''Andromède'' (''Andromeda'') is a French verse play in a prologue and five acts by

Pierre Corneille Pierre Corneille (; ; 6 June 1606 – 1 October 1684) was a French tragedian. He is generally considered one of the three great 17th-century French dramatists, along with Molière and Racine. As a young man, he earned the valuable patronage ...

, first performed on 1 February 1650 by the Troupe Royale de l'Hôtel de Bourgogne at the Théâtre Royal de Bourbon in Paris. The story is taken from Books IV and V of

Ovid Publius Ovidius Naso (; 20 March 43 BC – AD 17/18), known in English as Ovid ( ), was a Augustan literature (ancient Rome), Roman poet who lived during the reign of Augustus. He was a younger contemporary of Virgil and Horace, with whom he i ...

's ''

Metamorphoses The ''Metamorphoses'' (, , ) is a Latin Narrative poetry, narrative poem from 8 Common Era, CE by the Ancient Rome, Roman poet Ovid. It is considered his ''Masterpiece, magnum opus''. The poem chronicles the history of the world from its Cre ...

'' and concerns the transformation of

Perseus In Greek mythology, Perseus (, ; Greek language, Greek: Περσεύς, Romanization of Greek, translit. Perseús) is the legendary founder of the Perseid dynasty. He was, alongside Cadmus and Bellerophon, the greatest Greek hero and slayer of ...

and Andromeda. The play has rarely been revived and is mostly remembered today for the set of six engravings by

François Chauveau François Chauveau (; 10 May 1613 – 3 February 1676) was a French artist, known as a burin engraver, draftsmen and painter. Biography François Chauveau was born 10 May 1613 in Paris, as the second son of the impoverished noble, Lubin Cha ...

depicting the elaborate

Baroque The Baroque ( , , ) is a Western Style (visual arts), style of Baroque architecture, architecture, Baroque music, music, Baroque dance, dance, Baroque painting, painting, Baroque sculpture, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished from ...

set designs of

Giacomo Torelli Giacomo Torelli (1 September 1608 – 17 June 1678) was an Italian stage designer, scenery painter, engineer, and architect. His work in stage design, particularly his designs of machinery for creating spectacular scenery changes and other spe ...

Background

The play was commissioned by

Cardinal Mazarin Jules Mazarin (born Giulio Raimondo Mazzarino or Mazarini; 14 July 1602 – 9 March 1661), from 1641 known as Cardinal Mazarin, was an Italian Catholic prelate, diplomat and politician who served as the chief minister to the Kings of France Lou ...

in 1648 but wasn't finished until 1650. Corneille dedicated the piece to an unknown woman designated by four uppercase M's. According to

Abel Lefranc Maurice Jules Abel Lefranc (27 July 1863 – 26 November 1952) was a historian of French literature, expert on Rabelais, and the principal advocate of the Derbyite theory of Shakespeare authorship. Early life Lefranc was born in Élincourt-S ...

, the M's represent Madame de Motteville, the confidante of

Anne of Austria Anne of Austria (; ; born Ana María Mauricia; 22 September 1601 – 20 January 1666) was Queen of France from 1615 to 1643 by marriage to King Louis XIII. She was also Queen of Navarre until the kingdom's annexation into the French crown ...

Plot

*Prologue: Respects to the King *Act I:

Venus Venus is the second planet from the Sun. It is often called Earth's "twin" or "sister" planet for having almost the same size and mass, and the closest orbit to Earth's. While both are rocky planets, Venus has an atmosphere much thicker ...

predicts the marriage of Andromeda while a final victim will be chosen for the monster

Cetus Cetus () is a constellation, sometimes called 'the whale' in English. The Cetus (mythology), Cetus was a sea monster in Greek mythology which both Perseus and Heracles needed to slay. Cetus is in the region of the sky that contains other water- ...

