Ah! Zeus! Por que impões ao homem o flagelo
de mau caráter chamado mulher e o mostras
à luz do sol? Se desejavas propagar
a raça dos mortais, não seria às mulheres
que deverias dar os meios para isso.
Em troca de ouro ou ferro ou do pesado bronze
depositado em teus altares, deverias
ter concedido aos homens meios de comprar,
segundo as suas oferendas, o direito
de ter os próprios filhos e poder viver
livres da raça feminina em suas casas.
Eis a prova de que a mulher é um grande mal:
o pai, que lhe deu vida e a criou, concede-lhe,
para livrar-se desse mal, um dote e pode,
assim, mandá-la um dia para outro lugar.
Por sua vez, aquele que recebe em casa
essa raça fatal, esmera-se em cobrir
com adornos belos o ídolo indesejável,
mas para ornamentá-la com lindos vestidos,
aos poucos o infeliz vê os seus bens sumirem.
Não há muitas alternativas; se ele teve
a sorte de aliar-se a uma família boa,
em atenção a seus parentes é forçado
a conviver com uma mulher desagradável.
Se, para conseguir uma boa mulher,
o pretendente aceita seus sogros inúteis,
para ter o seu bem ele suporta um mal.
A sorte menos má é receber em casa
alguma nulidade que, de tão obtusa,
nem é notada. Detesto a mulher pensante
e faço votos para que em meu lar futuro,
jamais haja mulher com mais inteligência
que a meramente necessária ao próprio sexo!
O fato é que Cípris faz a perversidade
nascer principalmente na mulher pensante;
as ignorantes não chegam a ser perversas
pelas limitações de sua inteligência.
Não deveriam as criadas acercar-se
de suas donas. Teriam de restringir-se
ao convívio silente dos irracionais;
assim não falariam a nenhuma delas
nem delas jamais ouviriam a palavra.
De fato, vêem-se mulheres pervertidas
tecendo na intimidade planos pérfidos
que são levados para fora por criadas.

He did it again. I 100% agree with Natalie Haynes, Euripides is one of the best writers of a woman’s voice, but likewise he is one of the best writers of tragedy. You finish the novel feeling sympathetic for everyone, Hippolytus, Theseus, and even Phaedra who you might wish to hate, but Euripides absolves her of her villainous reputation. And the twist about Theseus’ wishes! I thought I already knew what was gonna happen, but man, that was clever. Greek tragedies aren’t generally riveting, and I can’t really describe this play as such either, but Euripides has managed to strike a cord with me as a modern reader that I just don’t feel with many other playwrights or poets of his time

از اونجایی که خود اوریپید هم از زنها متنفر بود و در تجرد زندگی میکرد، میشه دیالوگ های ضد زن و تند هیپولیت رو حرف دل اوریپید تلقی کرد؟

Hippolytus has angered the goddess Aphrodite with his excessive chastity.

“God of nocturnal prowess is not my God.”

He only worships the virgin Artemis, like it’s a free for all:

“Men make their choice: one man honors one God,
and one another.”

Mistake.

Aphrodite strikes Hippolytus’ stepmother, Phaedra, with an incestuous love for her stepson. Phaedra becomes ill, and Aphrodite herself calls it a sickness, this love she hands out to mortals on a whim.

Phaedra and the women around her understand that her love is externally imposed.
Phaedra’s nurse: “Indeed, it would need to be a might prophet
to tell which of the Gods mischievously
jerks you from your true course and thwarts your wits!”
Phaedra herself: “Where have I strayed from the highway of good sense?
I was mad. It was the madness sent from some God.”
“One I love destroys me. Neither of us wills it.”

Phaedra fights Aphrodite’s sickness, trying to reason and ultimately suicide her way out of it. Her nurse upbraids her for not submitting to the goddess’ plans, noting that that’s just the way it is:
“Why, you should certainly
have had your father beget you on fixed terms
or with other Gods for masters, if you don’t like the laws that rule this world.”

