''Télémaque et Calypso'' (''Telemachus and Calypso''), also ''Télémaque'' or rench: ''ou''''Calypso'', is an opera by the French composer André Cardinal Destouches, first performed at the Académie Royale de Musique (the

Paris Opera The Paris Opera (, ) is the primary opera and ballet company of France. It was founded in 1669 by Louis XIV as the , and shortly thereafter was placed under the leadership of Jean-Baptiste Lully and officially renamed the , but continued to be ...

) on 29 November 1714. It takes the form of a '' tragédie en musique'' in a prologue and five acts. The libretto is by Simon-Joseph Pellegrin. The plot is taken from ''

Les Aventures de Télémaque :''"Les Aventures de Télémaque" is also the title of a 1922 seven-chapter story by Louis Aragon.'' ''Les aventures de Télémaque, fils d'Ulysse'' (English: ''The adventures of Telemachus, son of Ulysses'') is a didactic novel by François F ...

'' by

François Fénelon François de Salignac de la Mothe-Fénelon (), more commonly known as François Fénelon (6 August 1651 – 7 January 1715), was a French Catholic archbishop, theologian, poet and writer. Today, he is remembered mostly as the author of '' Th ...

, itself adapted from Homer's '' Telemachy'': Telemachus is shipwrecked while searching for his father

Ulysses Ulysses is one form of the Roman name for Odysseus, a hero in ancient Greek literature. Ulysses may also refer to: People * Ulysses (given name), including a list of people with this name Places in the United States * Ulysses, Kansas * Ulysse ...

, and resists seduction by the sea-nymph Calypso because of his love for the shepherdess Eucharis. The opera was imitated by a number of other Italian and French versions, including by

Alessandro Scarlatti Pietro Alessandro Gaspare Scarlatti (2 May 1660 – 22 October 1725) was an Italian Baroque composer, known especially for his operas and chamber cantatas. He is considered the most important representative of the Neapolitan school of opera. ...

and

Carlo Sigismondo Capece Carlo Sigismondo Capece (21 June 1652 in Rome – 12 March 1728 in Polistena) was an Italian dramatist and librettist. Capece was court poet to Queen Maria Casimira of Poland, who was living in exile in Rome, and is best remembered today for the li ...

References

Sources

*
Libretto at "Livres baroques"
*
Félix Clément and Pierre Larousse ''Dictionnaire des Opéras'', Paris, 1881
French-language operas Tragédies en musique 1714 operas Operas by André Cardinal Destouches Operas Operas based on the Odyssey Works based on Les Aventures de Télémaque {{french-opera-stub