This article approaches the relation between Shakespeare and Greek tragedy by looking at one of the main known sources for the Claudio-Hero plot of Much Ado about Nothing, Matteo Bandello’s novella of “Timbreo and Fenicia”, and its French rewriting by François de Belleforest. It considers the generic implications of the transition from novella to histoire tragique, in light of the French rewritings’ key role in the reception of ‘Bandello’ in England. After exploring certain intersections between the early modern reception of Greek tragedy and the project of the histoires tragiques, it looks closely at the notable presence of Euripides in “Timbrée et Fénicie”. It concludes by arguing that, out of all the proposed sources of Much Ado, Belleforest’s rewriting of this tale is the one most likely to have led Shakespeare to Euripides’ Alcestis, which it re-proposes as an intertext in the ending of Much Ado. This layering of texts seems to have resonated with the playwright for over a decade, since, in The Winter’s Tale, he is thought to have returned not only to the same moment from Alcestis, but also to the same story in ‘Bandello’.