. *Act II: Andromeda is designated as the victim. *Act III:

kills the monster; the

Nereids In Greek mythology, the Nereids or Nereides ( ; ; , also Νημερτές) are sea nymphs (female spirits of sea waters), the 50 daughters of the 'Old Man of the Sea' Nereus and the Oceanids, Oceanid Doris (Oceanid), Doris, sisters to their bro ...

promise to avenge it. *Act IV:

Phineus In Greek mythology, Phineus (; ), was a king of Salmydessus in Thrace and seer, who appears in accounts of the Argonauts' voyage. Some accounts make him a king in PaphlagoniaScholia on Apollonius of Rhodes, 2.178, 237; Scholia ''ad eund'' 2.1 ...

wants to kill Perseus and gets the aid of

Juno Juno commonly refers to: *Juno (mythology), the Roman goddess of marriage and queen of the gods * ''Juno'' (film), the 2007 film Juno may also refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Fictional characters *Juno, a character in the book ''Juno of ...

. *Act V: Perseus astounds Phineus; all the characters ascend to heaven to become gods.

Characters

The list of characters is from Corneille.

Gods in the Machines

Jupiter Jupiter is the fifth planet from the Sun and the List of Solar System objects by size, largest in the Solar System. It is a gas giant with a Jupiter mass, mass more than 2.5 times that of all the other planets in the Solar System combined a ...

, ''King of the Gods'' * Junon, ''Goddess of Marriage, Jupiter's wife'' *

Neptune Neptune is the eighth and farthest known planet from the Sun. It is the List of Solar System objects by size, fourth-largest planet in the Solar System by diameter, the third-most-massive planet, and the densest giant planet. It is 17 t ...

, ''God of the Sea'' *

Mercure Mercure may refer to: * MERCURE, an atmospheric dispersion modelling CFD code developed by Électricité de France * Mercure Hotels, a chain of hotels run by Accor * French ship ''Mercure'' (1783) * Dassault Mercure, a French airliner built in t ...

, ''God of Messages'' *

Le Soleil Le Soleil ("The Sun") is the name of several newspapers: * ''Le Soleil'' (Quebec), a French-language daily newspaper in Quebec City, Quebec, Canada, founded in 1896 * ''Le Soleil'' (French newspaper), a defunct daily newspaper based in Paris fro ...

(The Sun) * Vénus, ''Goddess of Love and Beauty'' *

Melpomène Melpomene (; ) is the Muse of tragedy in Greek mythology. She is described as the daughter of Zeus and Mnemosyne (and therefore of power and memory) along with the other Muses, and she is often portrayed with a tragic theatrical mask. Etymolog ...

, ''

Muse In ancient Greek religion and Greek mythology, mythology, the Muses (, ) were the Artistic inspiration, inspirational goddesses of literature, science, and the arts. They were considered the source of the knowledge embodied in the poetry, lyric p ...

of Tragedy'' * Aeole, ''Keeper of the Winds'' * Cymodoce, ''first

Nereid In Greek mythology, the Nereids or Nereides ( ; ; , also Νημερτές) are sea nymphs (female spirits of sea waters), the 50 daughters of the ' Old Man of the Sea' Nereus and the Oceanid Doris, sisters to their brother Nerites. They ofte ...

'' * Ephyre, ''second Nereid'' *

Cydippe The name Cydippe (Ancient Greek: Κυδίππη ''Kudíppē'') is attributed to four individuals in Greek mythology. *Cydippe, one of the 50 Nereids, sea-nymph daughters of the 'Old Man of the Sea' Nereus and the Oceanids, Oceanid Doris (Oceanid) ...

, ''third Nereid'' * Eight Vents (Winds)

Mortals

* Cephée, ''King of Ethiopia'' *

Cassiope ''Cassiope'' is a genus of 18 small shrubby species in the family Ericaceae. It is the sole genus in the subfamily Cassiopoideae. They are native to the Arctic and north temperate montane regions. The genus is named after Cassiopeia of Greek ...

