Le Cid is a five-act French tragicomedy written by Pierre Corneille, first performed in December 1636 at the Théâtre du Marais in Paris and published the same year.

Cardinal Richelieu's Académie française acknowledged the play's success, but determined that it was defective, in part because it did not respect the classical unities.

Today, Le Cid is widely regarded as Corneille's finest work, and is considered one of the greatest plays of the seventeenth century.

The stories of the Cid are based on the life of the Spanish warrior Rodrigo Díaz de Vivar, who lived approximately from 1043 until 1099.

[2] The name "El Cid" was derived from the Arabic word for lord ("sayyid") and made Spanish, and further given a French article for Corneille's version.

To this day, the Cid remains a popular Spanish folklore character, who has inspired many stories and works of art.

Critics tried to hold the play up to Aristotle's Poetics and its prescriptions, but Corneille argued that great tragic characters are inherently implausible.

After its premiere, Cardinal Richelieu asked the new Académie française to write a discussion of the merits of the play.

[5] Jean Chapelain wrote the document for the Académie, which particularly criticizes the implausibility of Chimène's continued affection for Rodrigue after he kills her father.

Her agreement to marry Rodrigue as the King commands made her an immoral character, Chapelain argued, which was a danger to the viewing public and their morals.

He argued that multiple actions worked well for a play to have a strong beginning, middle, and end.

[7] Setting: The play takes place in the city of Seville in the Castile region of Spain during the second half of the 11th century.

In the second scene, the Infante (or princess) reveals to her maid that she is in love with Rodrigue, but could never marry him because of his lower social class.

The king also worries about a potential impending attack by the Moorish navy moving toward his lands.

Rodrigue must fight them, and if he returns alive and a winner, the king will praise him and he will regain Chimène's love.

Chimène sees Don Sanche come in with a bloody sword, and believes he has killed Rodrigue.

The king tells Chimène she has served her father enough by putting Rodrigue in danger and no longer needs to avenge him.

Scholars estimate that at least twenty-six composers have created an operatic adaptation of the classic tale.

Most notably, the play is the basis for the opera Le Cid by Jules Massenet and partly for Handel's Flavio.