L'Olimpiade

Metastasio’s plot vaguely draws upon the narrative of "The Trial of the Suitors" provided from Book 6 of The Histories of Herodotus, which had previously been the base for Apostolo Zeno's libretto Gli inganni felici (1695).

The story, set in Ancient Greece at the time of the Olympic Games, is about amorous rivalry and characters' taking places to gain the loved one.

Unknown to Megacles, Lycidas is in love with Aristaea, whose hand is to be offered to the winner of the games by her father, King Cleisthenes.

Lycidas, once betrothed to Princess Argene of Crete, is unaware that Megacles and Aristaea already love each other, and he subsequently tells his friend of the prize.

Although Pergolesi’s initial setting for Rome was not immediately successful, the number of subsequent stagings and extant manuscripts have particularly associated his name with this drama.

Johann Nepomuk Poissl's Der Wettkampf zu Olympia, oder Die Freunde (1815) was the first German-language setting and his version enjoyed occasional revivals during the nineteenth century.

The following is a list of the most notable operas that subsequently utilized Metastasio's libretto in chronological order of first performance: Notes Sources