The French-language libretto was adapted by Nicolas-François Guillard from that by Charles-Antoine Leclerc de La Bruère, which had already been set to music by Jean-Philippe Rameau in his earlier opera of the same name.

Both Maillard, who played Iphise, and Larrivée, who played Teucer, were regarded as inadequate, the latter having to be replaced by Moreau after the second performance;[4] the opera as a whole was deeply involved in the growing hostility towards Queen Marie Antoinette's predilection for foreigners,[2] Sacchini being her favourite: she herself had introduced the musician to the king in 1783, when he had been celebrated at court along with another Italian composer Piccinni, when they had both been granted substantial pensions on account of their recently staged operas, Didon and Chimène.

[4] The new version was given at Fontainebleau on 20 October 1785 and was later brought to the stage of the Paris Opera on 17 January 1786, enjoying a total of 25 performances in 1786/1787.

Extracts from the opera appeared on the soundtrack CD, conducted by William Christie with Jean-Paul Fouchécourt singing the title role.

Two arias for Iphise ("Il me fuit ... Rien peut émouvoir" and "Cesse, cruel Amour, de régner sur mon âme") were recorded by Véronique Gens on the album Tragédiennes 2, accompanied by the orchestra Les Talens Lyriques conducted by Christophe Rousset (Virgin Classics, 2009).