, ''Queen of Ethiopia'' * Andromède, ''their daughter'' * Phinée, ''Prince of Ethiopia'' * Persée, ''son of Jupiter and

Danaë In Greek mythology, Danaë (, ; ; , ) was an Argive princess and mother of the hero Perseus by Zeus. She was credited with founding the city of Ardea in Latium during the Bronze Age. Family Danae was the daughter and only child of King Acr ...

'' * Timante, ''Captain of the Royal Guards'' * Ammon, ''friend of Phinée'' * Aglante, ''a nymph of Andromède'' * Cephalie, ''a nymph of Andromède'' * Liriope, ''a nymph of Andromède'' * A

page Page most commonly refers to: * Page (paper), one side of a leaf of paper, as in a book Page, PAGE, pages, or paging may also refer to: Roles * Page (assistance occupation), a professional occupation * Page (servant), traditionally a young m ...

of Phinée * Chorus of People * Retinue of the King

Premiere

The premiere production incorporated spectacular scenery, set changes, and special effects, designed by

. Many of the sets were recycled from Torelli's production of

Luigi Rossi Luigi Rossi (c. 1597 – 20 February 1653) was an Italian Baroque composer. Born in Torremaggiore, a small town near Foggia, in the ancient kingdom of Naples, at an early age he went to Naples where he studied music with the Franco-Flemish comp ...

's opera '' Orfeo'', performed at the

Palais-Royal The Palais-Royal () is a former French royal palace located on Rue Saint-Honoré in the 1st arrondissement of Paris. The screened entrance court faces the Place du Palais-Royal, opposite the Louvre Palace, Louvre. Originally called the Palais-Ca ...

in 1647. A series of six engravings created by

, depicting scenes from the prologue and five acts of ''Andromède'', were published in

Rouen Rouen (, ; or ) is a city on the River Seine, in northwestern France. It is in the prefecture of Regions of France, region of Normandy (administrative region), Normandy and the Departments of France, department of Seine-Maritime. Formerly one ...

in 1651, both separately and with the second edition of the play. Charles d'Assoucy composed

incidental music Incidental music is music in a play, television program, radio program, video game, or some other presentation form that is not primarily musical. The term is less frequently applied to film music, with such music being referred to instead as th ...

, which included airs, duets, and choruses, that primarily functioned to cover up the noise of the stage machinery during scene changes and special effects, such as the descent of

and

in the final act. Corneille did not look too favorably on the music: "I have employed music only to satisfy the ear while the eyes are looking at the machines, but I have been careful to have nothing sung that is essential to the understanding of the play because the words are generally badly understood in music." Most of the music has been lost, except for two choruses published in ''Airs à quatre parties'' (Robert Ballard, Paris, 1653).

Engravings by Chauveau

File:Set design Prologue of Andromède by P Corneille 1650 - Gallica 2010.jpg, Prologue:

, flying in the sky, and the

Sun The Sun is the star at the centre of the Solar System. It is a massive, nearly perfect sphere of hot plasma, heated to incandescence by nuclear fusion reactions in its core, radiating the energy from its surface mainly as visible light a ...

in his "luminously bright chariot" File:Set design Act1 of Andromède by P Corneille 1650 - Gallica 2010.jpg, Act 1: Vénus in her "glory" File:Set design Act2 of Andromède by P Corneille 1650 - Gallica 2010.jpg, Act 2: Aeole and eight

Venti Venti may refer to: * Venti (software), a network storage system * Venti, a character in 2020 video game '' Genshin Impact'' *A coffee cup size at Starbucks *The Roman equivalent of the Greek Anemoi In ancient Greek religion and Greek mytho ...

raise Andromède into the clouds amid thunder and lightning File:Set design Act3 of Andromède by P Corneille 1650 - Gallica 2010.jpg, Act 3: Persée rescues the rock-bound Andromède from the

Sea Monster Sea monsters are beings from folklore believed to dwell in the sea and are often imagined to be of immense size. Marine monsters can take many forms, including sea dragons, sea serpents, or tentacled beasts. They can be slimy and scaly and are of ...

