Part of the mosaic of Hippolytus in the Archaeological Park of Madaba, Jordan. Hippolytus is a mortal prince who prefers chastity and hunting to the pursuits under Aphrodite’s purview. German School, 18th Century She then relates the context of the play.Hippolytus has sworn an oath of chastity, rejecting both the beds of love and marriage. He is, as he explains in Scene I, not interested in erotic love and consequently reveres the goddess of love “from a long way off.” He instead remains chaste and worships Artemis exclusively. Hippolytus There is no one to care for your horses and your statue, my lady! Euripides’s tragedy offers a few insights into this relationship. Her vehicle for punishing him is Phaedra, his stepmother, who thus becomes a victim of love.Phaedra’s position in the play as the agent through whom Aphrodite exacts her revenge creates an ethical problem. The meaning of Hippolytus' name is ironically ambiguous. As with many tragedies of the era, the central focus of Hippolytus is humanity’s relationship with the gods.Hippolytus chooses not to pay homage to Aphrodite, the goddess of love; instead, he dedicates his life and love to the goddess of the hunt, Artemis. Because he will not honor erotic love, she decides that its power will destroy him, thereby proving her supremacy over humanity to all those who hear of Hippolytus’ destruction. GradeSaver, 26 August 2010 Web. His cult believed that Hippolytus, Phaedra and Theseus.
The action concerns the revenge of Aphrodite, the goddess of love and sexual desire, on Hippolytus, a hunter and sportsman who is repelled by sexual passion and who is instead devoted to the virgin huntress One power has destroyed all three of us! Euripides’s tragedy offers a few insights into this relationship. The rationalists' view is that they constitute a superficial and largely structural frame for the real, human drama, having little or nothing to do with what happens on the stage between epiphanies. Phaedra therefore becomes a victim of love’s power, a pawn bewitched into loving her stepson who then commits suicide out of shame. "Hippolytus the Prologue Summary and Analysis". As evidenced by Aphrodite’s reaction to Hippolytus’ exclusive devotion to Artemis, humans were to worship all of the gods. Free from the burdens of protecting men, the gods used men as their playthings while humans had to worship the gods to placate them and avoid incurring their wrath.The nurse is Phaedra’s confidante, but she reveals her mistress’ illicit desire to Hippolytus, causing Phaedra’s suicide.Hippolytus study guide contains a biography of Euripides, literature essays, quiz questions, major themes, characters, and a full summary and analysis.Hippolytus essays are academic essays for citation. Hippolytus’ rejection of Phaedra led to his death in a fall from a chariot.. As a result, a cult grew up around Hippolytus, associated with the cult of Aphrodite. Now that Phaedra is living in Troezen, in close proximity to Hippolytus, “the goads of love prick her cruelly.”Her desire for Hippolytus has made her ill, but out of shame, she refuses to explain to cause of her affliction to the servants. Yet as Aphrodite explains, “Her suffering does not weight in the scale so much that I should let my enemies go untouched.” Reconciling Aphrodite’s need for revenge and Phaedra’s innocence is an interpretive challenge of the play, and Euripides does not provide an easy answer.Out of this tension arises a central conflict of the play, specifically concerning the relationship between men and gods during the period in which Euripides wrote. Wang, Bella ed. Her opening monologue conveys an imperious attitude, and she sees the world and its people as her domain. The play opens with Aphrodite, the goddess of love, speaking the prologue. Not affiliated with Harvard College.Rabedeau, Jennifer. This relationship seems tenuous at best and bears little resemblance to modern perspectives on religion. She explains that she expects all of humanity to worship her and that she punishes those who refuse to honor her. Artemis Her honour was attacked and she hated your chastity, Hippolytus. Because Hippolytus has blasphemed against her, Aphrodite has formulated a plan to exact revenge.Prior to the action of the play, Aphrodite caused Phaedra to fall in love with Hippolytus during a visit to Athens. As such, an essential question to consider is what responsibilities gods had to people and people to gods. The terrifying power of love is essential to understanding Aphrodite’s anger at Hippolytus and the development of the play.Aphrodite directs her fury at Hippolytus because he refuses to worship her. This relationship, however, does not seem reciprocal. As evidenced by Aphrodite’s reaction to Hippolytus’ exclusive devotion to Artemis, humans were to worship all of the gods.
She observes that he does not know that he is to die by the following morning.Euripides portrays Aphrodite as a terrifying and vindictive deity, unlike the voluptuous woman often depicted in visual art. Hippolytus’ refusal to worship Aphrodite was a violation of the proper respect a goddess like she deserved, but it very difficult to distinguish if Hippolytus was at the top or the bottom of the wheel when he initiated the entire conflict. Hippolytus Ah! According to Aphrodite’s scheme, Phaedra must die, but unlike Hippolytus, she has not committed any offenses against the goddess of love.