Since the end of the 18th century, the literary exchanges between French and German theatres are much more numerous. Lessing uses Diderots ideas in his Hamburgische Dramaturgie ; the work is translated into French in 1785. French culture has a deep influence on Schiller ; his work is very successful with the French stage. But the reaction against Kotzebues and Ifflands « historische und Familiengemälde » brings Goethe and Schiller towards classics, in order to promote ideal world and tragic fate. Schiller translates Racines Phèdre, Goethe Voltaires Mahomet. But the tiny alterations of his translation build a new interpretation of the hero and the story. The cynical and fanatic character becomes a dreamer and is a true prophet. He thus represents an image of the poet. And Goethe tries to create a new work from the « untranslatable » aspects of the drama.
