About the work
Stratonice is a comédie héroïque (opéra comique) in one act by Étienne-Nicolas Méhul, with a libretto by François-Benoît Hoffman based on an episode from Seleucid history recorded by Lucian. It premiered on 3 May 1792 at the Théâtre Favart (Comédie-Italienne) in Paris.
Plot
King Seleucus has married the young Stratonice, but his son Antiochus secretly pines for her and falls gravely ill. The physician Erasistratus diagnoses the cause from Antiochus's racing pulse whenever he sees Stratonice, and persuades Seleucus to give up his wife to save his son's life.
Cultural significance
With more than 200 performances during Méhul's lifetime, Stratonice was among his most successful works. The same ancient subject soon attracted painters such as Ingres and David; according to the Château de Chantilly, Ingres knew Méhul's opera when he painted his picture of Antiochus's illness.