Il ritorno d´Ulisse in patria

In 1607, Monteverdi had established the new genre of opera with a masterpiece, L’Orfeo. Initially, performances of the new form of musical theatre were accessible only to the nobility, but from 1637 public opera houses were opened in Venice for paying audiences. Two operas by Monteverdi survive from this time. One of them is Il ritorno d’Ulisse in patria to a libretto by Giacomo Badoaro after Homer’s Odyssey. Monteverdi seeks to satisfy the audience's desire for spectacle with a large cast. In the prologue, Il Tempo (Time), La Fortuna (Fortune) and Amore (Cupid) along with l’Umana fragilitá (Human Frailty) claim that every human being is a plaything of the gods. The return of Ulisse from the Trojan War is given as an example: for ten years he laid siege to Troy, and his return home was prevented for another ten years by the anger of the sea-god Nettuno. Without the support of the goddess Minerva his wanderings may have gone on forever.