During an insurrection Cresphontes and two of his sons were murdered and the throne seized by Polyphontes, who forced Merope to marry him.
In another legend he was blinded by Oenopion of Chios for having violated his daughter Merope; but having made his way to the place where the sun rose, he recovered his sight (Hyginus, loc. cit.; Parthenius, Erotica, 20).
But at last, on the 13th of August 1732, he produced Zaire, the best (with Merope) of all his plays, and one of the ten or twelve best plays of the whole French classical school.
Zaire, among those where love is admitted as a principal motive, and Merope, among those where this motive is excluded and kept in subordination, yield to no plays of their classe in such interest as is possible on the model, in stage effect and in uniform literary merit.
One of these sub-species, merope, which ranges from the west coast to Victoria Nyanza, is polymorphic and occurs under three forms, namely (a) hippocoon, which mimics the Danaine Amauris niavius; (b) trophonius, which mimics the Danaine Limnas chrysippus; (c) planemoides, which mimics the Acraeine Planema poggei.