I find the plot of most operas prosaic and completely unattractive, which is partly why I'd take any Japanese anime over operas any day of the week, even though I have a long-standing love for western classical music. 相对于现今复杂的人际关系和社会百态,那个时代还是比较纯朴简单的,而且那个时代也是最向往antiquity最追求复古的,因此有了这么多以古希腊古罗马神话为题材的戏剧。艺术史上有很多parallel,比如这个时候绘画和雕塑正处于“仿古典主义”时期,仿的就是古希腊古典时期(Greek classical period)的艺术风格,比如法国的Poussin选材很多都是古典神话,人物和画面布局都很monumental。