Ériphyle (tragedy)
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''Ériphyle'' is a tragedy in five acts by Voltaire. He began working on it in 1731 and it was completed and performed in 1732. The poor success of the stage premiere prompted Voltaire to cancel the printed version.


Action

Voltaire drew his material from Bayle's '' Dictionnaire historique et critique'' as well as from the classical original in the ''
Bibliotheca of Pseudo-Apollodorus The ''Bibliotheca'' (Ancient Greek: grc, Βιβλιοθήκη, lit=Library, translit=Bibliothēkē, label=none), also known as the ''Bibliotheca'' of Pseudo-Apollodorus, is a compendium of Greek myths and heroic legends, arranged in three book ...
''. The action takes place in the temple of Jupiter at Argos. Ériphyle, married to the king and commander
Amphiaraos In Greek mythology, Amphiaraus or Amphiaraos (; Ancient Greek: Ἀμφιάραος, Ἀμφιάρεως, "very sacred") was the son of Oicles, a seer, and one of the leaders of the Seven against Thebes. Amphiaraus at first refused to go with Adra ...
, nevertheless maintains a relationship with his rival and enemy, Hermogide. Amphiaraos falls victim to a plot. Alcméon, promoted to commander by Hermongide, falls in love with the queen. The spirit of his father appears to him to the temple, demanding revenge and the high priest proves to Alcméon that he is the son of Amphiaraos, long believed dead. In his struggle with Hermongide, Alcméon accidentally kills his mother.


Composition and reception

The play was written at great speed while Voltaire spent several months in
Rouen Rouen (, ; or ) is a city on the River Seine in northern France. It is the prefecture of the Regions of France, region of Normandy (administrative region), Normandy and the Departments of France, department of Seine-Maritime. Formerly one of ...
to focus on his work. In June 1731 Voltaire said he had written it, together with '' La Mort de César'' and '' Histoire de Charles XII'' in just three months. In September of the same year he felt that despite further work the play was not yet worthy of the public, or of himself. He continued revising it intensively right up to the first performance. The numerous reworkings of the scene in which Alcméon kills his mother were intended to ensure the effect Voltaire sought as with his other scenes of matricide (in ' and '' Sémiramis''); not to shock the audience but to reintroduce to French tragedy the element of 'terror' which Voltaire felt had been lost as a result of the taste for gallantry on stage. Voltaire's correspondence in March 1732 with Moncrif, secretary to the Comte de Clermont, indicates that the actors of the Comédie-Française may have been reluctant to perform the play: Voltaire wanted to dedicate the work to Clermont and urged Moncrif to ensure that his master recommended the work to them, so they knew it enjoyed his patronage. The play premiered at the Comédie-Française on 7 March 1732. Voltaire made revisions to it until the beginning of May. The last of the total of twelve performances was on 1 May 1732. Critical reception, particularly in Mercure de France, was lukewarm. Although box office receipts for the premiere of 3,970 livres do not indicate that the play was a flop, it did not meet Voltaire's own expectations. The appearance of a ghost in the play, unusual in French drama, was one element to which the public did not respond well.


Printed versions

Voltaire had already commissioned the printing of the work from a trusted publisher, :fr:Claude-François Jore of Rouen, with whom he was to quarrel two years later. The last changes and corrections were sent to his friend
Cideville Cideville () is a commune in the Seine-Maritime department in the Normandy region in northern France. Geography A farming village situated in the Pays de Caux, some northwest of Rouen, at the junction of the D304 and the D263 roads. Population ...
on 8 May, but the very next day he wrote again insisting that the printing be stopped and the manuscript returned. He continued to work on it for many months after this, while working on new projects,{{rp, 376 but for the rest of his life he refused to publish the play, but borrowed verses from the manuscript for his later tragedies ''Mérope'' and ''Sémiramis''.Theodore Besterman: Herr und Gelehrter (1742-1746), in: Voltaire, Winkler, München, 1971, p.228 Voltaire's final trip to Paris in 1778 and the staging of ''Iréne'' led to the printing, by an unknown publisher, of an error-filled stage version of the manuscript which had been retained by the actor
Lekain Lekain was the stage name of Henri Louis Cain (31 March 1728 – 8 February 1778), a French actor. Early career He was born in Paris, the son of a silversmith. He was educated at the Collège Mazarin, and joined an amateur company of players ag ...
. This version was the basis for the later ''Kehl'' edition. The 1877 ''Moland'' edition derives from a different manuscript version, owned by Voltaire's secretary Sébastien G. Longchamps (1718–1793).


References


External links


''Ériphyle'', digital version of first printingLiterature on ''Éryphile'', Société des Etudes Voltairiennes
Plays by Voltaire Tragedy plays 1732 in France 1732 plays