#giambattista verasco

[gardenofadonis]

my HC is that Ilia (fictional daughter of Priam who appeared in Mozart/Verasco's Idomeneo opera) is derived from Ilione/Iliona, the eldest daughter of Priam and Hecuba according to Hyginus and Virgil, not only because the names are similar but because, in fact, in the French text that Verasco based his libretto on (Danchet's Idoménée), her name is Ilione instead of Ilia (the female equivalent in the text that Danchet based his on does not have the Troy/Priam connection so it doesn't matter).

This is interesting because in classical texts Ilione is the wife of Polymestor and is most definitely not an unmarried teenager when the Trojan War happened (she was the eldest daughter, presumably married before the war started, and the war went on for 10 years).

BUT as an Ilia singer I would love to imagine that I have a somewhat personal connection to Ilione & Polymestor, especially after I became hyperfixated on The Burnt City. Anyway this is what my brain is doing after midnight instead of anything productive.