| Athalie | |
|---|---|
 Actress playing the role of Athalie, 1850s. | |
| Written by | Jean Racine |
| Chorus | Daughters of thetribe of Levi |
| Characters | Athalie Joad Josabet Salomith Abner Azartah, Ishmael, priests andLevites Mathan Nabal Agar Nurse of Joad |
| Date premiered | 1691 |
| Original language | French |
| Genre | tragedy |
| Setting | Jerusalem Temple, a vestibule of the High Priest's apartment, c. 835 BC |
Athalie ([a.ta.li], sometimes translatedAthalia) is a 1691 play, the finaltragedy ofJean Racine, and has been described as the masterpiece[1][2] of "one of the greatest literary artists known"[3] and the "ripest work" of Racine'sgenius.[4]Charles Augustin Sainte-Beuve deemed it comparable toOedipus Rex in beauty, with "the true God added."[5]August Wilhelm Schlegel thought Athalie to be "animated by divine breath";[4] other critics have regarded thepoetics of drama in the play to be superior to those ofAristotle.[5]
After the success ofEsther, Racine publishedAthalie in 1691, another play drawn from theBible, which he expected would have the same success.
Athalie, widow of the king ofJudah, rules the country and believes she has eliminated all the rest of the royal family. She has abandoned theJewish religion for the worship ofBaal. However, the late king's grandsonJoash was rescued by the wife of the high priest.
Athalie was the victim of opposition from moralists at its creation.[citation needed] Represented on the public scene after the death ofMadame de Maintenon, it was never part of the most popular plays of Racine, thoughVoltaire saw it as "perhaps the masterpiece of mankind" andFlaubert's character Monsieur Homais, the pharmacist, inMadame Bovary calls it the most "immortal masterpiece of the French stage," and names one of his daughters Athalie.[5]
The oratorioAthalia byGeorge Frideric Handel, with libretto bySamuel Humphreys, was based onAthalie.
Athaliah public domain audiobook atLibriVox