Oedipus (Voltaire)

Oedipus
Title page of the second edition
Written by	Voltaire
Date premiered	18 November 1718 (1718-11-18)
Place premiered	Comédie-Française, Paris
Original language	French
Subject	Myth of Oedipus
Genre	Tragedy
Setting	Thebes

Oedipus (French: Œdipe) is a tragedy by the French dramatist and philosopher Voltaire that was first performed in 1718.^[1] It was his first play and the first literary work for which he used the pen-name Voltaire (his real name was François-Marie Arouet). In adapting Sophocles' Athenian tragedy Oedipus the King, Voltaire attempted to rationalise the plot and motivation of its characters.^[2] In a letter of 1719 he indicated that he found it improbable that the murder of Laius had not been investigated earlier and that Oedipus should take so long to understand the oracle's clear pronouncement.^[3] Voltaire adds a subplot concerning the love of Philoctète for Jocaste.^[3] He also reduces the prominence of the theme of incest.^[4]

Voltaire completed it in 1717 during his 11-month imprisonment. It premièred on 18 November 1718 at the Comédie-Française, during his first period of exile at Châtenay-Malabry. Quinault-Dufresne played Oedipus, and Marie Desmares, Jocaste. The production ran for 45 performances and received great critical acclaim that marked the start of Voltaire's success in his theatrical career. It constituted "the greatest dramatic success of eighteenth century France".^[5] It was revived on 7 May 1723 with Le Couvreur and Quinault-Dufresne and remained in the répertoire of Comédie-Française until 1852.

In a letter of 1731 Voltaire wrote that when he wrote the play he was "full of my readings of the ancient authors [...] I knew very little of the theater in Paris."^[6]

References

1. ^ Banham (1998, 1176) and Vernant and Vidal-Naquet (1988, 373).
2. ^ Burian (1997, 240, 245).
3. ^ ^{a b} Burian (1997, 245).
4. ^ Burian (1997, 246).
5. ^ Vernant and Vidal-Naquet (1988, 373).
6. ^ Quoted by Vernant and Vidal-Naquet (1988, 373).

Sources

• Banham, Martin, ed. 1998. The Cambridge Guide to Theatre. Cambridge: Cambridge UP. ISBN 0521434378.
• Burian, Peter. 1997. "Tragedy Adapted for Stages and Screens: the Renaissance to the Present." The Cambridge Companion to Greek Tragedy. Ed. P. E. Easterling. Cambridge Companions to Literature ser. Cambridge: Cambridge UP. 228-283. ISBN 0521423511.
• Vernant, Jean-Pierre, and Pierre Vidal-Naquet. 1988. Myth and Tragedy in Ancient Greece. Trans. Janet Lloyd. New York: Zone Books, 1990. ISBN 0942299191. Trans. of Mythe et Tragédie en Grèce Ancienne (Librarie François Maspero, 1972) and Mythe et Tragédie en Grèce Ancienne Deux (Editions La Découverte, 1986).

External links

• List of productions on CÉSAR