Phaedra

Phaedra fell passionately in love with Hippolytus when he attended the Eleusinian Mysteries. Aphrodite had caused this because Hippolytus devoted himself exclusively to chaste Artemis and had raised a temple to her at Troezen. Theseus was away, either in Thessaly with Peirithous or in Tartarus, and Phaedra followed Hippolytus to Troezen. She built the Temple of Peeping Aphrodite above the gymnasium and watched him each day.

Phaedra sent Hippolytus a letter confessing her love. She claimed that love had turned her towards Artemis, whose two wooden images from Crete she had rededicated. She invited him to hunt with her. She also referred to the unhappy loves of the women in her family, including Europe, Pasiphaé, and Ariadne, and proposed that she and Hippolytus leave together under the pretence of a hunting expedition. They already lived under the same roof, she wrote, so their feelings might remain hidden.

Hippolytus rejected her. Phaedra then accused him, and hanged herself. Theseus returned and learned of the accusation. He called on Poseidon to punish Hippolytus, using one of the curses granted to him. As Hippolytus drove towards Athens, a huge wave rose near the narrow part of the Isthmus. A great dog-seal sprang from it, or, in another account, a white bull. The four horses bolted in terror. Hippolytus kept them from plunging over the cliff, but the beast pursued the chariot.

Near the sanctuary of Saronian Artemis, a rein caught on a branch of the twisted wild olive called the Twisted Rhachos. The chariot struck rocks and broke apart. Hippolytus became entangled in the reins and was dragged to death by the horses. His death exposed the falsehood of Phaedra’s accusation. The Athenians later raised a barrow in his memory because curses had brought about his death. The Troezenians denied that he had died in this way, and said that the gods had placed him among the stars as the Charioteer.

Phaedra saw Hippolytus at the Eleusinian Mysteries and fell passionately in love with him. He wore white linen and a garland in his hair. His features looked harsh, but she thought them admirably severe. Hippolytus was Theseus’s son by the Amazon Antiope. Phaedra was Theseus’s wife and the mother of Acamas and Demophon. Theseus had sent Hippolytus to Pittheus, who adopted him as heir to Troezen. Hippolytus therefore had no cause to dispute his brothers’ right to rule Athens.

Hippolytus had devoted himself exclusively to chaste Artemis. He raised a temple to her at Troezen. Aphrodite took this devotion as an insult and caused Phaedra to desire him. Theseus was away in Thessaly with Peirithous, or in Tartarus. Phaedra followed Hippolytus to Troezen. She built the Temple of Peeping Aphrodite overlooking the gymnasium and watched him there each day.

Phaedra sent Hippolytus a letter. She confessed her love and said that it had converted her to Artemis. She had recently rededicated two wooden images of the goddess that had come from Crete. She asked Hippolytus to hunt with her. She recalled the dishonour suffered by the women of her Cretan royal family, Europa, Pasiphae, and Ariadne. She asked him to avenge himself on Theseus by honouring Aphrodite with her. She proposed that they leave together for a time and use a hunting expedition as their excuse. In the traditional telling, she asked him to sleep with her and tried to win him through her nurse.

In Euripides’ telling, Phaedra suffered unwillingly under Aphrodite’s power. She refused to declare her love, but her nurse revealed it to Hippolytus. Phaedra then killed herself.