About the work
Céphale et Procris is a tragédie en musique by Élisabeth Jacquet de La Guerre, set to a libretto by Joseph-François Duché de Vancy based on an episode from Ovid's Metamorphoses. The opera premiered in 1694 at the Paris Opéra (Théâtre du Palais-Royal).
Plot
The Thracian prince Borée and the hero Céphale both court the Athenian princess Procris. The goddess Aurora, who is in love with Céphale, stokes Procris's jealousy out of spite; when Procris secretly tries to watch her lover, Céphale mistakenly wounds her fatally with an arrow.
Cultural significance
Céphale et Procris was the first opera by a female composer to be staged at the Paris Opéra. Despite its musical quality, the libretto was seen as cumbersome and the work never achieved lasting success, receiving only a handful of performances.