A high-risk deal with the gods: In order to finally be able to get back to his homeland Creteafter the Trojan War and life-threatening sea storms, King Idomeneo promises the sea god Neptune to sacrifice the first living being he will encounter on land. Fate strikes relentlessly:Idomeneo meets his son Idamante first! What to do? Sacrifice your own flesh and blood? Is it perhaps even a son's duty to submit to it? According to ancient traditions, the conflict always leads to catastrophe: the son is sacrificed, but Idomeneo has to leave the island because the Cretans no longer accept him as ruler. Quite different with Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: The characters' pain over fate turns the myth into the humane. Idomeneo gives up his power, the son survives and is crowned king. A new generation wins the confrontation with the gods. Peace, love and humanity shine through enlightenment. For Mozart, the Munich premiere in 1781 was an artistic liberation. The theater person found his own approach to the opera genre in dealing with the tradition of orchestra and scene in the Cuvilliés Theater. A visionary work - until today!