But when Hippolytus finds out about his stepmother’s feelings, he can’t put two and two together and instead flies into a rage. I should already be used to hearing this refrain from ancient Greek men, especially given its similarity to Jason’s in Medea, but Hippolytus still managed to catch me off guard:

“Women! This coin which men find counterfeit!
Why, why, Lord Zeus, did you put them in the world,
in the light of the sun? If you were so determined
to breed the race of man, the source of it
should not have been women.”

He suggests that men should instead bring offerings to Zeus’ temples, and receive the number of children commensurate with their offering (with the wealthy purchasing the most children and so on). He’s angry that instead of the money going to Zeus, it’s wasted on dowries:

“So we might have lived
in houses free of the taint of women’s presence.
But now, to bring this plague into our homes
we drain the fortunes of our homes. In this
we have a proof how great a curse is woman.”
“I’ll hate you women, hate and hate and hate you,
and never have enough of hating…”

Wow. Tell us how you really feel.

Nevertheless, this play was one of my favorite of Euripides’ for its unwanted desire and self-conflict (which are my own scholarly jams), and for its theme of doubles, since Phaedra and Hippolytus mirror each other in several ways. Here is a line uttered by Hippolytus, when banished by his father, underscoring the “doubles” theme, and I wish I had a better idea of what it means:

“If I could only find
another me to look me in the face
and see my tears and all that I am suffering!”

I’d welcome any interpretations!

n  n    "Show forgiveness.
If someone in his youthful and impetuous spirit
Addresses you foolishly, pretend not to hear him.
For gods should be wiser than mortals."n  n

Recently, I've been delving into Ancient Greek Comedy, and have emerged clutching my sides with laughter, but also with wonder that something written over 2000 years ago could appear so witty and lively to me today. And so I approached this - my first experience of Ancient Greek Tragedy - with low expectations. I thought it highly unlikely that some old guy's droning about the suffering and death of boring perfect heroes could ever entertain me as much as the fabulously ridiculous alternative by the young, controversial and exciting figure that was Aristophanes (whose works are our only surviving example of AG comedy).

Pleased to report that I was pleasantly surprised! I found this story very intriguing and fast-paced in its constant development, despite the lack of any action at all (with the exception of, you know, dying). The language in particular stood out to me, in a completely different but equally valid sense to the colloquial jokes of comedy. I was struck by this dialogue's grandness, passion and how simply quotable it sounded. Now might be a good time to mention that, yes, this is a translated work, so perhaps it's the translator (Ben Shaw) that I should be giving credit to. While of course I praise him for his work, I felt I got an amazing insight into the original language through the notes in this edition, especially when Shaw would discuss the possible meanings of the original Greek words and why he went with the interpretation he did.

In this and every other aspect I found the notes in here superb - definitely the best I've come across so far in my exploration of Ancient Greek literature. Explanations and comments were placed on the page adjacent to the part of the text they referred to, instead of at the back of the book where so many editors infuriatingly decide to put them. The notes were clearly headed and organised, so I could easily cast my eyes over them and decide which subjects I wanted more insight into, and which related to aspects of the text I wasn't so interested in, and thus could skip. Also provided in the notes were questions specifically aimed at literature and drama students, respectively. Nothing too demanding - but just enough to turn your analytical and/or creative brain on. As an English Lit student, the literature questions were exactly the prompt I needed to get thinking about this play in the context of the genre and time period, and as someone who is interested in Drama, I found the performance and staging ideas engaging and inspiring. Not only this, but this edition also comes with background information on the play, a summary of each scene, maps, a pronunciation guide and even a family tree of the characters. Top notch!

