• George Frideric Handel. Opera in three acts. 1736.
• Libretto adapted anonymously from Belisario Valeriano’s La caccia in Etolia (The Hunt in Aetolia)
• First performance at the Theatre Royal, Covent Garden, London, on 12th May 1736.

Meleager, King of Aetolia, loves Atalanta, Princess of Arcadia, whose principal interest is the hunt, an activity pursued in a pastoral setting under the name of Amaryllis. Meleager, disguised as the shepherd Thyrsis, follows her, and is eventually successful in his pursuit.

The opera was part of the celebration offered for the marriage of the Prince of Wales to Augusta, Princess of Saxe-Gotha. The Prince supported the opposing opera company, the so-called Opera of the Nobility, and Handel was now turning his attention increasingly to English oratorio. Meleager, a breeches role at the first performance of the opera, is given the well-known Care selve (Dear woods), heard often enough in recital.