The Minor Characters in Handel’s ​Semele: The Representation of Athamas, Ino, Somnus, and Iris

by Cynthia Hu

In usual fashion, main characters of any work get the most attention while minor characters don’t get as much background and development. In Handel’s ​Semele​, regardless of if you’re familiar with the opera or original work, you are probably familiar with the characters of Zeus (Jupiter) and Hera (Juno). Semele, the main character, is introduced and explored in great depth. But you really don’t know much about the minor characters- specifically Athamas, Ino, Iris, and Somnus. These four characters were either mentioned in passing or not included in the original myth of Semele, found in Book Three of Ovid’s ​Metamorphoses​. What are their backgrounds and history? What was the point of including them in the final libretto of the opera? What are the motivations of the characters, specifically Iris and Somnus who have no relationship with Semele unlike Athamas and Ino, to become intertwined in the main storyline? Perhaps there’s also a historical reason as to why William Congreve, the original librettist of Semele,​ included these characters and why Handel decided to keep them.

Through my research, I have found interesting parallels between the original works of Semele​ and other greek works such as Homer’s the ​Iliad.​ Some of the motivations that seemed to be clearly presented in ​Semele​, were contradictory to evidence provided in the ​Iliad​. Due to the lack of information on William Congreve, there is little evidence to prove historical motivations. Still, a likely possibility is that with more characters, there is also more music that can be included in the opera, so that may have also played a part in the addition of the minor characters.

* Note: Roman names for deities will be used unless referencing Grecian works, where Greek names will be used.

Athamas was a Boeotian king, a son of Aeolus and Enarete, and sired several children by his first wife, the goddess Nephele. During the story of Semele, he was supposed to marry Semele at the start of Ovid’s story. Due to Semele’s relationship with Jove, the wedding did not go through. Subsequently, he married Ino, one of Semele’s three sisters, with whom they had two children: Learches and Melicertes.

Ino hated the children (twins) from Athamas' first marriage so she devised a plot to kill them. She collected all crop seeds from the town, and burned them. The farmers sent people to ask an oracle for a solution. “Ino bribed the messengers to say that the oracle asked for the sacrifice of the twins. Athamas had no other choice but to agree with the sacrifice, but just before the children were killed, a flying golden ram that was sent by Nephele saved the twins” (Smith). Only one of the twins survived the journey.

The sculpture on the right is by John Flaxman, titled ​The Fury of Athamas.​ After the story of Semele, Juno found out that Ino was raising Bacchus (or Dionysus), Semele’s son. In a fit of rage, Juno inflicted madness on him, leading Athamas to kill his son Learchus. After he recovered and was full of guilt for his son's death, Athamas fled Boeotia and went to Phthiotis, where he married Themisto. The couple had a number of children, but soon afterwards, Athamas returned to Ino. Themisto wanted to take revenge by killing Ino's children, so she dressed them in black clothes, while her own were dressed in white. Ino switched the clothes without Themisto knowing, and so she ended up killing her own children. Thus continuing the pattern of bad luck befalling all of Cadmus’ descendants.

In this particular story in Ovid’s ​Metamorphoses,​ Ino is mentioned in passing as Semele’s sister. Therefore including her in the libretto isn’t a stretch. Athamas on the other hand, was not mentioned at all. Congreve must have thought it important to include the wedding scene at the start of the opera, which is able to set up Jove taking Semele to a private villa. This helps ease viewers into the story, which is very much ongoing. Remember, the story of Semele is only one small portion of Ovid’s ​Metamorphoses​ Book 3 out of 5. The inclusion of Athamas also allows more writing to explore the relationship between him and Ino, as seen through their duet.

Somnus, also known by his Greek name Hypnos, is the god of sleep. He is the son of Nyx, goddess of night and Erebus, god of darkness. His brother is Thanatos, or death personified. Both siblings live in a valley of the Greek underworld. According to rumors, Hypnos lived in a big cave where night and day meet. His bed is made of ebony, and on the entrance of the cave grows a number of poppies, which are known to make people drowsy, and other hypnotic plants. No light and no sound would ever enter his home. “He is said to be a calm and gentle god, as he helps humans in need and, due to their sleep, owns half of their lives” (Smith).

Juno, having found a hole in her plan, goes to him for help. He refuses to help her, so Juno offers his favorite nymph in return for his aid and he agrees. In Congreve’s version, Somnus puts Ino to sleep, allowing Juno to appear to Semele as Ino. In Handel’s version, he puts the dragons that guard Semele’s palace to sleep. Through my research, I can assume that this nymph is Pasithea, one of the youngest of the Charities and Somnus’ love. While this could be true, there is evidence to show that this fact contradicts another work. Homer’s the ​Iliad,​ an ancient Greek epic, presents another story. In the ​Iliad​, Hera asked Hypnos to help her trick Zeus, but he refused, as although he had tricked him once before, Zeus went on a rampage, forcing Hypnos to go into hiding. Therefore, in order to convince him, Hera promises him that he would be married to Pasithea whom he had always wanted to marry. Hypnos made her swear by the river Styx so that he would be ensured that he would marry her. This slight contradiction in information makes it less clear that Somnus had clear motivations to help Juno.

In Ovid’s ​Metamorphoses​, Juno transforms into Beroe, Semele’s old nurse. While it doesn’t mention if Beroe was put to sleep as Ino was, Beroe was an old nurse and Juno probably didn’t need the help of the god of sleep to keep her away. So the inclusion of Somnus in Congreve’s libretto wasn’t particularly necessary. It seems odd that Juno herself would go out of her way to find the god of sleep just to “distract” Ino for not even an hour.

