La querella de l'Alceste: Eurípides corregit per Quinault i Lully

Abstract

This paper deals with the reception of Euripides' tragedy Alcestis in the context of the Quarrel of the Ancients and the Moderns during the reign of King Louis XIV of France through the analysis of three important works: the controversial opera Alceste (1674) with libretto by French dramatist Philippe Quinault and music by Italian composer Jean-Baptiste Lully, the defence of this play written by Charles Perrault and its critic by Jean Racine in the Preface of his Iphigénie. From these textes emerges a vision of all the defaults which both Ancients and Moderns of the century of Louis the Great perceived in Euripides' works.