Back to the play itself, my knowledge of tragic plays was effectively entirely Shakespeare-based before reading this, which meant I had certain expectations. The most striking element of this plot-line for me then was the steady, almost painstaking sequence of character deaths (contrary to Shakespeare's tendency to blow up all his main characters at the end in an explosion of sudden violence and/or suicide). In fact, when the first character died and nobody dramatically jumped off a cliff in response I'll admit I was a little disappointed. But I think ultimately, yes, this is merely an issue of undue expectation on my part, and it actually turned out to be really riveting, seeing the themes of death, grief, shock and betrayal explored in actual detail in a drama piece - not simply used as a plot device to wrap everything up. The final death especially was definitely well-deserving of more time on stage, because of the reaction it created for the other characters (which I didn't see coming - what a great twist) and I'm sure for the audience too.

A fascinating psychological piece and insight into the social and religious opinions of this time period. I tripped over the story a little in the middle, but it ultimately came full-circle in a highly touching conclusion, impressively not sacrificing the complexity of the characters or situation for an emotional punch - instead combining the two.

Βραβείο πιο ξιπασμένου χαρακτήρα ελληνικής τραγωδίας στον Ιππόλυτο,ο οποίος σε όλη τη διάρκεια του έργου εξυμνεί τη σοφία, την αρετή και την τελειότητά του. Έχει κι έναν εξαιρετικό μονόλογο, στον οποίο βρίζει τις γυναίκες κι εύχεται να μπορούσαν να τεκνοποιούν με διαφορετικό τρόπο οι άνδρες, ώστε να μη χρειάζονται αυτά τα φίδια μέσα στα σπίτια τους.

Με τούτα και με κείνα, στο τέλος ευχήθηκα "Στα τσακίδια και να μην μας γράφεις!",παρά την αθωώτητά του.

Και για να μη νομίζετε ότι υπερβάλλω..

Από τα σχόλια 121 και 123 (σελ. 176):

-"[...] Δεν είναι όμως αυτός ο σκοπός του Ευριπίδη. Αντίθετα θέλει να παρουσιάσει την πτώση του Ιππόλυτου ως αποτέλεσμα του ελαττώματος που είναι η αντίστροφη πλευρά της απόλυτης αγνότητάς του: η αφοσίωσή του στην αγνότητα συνδέεται με ολική απόρριψη ενός σημαντικού μέρους της ανθρώπινης φύσης και ζωής."

-"Ακόμα και ετοιμοθάνατος ο Ιππόλυτος δεν αμφισβητεί την τελειότητά του. Ο στενόμυαλος πουριτανισμός του τον ακολουθεί ως το τέλος της ζωής του. Δεν αναγνωρίζει το σφάλμα, την έλλειψη στον χαρακτήρα του και πεθαίνει θεωρώντας τον εαυτό του θύμα αδικίας και παραλογισμού."

Σε επίπεδο διαλόγων και χαρακτήρων το βρήκα κατώτερο από άλλα έργα του Ευριπίδη, γι'αυτό και 3 αστερακια.

hipólito, protoincel

3.75 stars. Hippolytus is definitely one of my favourite plays by Euripides. I love how Euripides gives a human dimension to Greek Gods. No two Gods are as different as Artemis and Aphrodite, and their friction provided a great foundation for the drama that occurred. I was not a fan of Hippolytus himself but other than that this play was excellent. I even think I wrote more notes for it than for the Bacchae, which is saying something.

n  n    "Besides I knew
too well I was a woman, and must be
abhorred by all." n  n

Euripides never lets me down.

The full title of the edition I read is "Hippolytus in Drama and Myth." It's translated by Donald Sutherland and includes an essay by Hazel E. Barnes.

The base myth of the eponymous Hippolytus portrays him as a shining exemplar of virtuousness and chastity, a kind of saint. The story goes like this: his stepmother Phaedra falls in love with him but he rejects her advances, and in revenge, she accuses him (falsely) of rape. His infuriated father Theseus believes Phaedra, and so exiles Hippolytus and curses him, whereby he meets his end tragically, pure and true to the very last. Hippolytus is someone virgin girls can look up to on festival days and proffer offerings to at temples, a role model of goodness.

