Iphigenia in Tauris (Goethe)

Iphigenia in Tauris
Orestes, a curly-haired young man in a Greek robe, is seated before a small group of trees, clasping the right hand of another Greek man, who is standing with his left hand on the seated man's arm. Standing to their left but in the right of the painting is a tall, robed woman of elegant bearing. Behind her are two columns of a classic Greek temple. Low mountains are in the far background.
Scene from Iphigenia in Tauris (1802 version première in Weimar), with Goethe as Orestes in the centre (Act III, Scene 3) (drawing by Angelica Kauffman)
Written byJohann Wolfgang von Goethe
Based onIphigenia in Tauris
by Euripides
Characters
Date premieredApril 6, 1779 (1779-04-06)
Place premieredDucal private theater in Weimar
Original languageGerman
GenreTragedy
SettingDiana's temple grove at Tauris, after the Trojan War

Iphigenia in Tauris (German: Iphigenie auf Tauris) is a reworking by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe of the ancient Greek tragedy Ἰφιγένεια ἐν Ταύροις (Iphigeneia en Taurois) by Euripides. Euripides' title means "Iphigenia among the Taurians", whereas Goethe's title means "Iphigenia in Taurica", the country of the Tauri.

Goethe wrote the first version of his play in six weeks, and it was first performed on April 6, 1779, in prose form. He rewrote it in 1781, again in prose, and finally in 1786 in verse form.[1] He took the manuscript of Iphigenia in Tauris with him on his famous Italian Journey.

  1. ^ Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1966). Iphigenia in Tauris. Manchester University Press. p. 15.