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When Admeto is dying, his wife Alceste sacrifices herself to save him; Hercules descends to Hades and brings her back. Meanwhile, the abandoned Trojan princess Antigona returns in disguise, while jealousy and rival claims to Admeto complicate the household until Antigona reunites him with Alceste.
Camilla, heir to the Volsci throne, hides as a shepherdess while plotting to overthrow Latinus, who has usurped the crown. She saves Prenesto from a boar, and he falls in love with her. Lavinia hides her lover, the enemy king Turnus, while Latinus presses her to marry. After Camilla is captured and freed by Prenesto, a popular uprising defeats Latinus’s forces. Camilla and Prenesto marry, ending the political conflict.
King Flavio is attracted to Teodata, who secretly loves his courtier Vitige. Flavio changes his appointment of Lotario to Ugone in hopes of gaining access to Teodata, angering Lotario. After Lotario slaps Ugone, Ugone’s son Guido is obliged to challenge Lotario, who is Emilia’s father. Guido kills Lotario in a duel, and Emilia vows revenge. Flavio claims Guido has been executed, but reunites him with Emilia when she awakens from a swoon. Flavio also orders Vitige to marry Teodata and remains faithful to his own wife.
Julius Caesar arrives in Egypt pursuing Pompey, whose wife Cornelia pleads for his life. Egypt’s co-ruler Tolomeo presents Caesar with Pompey’s severed head. Cornelia and her son Sesto vow revenge, while Tolomeo’s sister Cleopatra seeks Caesar’s support in taking the throne. Caesar and Cleopatra fall in love, and Caesar escapes an assassination attempt after being reported drowned. Sesto kills Tolomeo after he attempts to force himself on Cornelia. Caesar restores Cleopatra as queen of Egypt and returns to Rome.
Gismonda and her son Adelberto plot to take Italy from Ottone, who is on his way to marry Theofane. Adelberto impersonates Ottone to win Theofane, but is defeated and imprisoned. He escapes with Matilda’s help and abducts Theofane. After renewed conflict, she and Ottone reunite; Emireno is revealed as Theofane’s brother, and Ottone forgives Gismonda and Adelberto. Matilda and Adelberto are also united.
Demetrius seizes the Macedonian throne after murdering Alexander and plans to invade Asia. Ptolemy, Seleucus, and Lysimachus form an alliance against him, joined by Pyrrhus of Epirus. Pyrrhus drives Demetrius from the throne and replaces him, but Lysimachus later drives Pyrrhus away.
When Admeto is dying, his wife Alceste sacrifices herself to save him; Hercules descends to Hades and brings her back. Meanwhile, the abandoned Trojan princess Antigona returns in disguise, while jealousy and rival claims to Admeto complicate the household until Antigona reunites him with Alceste.
Camilla, heir to the Volsci throne, hides as a shepherdess while plotting to overthrow Latinus, who has usurped the crown. She saves Prenesto from a boar, and he falls in love with her. Lavinia hides her lover, the enemy king Turnus, while Latinus presses her to marry. After Camilla is captured and freed by Prenesto, a popular uprising defeats Latinus’s forces. Camilla and Prenesto marry, ending the political conflict.
King Flavio is attracted to Teodata, who secretly loves his courtier Vitige. Flavio changes his appointment of Lotario to Ugone in hopes of gaining access to Teodata, angering Lotario. After Lotario slaps Ugone, Ugone’s son Guido is obliged to challenge Lotario, who is Emilia’s father. Guido kills Lotario in a duel, and Emilia vows revenge. Flavio claims Guido has been executed, but reunites him with Emilia when she awakens from a swoon. Flavio also orders Vitige to marry Teodata and remains faithful to his own wife.
Julius Caesar arrives in Egypt pursuing Pompey, whose wife Cornelia pleads for his life. Egypt’s co-ruler Tolomeo presents Caesar with Pompey’s severed head. Cornelia and her son Sesto vow revenge, while Tolomeo’s sister Cleopatra seeks Caesar’s support in taking the throne. Caesar and Cleopatra fall in love, and Caesar escapes an assassination attempt after being reported drowned. Sesto kills Tolomeo after he attempts to force himself on Cornelia. Caesar restores Cleopatra as queen of Egypt and returns to Rome.
Gismonda and her son Adelberto plot to take Italy from Ottone, who is on his way to marry Theofane. Adelberto impersonates Ottone to win Theofane, but is defeated and imprisoned. He escapes with Matilda’s help and abducts Theofane. After renewed conflict, she and Ottone reunite; Emireno is revealed as Theofane’s brother, and Ottone forgives Gismonda and Adelberto. Matilda and Adelberto are also united.
Demetrius seizes the Macedonian throne after murdering Alexander and plans to invade Asia. Ptolemy, Seleucus, and Lysimachus form an alliance against him, joined by Pyrrhus of Epirus. Pyrrhus drives Demetrius from the throne and replaces him, but Lysimachus later drives Pyrrhus away.
Tiridate, king of Armenia, wages war to possess Zenobia, wife of Prince Radamisto. Radamisto and Zenobia flee, are captured, and face repeated threats as Tiridate pursues her. When his army and people rebel, Tiridate releases the couple, seeks his wife Polissena’s forgiveness, and promises to rule justly.
After Grimoaldo usurps the throne of Milan, Queen Rodelinda and her son Flavio are held captive, while her husband Bertarido is believed dead. Grimoaldo offers to marry Rodelinda and restore her throne, but she refuses. When he threatens Flavio, she agrees only on condition that Grimoaldo kill the boy himself. Bertarido watches in hiding, then secretly reveals he is alive. He is imprisoned but escapes with help from his sister Eduige and counsellor Unulfo. In the palace garden, Bertarido kills Garibaldo, who is about to murder Grimoaldo, but spares the usurper. Grimoaldo gives up the throne and returns to Eduige; Bertarido is restored to Rodelinda and their son.
In a fictionalized seventh-century Persian court, Crown Prince Siroe is caught among his brother’s ambitions, his father’s suspicions, and the competing demands of Emira and Laodice. He refuses to expose conspirators and faces execution, but confessions and reversals reveal the plots; Siroe survives, forgives his brother, and succeeds his abdicating father.
After defeating the Ottoman sultan Bajazet, Tamerlano seeks to marry Bajazet’s daughter Asteria, who loves the Greek prince Andronico. Asteria and her father resist, and she attempts to poison Tamerlano. Bajazet takes poison and dies; the events lead Tamerlano to pardon Asteria and Andronico and unite with Irene.
Teseo, an unknown son of King Egeo, serves Athens as a hero and loves the princess Agilea. The sorceress Medea also loves him and repeatedly uses magic to separate the couple. Egeo nearly gives Teseo a poisoned drink, but recognizes the sword left with his son in infancy and discovers his identity. Teseo and Agilea are reunited, and Minerva banishes Medea.
The deposed Egyptian ruler Tolomeo lives in disguise on Cyprus, where he encounters his shipwrecked brother Alessandro and his wife Seleuce, also living under an alias. They conceal their identities as the king of Cyprus and his sister pursue them. Tolomeo drinks a potion that is presented as poison but is actually a sleeping draught. Alessandro reunites the couple and declares Tolomeo Egypt’s rightful ruler.