About the work
Tragédie en musique in a prologue and five acts by Jean-Baptiste Lully to a libretto by Thomas Corneille and Bernard Le Bovier de Fontenelle, based on the Greek myth of the rider of the winged horse Pegasus. The opera was first performed on 31 January 1679 at the Académie royale de musique in Paris — the only Lully tragedy not written with Philippe Quinault, after Louis XIV had taken offence at Quinault's previous libretto.
Plot
The hero Bellérophon rejects the love of Queen Sténobée because he loves Princess Philonoé instead. In revenge, Sténobée has the sorcerer Amisodar conjure the fire-breathing monster Chimère, which Bellérophon defeats with the help of Pegasus and the goddess Pallas. Sténobée then poisons herself, while Bellérophon marries Philonoé.
Cultural significance
The premiere became one of Lully's greatest successes and ran for nine months, with Louis XIV having favourite passages repeated. A public dispute later broke out between Fontenelle and Nicolas Boileau, each claiming to have written the bulk of the libretto.