Scan barcode
A review by nickc777
Hippolytus by Euripides
3.0
Plot summary:
Hippolytus, son of Theseus, angers Aphrodite by his insistence on celibacy, and she visits revenge on him in return. She curse Theseus’ wife Phaedra to love him - when her love is unwillingly revealed to her son in law, she commits suicide and claims it was Hippolytus who loved her in order to maintain honour. Theseus curses Hippolytus - on Hipp.’s deathbed Artemis reveals the truth, that Aphrodite brought about the destruction of the entire house.
The play in this summary seems as if Hipp would be set up as purely a victim, and Aphrodite only cruel, yet in the fact Hippolytus is an abrasive and rude character. Much like Pentheus in the Bacchae, he is highly unlikeavle, yet his punishment is undeserved. Perhaps the point of the play is moderation - neither Hipp, nor Phaedra are presented well in their handling of love, and it is Theseus’ brash action without consideration that Artemis condemns.
Hippolytus, son of Theseus, angers Aphrodite by his insistence on celibacy, and she visits revenge on him in return. She curse Theseus’ wife Phaedra to love him - when her love is unwillingly revealed to her son in law, she commits suicide and claims it was Hippolytus who loved her in order to maintain honour. Theseus curses Hippolytus - on Hipp.’s deathbed Artemis reveals the truth, that Aphrodite brought about the destruction of the entire house.
The play in this summary seems as if Hipp would be set up as purely a victim, and Aphrodite only cruel, yet in the fact Hippolytus is an abrasive and rude character. Much like Pentheus in the Bacchae, he is highly unlikeavle, yet his punishment is undeserved. Perhaps the point of the play is moderation - neither Hipp, nor Phaedra are presented well in their handling of love, and it is Theseus’ brash action without consideration that Artemis condemns.