Hippolytus is an Ancient Greek tragedy by Euripides, based on the myth of Hippolytus, son of Theseus. The play was first produced for the City Dionysia of Athens in 428 BC and won first prize as part of a trilogy.
In Euripides's own time, the play was known as Hippolytos Stephanephoros (Hippolytus Bearer of the Garland), to distinguish it from his earlier tragedy on the same subject, Hippolytos Kalyptomenos (Hippolytus Veiled). Hippolytus Veiled is now lost, but it probably presented a conventional treatment of the myth, in which the dangerously impassioned Phaedra tries to lead the honourable and chaste Hippolytus astray citation needed. The surviving play offers a much more even-handed and psychologically complex treatment of the characters than the traditional retellings of the myth.citation needed
The gods play a very important role in Hippolytus, framing the action. Aphrodite appears at the beginning and Artemis at the end, and they were possibly represented onstage throughout the action in the form of statues. These two goddesses can be taken as representing the conflicting emotions of passion and chastity.citation needed
The play is set in Troezen, a coastal town near Athens. Theseus, the king of Athens, has been away for a year in order to visit the Delphic Oracle. He has left behind his wife Phaedra, their young children (who never appear onstage), and his illegitimate son Hippolytus (whose mother is the Amazon Hippolyta).
At the opening of the play Aphrodite, goddess of love explains that Hippolytus has sworn chastity, hates the idea of sex, and refuses to revere her. This has led her to plan vengeance on Hippolytus, since even gods are proud and delight in being honored. As part of her plan, she has inspired Phaedra, Hippolytus' stepmother, to fall in love with Hippolytus.
Hippolytus appears bearing a garland (hence the title given by ancient scholars) with his followers, and shows reverence to a statue of Artemis, goddess of chastity. A servant warns him about his overt disdain for Aphrodite, but Hippolytus refuses to listen to him.
The chorus, consisting of young married women of Troezen, enters, and describes how Phaedra is not eating or sleeping. Phaedra, sickly, appears with her Nurse. After an agonized discussion, Phaedra finally gives into her nurse's demands and confesses why she is ill: she loves Hippolytus. The Nurse and the Chorus are shocked. Phaedra explains that she must starve herself and die with her honor intact, but the Nurse looks at the situation pragmatically: she thinks they must talk to Hippolytus.
The nurse tells Hippolytus of Phaedra's desire, making him swear an oath that he will not tell anyone else. He reacts with a furious, misogynistic tirade on the "poisonous" nature of women. Since the secret is out, Phaedra believes she is ruined. After making the Chorus swear secrecy, she goes inside and hangs herself.
Theseus returns and discovers his wife's dead body. Since the Chorus is sworn to secrecy, they cannot tell Theseus why she killed herself. Then Theseus discovers a letter on Phaedra's body which accuses Hippolytus of raping her. Enraged, Theseus curses his son and calls upon Poseidon to enforce the curse. Hippolytus enters and protests his innocence, but cannot tell the truth because of the binding oath he swore to Phaedra. Theseus exiles his son as the Chorus sings a lament for Hippolytus.
A messenger then enters and describes a gruesome scene: as Hippolytus got in his chariot to leave the kingdom, a bull roared out of the sea, frightening his horses, which dashed the chariot among the rocks. Hippolytus is badly injured and looks unlikely to live. The Chorus acknowledges that love, not chastity, must ultimately win. The messenger proclaims that Hippolytus was a good man and didn't deserve such treatment.
Theseus is pleased with Hippolytus' suffering, until Artemis appears and scolds Theseus for his rash decision, clears Hippolytus's name, and regrets that she could not intervene. However, she plans to take revenge on Aphrodite by killing Adonis, one of her favorites, sometime soon. Hippolytus is carried in half-alive and, at Artemis' urging, is reconciled to his father before he dies.
In many ways this play is surprising in its even-handed approach to the two main characters, neither being presented in a wholly favorable light. Euripides has often been accused of misogyny in his presentations of characters such as Medea and Electra. However, Hippolytus seems unsympathetically puritan and misogynist, though he is partially redeemed by his refusal to break his oath to the nurse. Similarly, Phaedra is initially presented as sympathetic, honourably struggling against overwhelming odds to do the right thing, though our regard for her is reduced by her indictment of Hippolytus.