George Frideric Handel, Acis and Galatea

Pat Rogers (University of South Florida)

Ed. by Nicholas Seager, University of Keele
The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 1.2.1.05: English Writing and Culture from the Glorious Revolution to the French Revolution, 1689-1789.
Vol. editors: Paul Baines (University of Liverpool), Daniel Cook (University of Dundee), Pat Rogers (University of South Florida), Nicholas Seager (University of Keele)

Dates

First circulation or publication 1718

Places

Germany (Country of Origin)
United Kingdom (Publication/ performance)

Genres and Modes

Masque

Resources

Save to Bookshelf

Recommended Reading

Acis and Galatea

(1718) is a masque by George Frideric Handel. It comprised his first major setting of an English text, which was provided by John Gay and his friends (though the authorial responsibility for any given section is uncertain). The work was subsequently described as a serenata, a pastoral, and an oratorio. Earlier in Naples the composer had made another setting for Italian words in

Aci

Galatea e Polifimo

(1708), using the same plot based on Ovid’s

Metamorphoses

, 13: 750–897. It concerns the fate of a Nereid from Sicily, told in her own words to Scylla, after her lover the young shepherd Acis was killed by a rock discharged by the ugly giant Polyphemus, who had himself desired her. The Latin source has Acis turned into a mountain stream, while the masque substitutes a…

Please log in to consult the article in its entirety. If you are a member (student of staff) of a subscribing institution (see List), you should be able to access the LE on campus directly (without the need to log in), and off-campus either via the institutional log in we offer, or via your institution's remote access facilities, or by creating a personal user account with your institutional email address. If you are not a member of a subscribing institution, you will need to purchase a personal subscription. For more information on how to subscribe as an individual user, please see under Individual Subcriptions.

1360 words

Citation: Rogers, Pat. "Acis and Galatea". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 20 April 2021 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=6860, accessed 21 November 2024.]

View recommended reading for this article

George Frideric Handel, Acis and Galatea

Dates

Places

Genres and Modes

Resources

Save this article

Leave Feedback