Les Scythes
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| Title: | Les Scythes |
| Genus: | tragedy |
| Original language: | French |
| Author: | Voltaire |
| Publishing year: | 1766 |
| Premiere: | March 10, 1767 |
| Place of premiere: | Lausanne |
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Les Scythes is a tragedy in five acts and verses by Voltaire . The Scythians were written by Voltaire in 1766 for the entertainment of Le Ferney's company.
action
The action takes place in Scythia in a rural area. Obéide, the daughter of a former Persian general living in Scythia, married the Scythian Indatire. The Persian Prince Athamare has loved Obéide since childhood and wants to make her the Princess of Ekbatan by his side. He kills Indatire in a duel, but is captured wounded. According to Scythian custom, Obéide is supposed to judge the husband's murderer with the sword. She still loves Athamare and plunges into the sword.
Literary source and biographical references
Voltaire wrote the tragedy in November 1766 within ten days. The play was intended for Voltaire's private theater in Le Ferney. Not difficult to recognize and confirmed by Voltaire to d'Argental in a letter dated December 8, 1766, the Scythians with their archaic laws represent the Calvinist society of Geneva. The large, highly civilized neighboring country Persia behind the forest stands for France. The rigid application of Scythian laws leads to misfortune.
Performances and contemporary reception
The Scythes were first performed on March 10, 1767 in Lausanne and on March 16 in Voltaire's private theater in Le Ferney and on March 21 in Geneva. The piece was warmly received in Geneva. Voltaire had initially feared that the actors would be beaten up by the audience if they had recognized the intention of the play. The Comédie-Française followed with performances on March 26, 28, 30 and April 1, 1767. The play was generally rejected. Friedrich Melchior Grimm found "the language a little flat". The resumption of 1770, however, was a considerable success thanks to the depiction of Mme Vestris. The Voltaire biographer Gustave Lanson called Les Scythes an "unreal and hypocritical tragedy".
Going to press
Traditionally, the Lacombe edition is considered the first edition despite its reference to a Geneva edition. A copy of the first Geneva edition was found in the Petersburg library a few years ago in Voltaire's estate. Voltaire edited the Périsse Lyon edition to the last hand.
Addition
Voltaire added a dedication and a foreword to the Scythes on pages sixteen.
First editions
- Les Scythes. Cramer, Geneva 1766. The only known specimen in the Hermitage in St. Petersburg
- Les Scythes, tragédie by M. de Voltaire. Nouvelle édition, corrigée et augmentée sur celle de Genève. Lacombe, Paris 1767, 8 °, XVI, 78 pp.
- Les Scythes, tragédie by M. de Voltaire. Nouvelle édition, corrigée et augmentée sur celle de Genève. Frères Périsse, Lyon 1767, 8 °, 78 p. Last edition.
Web links
literature
- Theodore Besterman : Voltaire. Winkler, Munich, 1971, p. 390 ff.
- Robert Niklaus: (Les) Scythes. In: Raymond Trousson, Jeroom Vercruysse, Jacques Lemaire (eds.): Dictionnaire Voltaire. Hachette Livre, Paris 1994, p. 210 f.
- The Scythians. In: Siegfried Detemple: Voltaire, The Works. 300th birthday catalog. Reichert, Wiesbaden 1994, p. 173 f.
Individual evidence
- ↑ See Siegfried Detemple: Voltaire: The works. 300th birthday catalog. Reichert, Wiesbaden 1994, p. 211 ff.
- ↑ Cf. Die Skythen, in: Voltaire, Die Werke. 300th birthday catalog. Reichert, Wiesbaden 1994, p. 173 f.
- ^ Robert Niklaus: Les Scythes In: Raymond Trousson, Jeroom Vercruysse, Jacques Lemaire (eds.): Dictionnaire Voltaire. Hachette Livre, Paris 1994, p. 210.
- ^ Robert Niklaus: Les Scythes In: Raymond Trousson, Jeroom Vercruysse, Jacques Lemaire (eds.): Dictionnaire Voltaire. Hachette Livre, Paris 1994, p. 210.