The Italian-born French composer Jean-Baptiste Lully and the French poet Philippe Quinault, both of whom worked at the court of King Louis XIV of France, wrote several operas ( tragédies lyriques) together. Except for the late period of their collaboration, they often employed mythical motifs as the subject of their operas. The plot of six of them is derived from Ovid’s Metamorphoses. The present discussion briefly presents the beginnings of French opera and Lully’s and Quinault’s contributions to it, whereas the main concern is the influence of Ovid’s Metamorphoses on their six operas: Cadmus et Hermione ( LWV 49), Thésée ( LWV 51), Isis ( LWV 54), Proserpine ( LWV 58), Persée ( LWV 60) and Phaëton ( LWV 61). The main difference between Ovid’s text and the operas’ librettos lies in the even stronger emphasis on the theme of love, which complicates the stories.