''Hérode et Mariamne'' or ''Mariamne'' is a 1724

tragedy A tragedy is a genre of drama based on human suffering and, mainly, the terrible or sorrowful events that befall a tragic hero, main character or cast of characters. Traditionally, the intention of tragedy is to invoke an accompanying catharsi ...

Voltaire François-Marie Arouet (; 21 November 169430 May 1778), known by his ''Pen name, nom de plume'' Voltaire (, ; ), was a French Age of Enlightenment, Enlightenment writer, philosopher (''philosophe''), satirist, and historian. Famous for his wit ...

. Adapted from the writings of the historian

Josephus Flavius Josephus (; , ; ), born Yosef ben Mattityahu (), was a Roman–Jewish historian and military leader. Best known for writing '' The Jewish War'', he was born in Jerusalem—then part of the Roman province of Judea—to a father of pr ...

, it is set in ancient

Jerusalem Jerusalem is a city in the Southern Levant, on a plateau in the Judaean Mountains between the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean and the Dead Sea. It is one of the List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest cities in the world, and ...

, and portrays the tragic death of Mariamne at the hands of her jealous husband,

Herod the Great Herod I or Herod the Great () was a History of the Jews in the Roman Empire, Roman Jewish client king of the Herodian kingdom of Judea. He is known for his colossal building projects throughout Judea. Among these works are the rebuilding of the ...

, king of

Judea Judea or Judaea (; ; , ; ) is a mountainous region of the Levant. Traditionally dominated by the city of Jerusalem, it is now part of Palestine and Israel. The name's usage is historic, having been used in antiquity and still into the pres ...

, who suspects her of an intrigue with Varus, the Roman governor of Syria. The play premiered with Adrienne Lecouvreur as Mariamne, Baron as Hérode and Duclos as Salome, but it was withdrawn after just one performance when the audience gave it a critical reception. This failure encouraged

Augustin Nadal The abbé Augustin Nadal (1659 – 7 August 1741) was the author of plays, through the failure of which he became the butt of a withering public reply from Voltaire that has rendered the abbé immortal. He was born in Poitiers. Having finished his ...

to produce his '' Mariamne'' in February 1725, but that was also hostilely received, with calls for the return of Voltaire's version of the story. Nadal accused Voltaire of ensuring Nadal's play's failure by filling the audience with his supporters, and this led to a bitter war of words between them. Within months of Nadal's play, Voltaire managed to revise his play (responding to criticisms in the characterisation, he made Herod a more self-doubting and introspective rather than monolithic figure, for example, and moved Mariamne's suicide off-stage) and his cast (changing Hérode from Baron to Dufresne). It re-premiered at the Comédie-Française as ''Hérode et Mariamne'' on 25 April 1725. In this form, it proved a success, with two-thirds of all boxes at the theatre pre-booked and crowds besieging the theatre, and thus brought Voltaire back into France's upper cultural echelons. It even proved the subject of the 1725 parody ''le Mauvais ménage de Voltaire'', by Dominique and Legrand.

Dispute with Rousseau

Rousseau Jean-Jacques Rousseau (, ; ; 28 June 1712 – 2 July 1778) was a Genevan philosopher ('' philosophe''), writer, and composer. His political philosophy influenced the progress of the Age of Enlightenment throughout Europe, as well as aspects ...

's reaction to the play was one of the causes of his long dispute with Voltaire. Having seen the play, Rousseau wrote to a friend with his reaction to it, and the letter fell into Voltaire's hands. Alluding to Voltaire's re-use of material from his earlier failed tragedy '' Artémire'', Rousseau described the play as "the second delivery of an abortion, taken again into the womb of its mother to receive fresh nourishment... I can discern nothing from the head to the tail but a number of disjointed and monstrous parts instead of a complete whole. In short it is impossible to reconcile this farrago with common sense."

Cast

*Varus, Roman

praetor ''Praetor'' ( , ), also ''pretor'', was the title granted by the government of ancient Rome to a man acting in one of two official capacities: (i) the commander of an army, and (ii) as an elected ''magistratus'' (magistrate), assigned to disch ...

and governor of Syria * Hérode, king of Palestine * Mariamne, wife of Hérode *

Salome Salome (; , related to , "peace"; ), also known as Salome III, was a Jews, Jewish princess, the daughter of Herod II and princess Herodias. She was granddaughter of Herod the Great and stepdaughter of Herod Antipas. She is known from the New T ...

, sister of Hérode *Albin, confidant of Varus *Mazael and Idamas, ministers of Hérode *Nabal, an old officer of the Hasmonean kings (possibly a satirical side-swipe at Nadal) *Elize, confidante of Mariamne *Hérode's followers *Varus's followers

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Herode Et Mariamne Plays by Voltaire 1724 plays French-language plays Tragedy plays Plays set in the 1st century BC Cultural depictions of Salome I Cultural depictions of Herod the Great Plays set in Jerusalem