But Euripides doesn't let the story rest at that. Instead, in his play he forges Phaedra into a sympathetic character, noble in her own way. Hippolytus becomes self-righteous and unbearable. And the conflict between the two-- between desire and abstinence, impulse and restraint, connection and isolation -- becomes the heart of the tale. Phaedra (and through her, Aphrodite) represents one end of the spectrum, and Hippolytus (and through him, Artemis) the other. Once again the Greeks are powerless to shape their destinies, and become mere pawns in the games of the gods. These same deities who -- by the very nature of their divine characteristics-- are necessarily forever in opposition, elemental forces pulling humans first that way, then the other.

Instead of Phaedra being the villain, it's really Aphrodite, who "breathes a deadly honeyed breath" over everything, that's at fault in Euripides' retelling. Hippolytus would rather worship Artemis than her. In order to “glut her anger" over this slight, she curses Phaedra with a forbidden and burning love of him.

Poor Phaedra. She's powerless to subdue this desire, and she's driven to suicide "in abhorrence of" the potential loss of honor, the shame of it all. Phaedra's honor being such an essential part of herself and identity reminded me of how a knight's or samurai's honor is so important that they also would die in its name. I feel like I've encountered a lot of narratives about a man's honor but not as much about a woman's honor (unless we're talking chastity). It's a perhaps small distinction, but I found it interesting seeing her, rather than someone else, take on sole responsibility for the protection of her honor, even if it ended in suicide.

Hippolytus I found insufferable. His cruel speech to Phaedra really proves that his arrogant belief that he is a perfect, infallible man is completely deluded. I agree with Theseus, who says to him: “You kill me with your sanctimoniousness!” and accuses him of “rapt worship" of himself. In fact, I can't imagine anyone reading this play and not being totally put off by Hippolytus. For one thing, he's an unrepentant misogynist. His hatred of women is unfettered and passionate, to the point of religion. This is the guy who says:

n  "O Zeus, why have you sent this counterfeit
this vileness, Woman, to inhabit the world?"n

His other choice descriptions of women include: “noxious growth” and “monster”; he rants about “ how great an evil a wife is"; declares “I loathe a clever woman” and that he'll "never have enough of hating women." And his mania for chastity takes on the hue of rigidity, of an unbending, horrifying obsession. He says: “Either let someone show me they are chaste or let me trample on these creatures still."

So it's with great satisfaction, and no sympathy or anger at Theseus, that you read his cursed end, as he's dragged into the "loud salt sea" :

n  "Up in the air flew bolts and spokes of the wheels
and axle-pins. And poor Hippolytus
wound in the reins, was dragged along, being tied
by bonds that would not loosen, in the dust
dashing his head against the rocks, tearing
his flesh, and howling dreadful cries to hear
“Stop! Stop! You mares fed at my cribs! Do not
annihilate me! Oh my father’s curse!"n

In her essay, Barnes writes of Euripides:

n  "Rather he seems to be stressing the idea that each of these forces in man calls for an absolute commitment which will brook no compromise, that once the individual yields to either of these needs of his nature, his will is no longer free to balance and moderate.”n

Hippolytus' unyielding chastity and virtuousness, his attempt at (and belief he's achieved) a perfection and purity not seem in humans, is his downfall. Paradoxically, it's his strict orthodoxy to virtue that leads him to cruelty (against Phaedra); a kind of sterile emotionless treatment of those around him; and eventually to Theseus disowning him and casting a bitter death curse on him. The sea takes him, a wild force that at long last, will succeed in submerging his self-importance.

Hippolytus


Never take hasty decisions
Never judge too fast
For the consequences may be
Greater than you can bear.
 
Tarnished by pride, Hippolytus dares to defy Aphrodite. He refuses to show due respect to her, so she obtains revenge. She uses his father’s wife to bring him to his doom, and in this ordeal, many a person meets their death.
 
Phaedra and Hippolytus fight in a game of gods and both die because of Aphrodite's and Artemis's caprices. The proud gods take revenge on others through playing with the lives of pious servants. Once again, Euripides mocks the gods. They do not hesitate to use humans as pawns in their wars, so do they really value the lives of their servants? 
 
