Plot
The play opens with Hippolytus cleaning semen and snot with socks that are lying about his room. He is described as 'fat' and his room is in disarray. Shortly thereafter Phaedra, his step-mother, is talking to a doctor about Hippolytus's wellbeing. The doctor deduces Phaedra's romantic affection for her step-son and warns her against consummating her affection. She confides in her daughter, Strophe, who likewise warns Phaedra against pursuing an affair with Hippolytus. Phaedra approaches Hippolytus, regardless of the warnings she has heard. Hippolytus openly speaks about his multiple sexual partners and reinforces how he doesn't care for any of them and won't care for Phaedra. Phaedra confesses her love for him, but he spurns her, telling her she will only be hurt. She then proceeds to perform fellatio on him. He is initially unresponsive, but when he reaches his climax he asserts himself in the act. During the interaction Hippolytus informs Phaedra that he has had sex with his step-sister, Strophe, and that Strophe, Phaedra's biological daughter, has also had sex with Theseus, Phaedra's husband and Hippolytus's father. It is later revealed that Strophe had sex with Theseus on the night Theseus and Phaedra were married. Afterwards, Phaedra kills herself, leaving behind a note that states Hippolytus has raped her. Strophe confronts Hippolytus about the accusation, but he refuses to deny or confirm the allegation, though the subtext implies that he did not. Whilst in prison, Hippolytus speaks with a priest who eventually performs fellatio on Hippolytus. In the final sequence Theseus has returned home and disguises himself in a crowd. Strophe, unbeknownst to Theseus, has done the same. She publicly defends Hippolytus and Theseus responds by raping and killing her. The enraged mob rips Hippolytus limb from limb, and his father disembowels him. Afterwards, when Theseus sees the corpses, he realizes that it was Strophe who he had just raped and killed and expresses regret before cutting his own throat. The play ends as a vulture flies down to consume the corpse of Hippolytus.
Theseus was a divine hero and the founder of Athens from Greek mythology. The myths surrounding Theseus, his journeys, exploits, and friends, have provided material for storytelling throughout the ages.
In Greek mythology, Hippolyta, or Hippolyte, was a daughter of Ares and Otrera, queen of the Amazons, and a sister of Antiope and Melanippe. She wore her father Ares' zoster, the Greek word found in the Iliad and elsewhere meaning "war belt". Some English translations prefer "girdle". Hippolyta figures prominently in the myths of both Heracles and Theseus. The myths about her are so varied it is thought that they may be about different women. The name Hippolyta translates as "she who unleashes the horses", deriving from two Greek roots meaning "horse" and "let loose".
In Greek mythology, Phaedra was a Cretan princess. Her name derives from the Greek word φαιδρός, which means "bright". According to legend, she was the daughter of Minos and Pasiphaë, and the wife of Theseus. Phaedra fell in love with her stepson Hippolytus. After he rejected her advances, she accused him of trying to rape her, causing Theseus to pray to Poseidon to kill Hippolytus, and then she killed herself.
Sarah Kane was an English playwright, screenwriter and theatre director. She is known for her plays that deal with themes of redemptive love, sexual desire, pain, torture—both physical and psychological—and death. They are characterised by a poetic intensity, pared-down language, exploration of theatrical form and, in her earlier work, the use of extreme and violent stage action.
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. The text is extant.
In Greek mythology, Hippolytus is the son of Theseus and either Hippolyta or Antiope. His downfall at the hands of Aphrodite is recounted by the playwright Euripides. Other versions of the story have also survived.
Phèdre is a French dramatic tragedy in five acts written in alexandrine verse by Jean Racine, first performed in 1677 at the theatre of the Hôtel de Bourgogne in Paris.
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In Greek mythology, Antiope was an Amazon, daughter of Ares and sister to Melanippe, Hippolyta, Penthesilea and possibly Orithyia, queens of the Amazons. Two sisters, Orithyia and Antiope, co-ruled the Amazons. Antiope may have been the wife of Theseus and mother to his son Hippolytus of Athens, but differing sources claim this was Hippolyta.
Desire Under the Elms is a 1924 play written by Eugene O'Neill. Like Mourning Becomes Electra, Desire Under the Elms signifies an attempt by O'Neill to adapt plot elements and themes of Greek tragedy to a rural New England setting. It was inspired by the myth of Phaedra, Hippolytus, and Theseus. A film version was produced in 1958, and there is an operatic setting by Edward Thomas.
Hippolyte et Aricie was the first opera by Jean-Philippe Rameau. It was premiered to great controversy by the Académie Royale de Musique at its theatre in the Palais-Royal in Paris on October 1, 1733. The French libretto, by Abbé Simon-Joseph Pellegrin, is based on Racine's tragedy Phèdre. The opera takes the traditional form of a tragédie en musique with an allegorical prologue followed by five acts. Early audiences found little else conventional about the work.
The Bull from the Sea is a novel written by Mary Renault, first published in 1962. It is the sequel to The King Must Die and continues the story of the mythological hero Theseus after his return from Crete.
Phaedra is a Roman tragedy written by philosopher and dramatist Lucius Annaeus Seneca before 54 A.D. Its 1,280 lines of verse tell the story of Phaedra, wife of King Theseus of Athens and her consuming lust for her stepson Hippolytus. Based on Greek mythology and the tragedy Hippolytus by Euripides, Seneca's Phaedra is one of several artistic explorations of this tragic story. Seneca portrays Phaedra as self-aware and direct in the pursuit of her stepson, while in other treatments of the myth, she is more of a passive victim of fate. This Phaedra takes on the scheming nature and the cynicism often assigned to the nurse character.
Maya Maron is an Israeli actress, an Ophir Award winner.
Phaedra is a 'concert opera' in two acts by Hans Werner Henze. Its first performance was given at the Berlin State Opera on 6 September 2007. The work is a co-commission and co-production with the Berliner Festspiele, Théâtre de la Monnaie, Brussels, Alte Oper Frankfurt and the Vienna Festival.
The Marriage of Phaedra is a short story by Willa Cather. It was first published in The Troll Garden in 1905
Welcome to Thebes is a 2010 play by Moira Buffini. It premiered on 15 June 2010 in a production at the Olivier Theatre of the Royal National Theatre in London directed by Richard Eyre.
Hippolyte, tragédie tournée de Sénèque is a French translation of the Latin play of Seneca, called Phaedra. Its Belgian translator, Jean Yeuwain, takes some liberties with the original. It was first published in 1591.
The Phaedra complex is an informal, non-scientific designation to the sexual desire of a stepmother for her stepson, though the term has been extended to cover difficult relationships between stepparents and stepchildren in general.
War Goddess is a 1973 adventure film directed by Terence Young and starring Alena Johnston, Sabine Sun, Rosanna Yanni, Helga Liné, and Luciana Paluzzi. It was a co-production between Italy, France, and Spain.
