BPHA Rep. 46 f.17.
- 1822 in Naples: Johann Simon Mayr's oratorio “ Atalia ” (libretto: Felice Romani ) is premiered.
- before 1846: Drama music by Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy
literature
Used edition
- Racine: Athaliah . P. 295–371 in Rudolf Alexander Schröder : Collected works. Sixth volume. Corneille / Racine / Molière. In German Alexandrians. Suhrkamp, Berlin 1958.
Web links
- Athalia near Gutenberg-DE, transferred from Adolf Laun around 1890
annotation
- ↑ The second entry at bibelkommentare.de concerns Joad under the ambiguous name Jojada.
Individual evidence
- ↑ Edition used, p. 770, 12. Zvu
- ↑ Edition used, p. 767, 9. Zvu
- ↑ Edition used, p. 325, 12. Zvo
- ↑ Edition used, p. 368, 6th Zvu
- ↑ Edition used, p. 369, 9. Zvu
- ↑ Edition used, p. 371, 10th Zvu
- ↑ Schlegel's praises
La Thébaide (1664) Alexander the Great (1665) Andromaque (1667) Les Plaideurs (1668) Britannicus (1669) Bérénice (1670) Bajazet (1672) Mithridate (1673) Iphigénie (1674) Phèdre (1677) Esther (1689) Athalie (1691)