Oreste (Voltaire)
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| Title: | Oreste |
| Genus: | tragedy |
| Original language: | French |
| Author: | Voltaire |
| Publishing year: | 1750 |
| Premiere: | January 12, 1750 |
| Place of premiere: | Paris |
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Oreste is a tragedy in five acts by Voltaire . The Oreste premiered on January 12th in the Comédie-Française , with initially moderate success . Only when the piece was resumed in 1761 was it successful.
action
The action takes place on the beach of the sea, surrounded by a forest, a temple, a palace and a tomb. In the distance is Argos . Agamemnon was murdered after his return from Troy by his wife Clytemnestre ( Klytaimnestra ) and her lover Égiste ( Aigisthos ). Oreste has returned to avenge his father and to free his sister Électre ( Elektra ) from slavery. He is thus guilty of matricide.
Literary source and biographical references
Voltaire worked during the year 1749 to the New already repeatedly brought to the stage Elektra of Sophocles . The later censor Prosper Jolyot Crébillon had already processed the material for the tragedy Électre in 1708 . Voltaire tried repeatedly to put the successful author Crébillon in the shade with new versions.
Performances and contemporary reception
The Oreste was premiered on January 12, 1750 in the Comédie-Française in front of 976 visitors. Before the performance, Voltaire had a prologue read out in which he insisted, with little credibility, that he did not want to compete with Crébillon's original. Before the second performance, after a break of seven days, he made some adjustments. The Oreste was taken from the program after the eighth performance. The breakthrough came in 1761 after the piece was resumed.
Going to press
Voltaire got the printing from Mercier and Lambert in January 1750. Frederick II confirmed on April 25, 1750 that he had received a copy.
Addition
Voltaire preceded Oreste with a letter to his sponsor, the duchess of Maine Louise Bénédicte de Bourbon , who was interested in literature , explaining the Greek tragedy. The first edition follows on pages 205 to 212 of the Lettre à M. le Maréchal de Schullembourg. Génélal des Vénetiens .
First editions
- Oreste Mercier and Lambert, Paris, 214 pp. [1]
- Oreste, Tragédie, Par M. De Voltaire Mercier and Lambert, Paris, 68 pp. [2]
Web links
literature
- Theodore Besterman : Farewell to Cirey (1747–1750). In: Voltaire. Winkler, Munich 1971, p. 246.
- Éric van der Schueren: Oreste In: Raymond Trousson, Jeroom Vercruysse, Jacques Lemaire (eds.): Dictionnaire Voltaire. Hachette Livre, Paris 1994, p. 148.
- Siegfried Detemple: Orestes, in: Voltaire: The works. 300th birthday catalog. Reichert, Wiesbaden 1994, p. 92 f.
Individual evidence
- ↑ Éric van der Schueren: Oreste. In: Raymond Trousson, Jeroom Vercruysse, Jacques Lemaire (eds.): Dictionnaire Voltaire. Hachette Livre, Paris 1994, p. 148.
- ↑ Éric van der Schueren: Les Pélopides. In: Raymond Trousson, Jeroom Vercruysse, Jacques Lemaire (eds.): Dictionnaire Voltaire. Hachette Livre, Paris 1994, p. 157.
- ↑ Éric van der Schueren: Les Pélopides. In: Raymond Trousson, Jeroom Vercruysse, Jacques Lemaire (eds.): Dictionnaire Voltaire. Hachette Livre, Paris 1994, p. 157.
- ^ Siegfried Detemple: Voltaire: The works. 300th birthday catalog. Reichert, Wiesbaden 1994, p. 92 f.
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