Little is known about the opera's librettist, Tebaldo Fattorini, apart from the fact that he came from a prominent family in
Chioggia and was employed as a "house poet" for the Teatro San Salvador in Venice. In addition to writing
Eteocle e Polinice, he also significantly revised
Nicolò Minato's libretto for a new version of
Cavalli's
Scipione africano in 1677 and may also have revised Giovanni Giovannini's original libretto for its setting by Legrenzi as
Adone in Cipro in 1675. Its most well known aria, "Che fiero costume" (also known by its English title, "How void of compassion"), has been recorded by several well known opera singers, including
Luciano Pavarotti,
Ezio Pinza, and
Richard Tucker. A manuscript score from the 1689 Neapolitan production has survived.
Richard Strauss made specific reference to this opera in
Die schweigsame Frau, recomposing "Dolce Amor" as a duet which is sung in the course of the music lesson scene in act 3, as one of many such re-appropriations of pre-existing music Strauss used to create an "antique" atmosphere. ==Roles==