File:Set design Act4 of Andromède by P Corneille 1650 - Gallica 2010.jpg, Act 4:

in her chariot
assures Phinée of her protection File:Set design Act5 of Andromède by P Corneille 1650 - Gallica 2010.jpg, Act 5: Juno with Cephée and Persée,

, and

with

and Andromède,
in the heavens

Later productions

* 1655: ''Andromède'' was revived at the

Théâtre du Marais The Théâtre du Marais () has been the name of several theatres and theatrical troupes in Paris, France. The original and most famous theatre of the name operated in the 17th century. The name was briefly revived for a revolutionary theatre in 1 ...

with machinery and sets designed by Denis Buffequin. * 1682: A revival at the

Théâtre Guénégaud The Salle de la Bouteille () or Salle du Jeu de Paume de la Bouteille (), later known as the Hôtel eGuénégaud () or Guénégaud Theatre, was a 1671 Theater (structure), theatre located in Paris, France, between the rue de Seine and the ...

by the

Comédie-Française The Comédie-Française () or Théâtre-Français () is one of the few state theatres in France. Founded in 1680, it is the oldest active theatre company in the world. Established as a French state-controlled entity in 1995, it is the only state ...

with music composed by

Marc-Antoine Charpentier Marc-Antoine Charpentier (; 1643 – 24 February 1704) was a French Baroque composer during the reign of Louis XIV. One of his most famous works is the main theme from the prelude of his ''Te Deum'' ''H.146, Marche en rondeau''. This theme is st ...

included a live horse flying through the air. According to the Parfaict brothers, the horse was persuaded to portray a "warlike ardor" by a severe fast, and "when he appeared a theatre employee was in the wings sifting oats. The horse overcome by hunger, neighed, stamped his feet and thus acted exactly as it was wished he should. ..This acting on the part of the horse greatly contributed to the success the tragedy enjoyed at that time."Howarth 1997, pp. 355, 357.

Notes

Bibliography

* Coeyman, Barbara (1998). "Opera and Ballet in Seventeenth-Century French Theatres: Case Studies of the Salle des Machines and the Palais Royal Theater", pp. 37–71, in ''Opera in Context: Essays on Historical Staging from the Late Renaissance to the Time of Puccini'', edited by Mark A. Radice. Portland, Oregon: Amadeus Press. . * Corneille, Pierre (1651a). ''Andromède'', 1st edition. Rouen: Laurens Maurry
Copy
at Gallica. * Corneille, Pierre (1651b). ''Andromède'', 2nd edition with engravings. Rouen: Laurens Maurry
Copy
at Gallica. * Garreau, Joseph E. (1984). "Corneille, Pierre", vol. 1, pp. 545–554, in ''McGraw-Hill Encyclopedia of World Drama'', Stanley Hochman, editor in chief. New York: McGraw-Hill. . * Howarth, William D., editor (1997). ''French Theatre in the Neo-classical Era, 1550–1789''. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. . * Isherwood, Robert M. (1973). ''Music in the Service of the King. France in the Seventeenth Century''. Ithaca: Cornell University Press. . * John, Richard (1996). "Torelli, Giacomo", vol. 31, pp. 165–166, in ''

The Dictionary of Art ''Grove Art Online'' is the online edition of ''The Dictionary of Art'', often referred to as the ''Grove Dictionary of Art'', and part of Oxford Art Online, an internet gateway to online art reference publications of Oxford University Press, ...

'' (34 volumes), edited by Jane Turner. New York: Grove. . Also a
Oxford Art Online
(subscription required). * Powell, John S. (2000). ''Music and Theatre in France 1600–1680''. Oxford: Oxford University Press. . {{DEFAULTSORT:Andromede (Corneille) Plays by Pierre Corneille 1650 plays Plays based on Metamorphoses Cardinal Mazarin Greek and Roman deities in fiction Venus (mythology) Jupiter (god) Juno (mythology) Neptune (mythology) Mercury (mythology) Helios Andromeda (mythology) Plays set in ancient Greece