Crébillon, Prosper Jolyot de

Crébillon, Prosper Jolyot de prôspĕrˈ zhôlyōˈ də krābēyôNˈ [key], 1674–1762, French dramatist. His tragic melodramas, marked by violent plots, include Idoménée (1705), Électre (1708), and Rhadamiste et Zénobie (1711), which is considered his best. After a long retirement he was persuaded by Mme de Pompadour, who was seeking a rival to Voltaire, to write Catilina (1748), which was performed with great success.

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