Scene: The stage shows a verdant amphitheatre covered with trees forming a bower. In the background is a throne covered by a canopy of flowers. Queen Hersilide is sitting on the throne.
The people of Sybaris celebrate the coronation of their new queen (Chorus: "Régnez, mortelle adorable"). Agis and Philoé trust she will maintain the Sybarite tradition of devotion to pleasure. Hersilide pledges that her reign will bring love and happiness. The Sybarite festivities are suddenly interrupted by the noise of war (Chorus: "Quel bruit se mêle à nos concerts!"). Agis brings news that the neighbouring city of Crotone is invading Sybaris. Hersilide is undaunted and tells her people to offer flowers to the belligerent Crotoniates. Left alone, she prays to Cupid to aid her (Air: "Tendre Amour, prête-moi tes armes"). The Crotoniates arrive under their leader Astole, who rejects the Sybarites' flowers and accuses them of effeminacy ("Peuple efféminé, cœurs timides"). However, when he sees Hersilide he begins to fall in love with her. Astole says he has come to teach the Sybarites to throw off their idleness and acquire a thirst for glory, but he is disturbed to find himself succumbing to Sybaris's charms. Eventually, he agrees to let the Sybarites live under their own laws and confesses the power of Cupid. The opera ends with the Sybarites and the Crotoniates celebrating together.
Recordings
Sibaris Le Concert de l'Hostel Dieu, Franck-Emmanuel Comte (Pierre Verany label, 1999)
References
Sources
Girdlestone, Cuthbert, Jean-Philippe Rameau: His Life and Work, New York: Dover, 1969 (paperback edition)
Holden, Amanda (Ed.), The New Penguin Opera Guide, New York: Penguin Putnam, 2001. ISBN0-14-029312-4
Sadler, Graham, (Ed.), The New Grove French Baroque Masters Grove/Macmillan, 1988
