Gli dei a Tebe (The gods in Thebes) is an opera in three acts by Ermanno Wolf-Ferrari on a libretto by Mario Ghisalberti [it],[1] performed for the first time at the Opernhaus in Hannover on 4 June 1943.
[2] The first performance used the translation of the libretto in German (Der Kuckuck in Theben) by Franz Rau.
The story, set in ancient Thebes, focuses on Zeus' attempt to take the place of Amphitryon, returning from a war, to have an adventure with his wife Alcmene.
The cuckoo in the title of the German translation refers to a bird that Alcmene would like to give as an offering to Hera.
In the morning Hera makes sure that Alcmene meets the real Amphytrion and Zeus' project fades away.