Perhaps one reason is because Congreve wanted to expand on the motif of sleep. This motif of sleep appears many times, especially with Semele. When Semele wakes from dreaming, she often has feelings of doubt or uncertainty. For example, in Act II Scene II, “Semele awakes and all of a sudden begins thinking of Jove’s infidelity and that his love for her might not be real, leading her to sing the aria ‘O sleep, why dost thou leave me?’” (Solomon).

Again, according to Smith’s book, Iris is the goddess of the rainbow and messenger of the gods. She is also known as one of the goddesses of the sea and the sky. Iris links the gods to humans. In some records, Iris is a twin to the Titaness Arke, who deserted the Olympian gods to join the Titans as their messenger goddess during the Titanomachy, making the two sisters enemy messenger goddesses. Iris was said to have golden wings, whereas Arke had iridescent ones. She is also said to travel on the rainbow while carrying messages from the gods to mortals. “Iris is frequently mentioned as a divine messenger in the ​Iliad,​ which is attributed to Homer. She does not, however, appear in the Odyssey​, where her role is instead filled by Hermes” (Smith). Like Hermes, Iris carries a caduceus or winged staff.

Iris also appears several times in the ​Aeneid,​ usually as an agent of Juno. In Book 4, Juno dispatches her to pluck a lock of hair from the head of Queen Dido, that she may die and enter Hades. In Book 5, Iris, having taken on the form of a Trojan woman, stirs up the other Trojan mothers to set fire to four of Aeneas' ships in order to prevent them from leaving Sicily (Virgil).

According to Ovid in ​Metamorphoses​ Books 3 and 4, after Romulus was deified as the god Quirinus, his wife Hersilia pleaded with the gods to let her become immortal as well so that she could be with her husband again. Juno heard her plea and sent Iris down to her. With a single finger, Iris touched Hersilia and transformed her into a goddess. Hersilia flew to Olympus, where she became one of the Horae and was permitted to live with her husband forever.

With this information in mind, it makes sense that if Congreve wanted someone to do Juno’s bidding, it would be Iris, given her history and connection to Juno in Greek and Roman mythology. There may not be any kind of internal motivation for Iris; perhaps just following the deity hierarchy. Additionally, in Greek art, Iris is often seen next to either Hera or Zeus, as seen in the picture above.

The main reason as to why these four characters were included was because John Eccles, the man who wrote the original opera, wanted more characters to write music for. Though George Frideric Handel later rewrote all of the music for his version of the opera, he may have shared similar sentiments to Eccles in wanting more characters. This is evident, as the four characters have a substantial amount of music to perform, whether they are solo arias, recitatives, or duets with other characters.

Though his performance time isn’t as extensive as the other characters, during Act 3 Scene 1, Somnus performs four pieces. He sings two arias, ‘Leave ne, loathsome light!’ and ‘More sweet is that name’ as well as the recitative ‘My will obey’ and a duet with Juno titled ‘Obey my will, thy rod resign’ (Silvester). Iris as well performs four recitatives with Juno and sings one aria. Athamas is a part of seven recitatives, sings three arias, and performs in one duet and one quartet. Ino performs in eight recitatives, two arias, two duets, and a quartet. Without these four minor characters, not to mention even more minor characters like Cadmus and Apollo, the opera would be lacking a lot of musical performances and therefore, the opera would lose much of its substance.

Perhaps Congreve wanted more characters to make the opera more interesting. With more characters, the audience’s attention can be diverted in different ways and interesting subplot points can be created. Also, this gives the performers who play the roles of Jove, Juno and Semele, a break, as if there are no other characters, they may have to be performing the entirety of the opera by themselves.

As to whether or not there is any historical context, “there is little information regarding Congreve and his relationship with the story of Semele” (Andrews). Handel took Congreve’s libretto, edited it slightly, but still kept in all of the characters. Handel was in charge of both the libretto and the opera, so perhaps he knew a countertenor that would be able to play the part of Athamas well, or perhaps he knew of a bass who could perform the role of Somnus. Or perhaps he wanted to stay as true as possible to Congreve’s original libretto.

It is difficult to find much mythological or historical evidence to explain why these four characters were included in Congreve’s version of the libretto. While these characters did have interactions with some of the main characters of ​Semele​, such as Juno (Hera), I cannot definitively say that those interactions led to their existence and motivations in the opera. Even so, it can provide insight to the performer, as it is ultimately up to them and the director to make character decisions.

Works Cited
Andrews, John K. “The Historical Context of Handel's Semele.” Oct. 2007.

Congreve, William. “Opera of Semele.” Semele., 2001, ​www.luminarium.org/renascence-editions/congreve1.html​.

Handel, George Frideric. “SEMELE.” HANDEL Semele - Libretto, 1999, opera.stanford.edu/iu/libretti/semele.htm.

Homer. ​ILIAD​. FORGOTTEN Books, 2016.

Ovid. The Metamorphoses of Ovid. New York: Harcourt Brace, 1993. Print.

Silvester, Wendy. “Semele (Opera) Songs.” ​StageAgent,​ stageagent.com/shows/opera/2101/semele/songs.

Smith, William. Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology. J. Walton, 1870. Solomon, Jon. “Reflections of Ovid in Semele's Mirror.” Music & Letters, vol. 63, no. 3/4, 1982, pp. 226–241. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/736548. Accessed 15 Oct. 2020. Virgil. The Aeneid. New York: Random House, 1983.