Athalie

play by Racine

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June 18, 2026

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The play Athalie by Jean Racine is a tragedy based on a story from the Old Testament. It tells the story of Athaliah, daughter of Ahab and Jezebel, who usurped the throne of Judah after her son's death. She ordered the massacre of the royal family, sparing only the infant Joash. A revolution eventually led to her downfall and death.1

Racine's Athalie is notable for its structure, with the action unfolding within the duration of the performance. It depicts a struggle between human will and divine intervention, as Joash is saved from his grandmother by God's intervention. This play, along with Esther, was written for the girls' school at Saint-Cyr and features musical choral interludes.23

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Jean Racine
Life
…performed and published 1689) and Athalie—for the girls at the school she cofounded in Saint-Cyr. His other undertakings during his last years were to reedit, in 1687 and finally in 1697, the edition of his complete works that he had first published in 1676 and to compose, likely as his…
Read More
…performed and published 1689) and Athalie—for the girls at the school she cofounded in Saint-Cyr. His other undertakings during his last years were to reedit, in 1687 and finally in 1697, the edition of his complete works that he had first published in 1676 and to compose, likely as his…
Read More