About the work
Mithridate is a five-act tragedy in verse by Jean Racine, first performed on 13 January 1673 at the Hôtel de Bourgogne in Paris, shortly after Racine's election to the Académie française. The play is based on the historically attested conflict between King Mithridates VI of Pontus and Rome, but adds a love plot invented by Racine.
Plot
King Mithridate, an aging enemy of Rome, returns from what appears to be a defeat and finds his two sons, Xipharès and Pharnace, rivals for his betrothed, Monime. A false report of his death leads Xipharès and Monime to confess their love; Pharnace betrays his father to Rome. Dying, Mithridate learns of his son's true love, forgives him, and unites the couple before he dies.
Cultural significance
Madame de Coulanges described the effect at court, saying audiences wept and were in "continual admiration"; Louis XIV had the play performed repeatedly at court. Contemporary criticism targeted not the dramatic craft but historical inaccuracies, such as the entirely invented character of Xipharès and the whole love plot around Monime.