I can neither side with Hippolytus nor with Phaedra. I don’t see the issue from a gender perspective as much as from a religious one. In here, both humans act according to the paths that the gods set to them. Phaedra is manipulated into falling for Hippolytus, while Hippolytus is destroyed by the excessive faith? In Artemis (who does not do anything to save him. she just appears in the end, when he was dying, when it was too late to do anything, to clarify that he did not violate Phaedra).
 
Hippolytus and Phaedra find themselves carried by events they cannot control. And mistake after mistake leads them to their death.

Sexuality & Celibacy
17 April 2012

tI should mention that technically this play should come under 'I' as opposed to 'H' (and I almost put it under 'I' without thinking) namely because Greek does not actually have an 'H'. What they have are rough and smooth breathings, which is a little symbol that appears at the front of a word that begins with a vowel. If the word has a smooth breathing it is pronounced without an H while if it has a rough breathing it is pronounced with an H. You have probably worked out that Hippolytus has a rough breathing, however in the Greek Lexicons it will be found under 'Iota' which is the Greek I.

tThis play is a tragedy however it is not strictly a tragedy in the true sense of the word namely because the main character, Hippolytus, does not have a fatal flaw. However, this whole concept of a fatal flaw was something that Aristotle explores in 'Poetics' and it is something that Shakespeare used in a lot of his tragedies, though I will still argue that the central characters in his tragedies do not strictly have fatal flaws. The Greek tragedies don't really seem to use it either, so I am not sure what Aristotle is getting at when he was writing his poetics. Mind you, I don't think Aristotle was around during the period when the great playwrights were writing their plays, and while one could consider that drama as an artform was still developing, it seemed that by the time Sophocles and Euripides were writing their plays and competing against each other drama had reached a reasonably mature form.

tOne could consider that Phaedra and Theseus are the tragic heroes in this play and that Hippolytus has just an innocent victim. It is not the only play where the tragic hero is not the title character, the same is the case of Julius Ceaser: the tragic hero in Julius Ceaser is Marcus Brutus. Now, the issue with Phaedra is that she is madly in love with Hippolytus however Hippolytus is Theseus' son (not by Phaedra) and Phaedra is married to Theseus, so there is a problem. The second problem is that Hippolytus has devoted himself to the goddess Artemis, the Goddess of nature and the wilds. In keeping with Artemis' character, Hippolytus has chosen a life of celibacy. Despite that Phaedra is still his step mother and I am very doubtful that Hippolytus would betray his father by sleeping with his stepmother. Strangely enough it is this type of relationship that Paul goes ballistic at the Corinthians for in the New Testament. Seriously, it is not a comforting idea, even though Phaedra is not his mother by birth. Remember, it is this sin that drives Oedipus to gouge out his eyes and exile himself (though Jocasta is his mother by birth).

tNow, the play opens with a very upset Aphrodite and the reason that she is upset is because Hippolytus is celibate. It confuses me somewhat as to why a god would get so uptight over a single celibate man, but I have a feeling that it goes quite deeper than that. I guess we need to consider the Greek Gods in a more ancient and pagan sense where they personify ideas and concepts, and in Aphrodite's case that concept is sexual love (though I suspect that is where Eros comes in, the Greek Gods can be quite confusing, though I know that Aphrodite is a major god while Eros is not). Anyway, the play demonstrates the fickleness of the gods, where by devoting himself to Artemis Hippolytus earns the enmity of Aphrodite. In a way it is a lose lose situation, and I suspect something that Hippolytus is confronting. I also suspect that Euripides is not a very big fan of this.

tNow, Hippolytus is not actually living with his father, he is old enough to go out on his own, however because Theseus is purging some sin (which remains unnamed in the play) he has taken his wife Phaedra to Trozen to become pure. Now, there were issues between Phaedra and Hippolytus back in Athens, and Hippolytus left, probably for his own sanity, however Phaedra's yearning for him has not gone away. We should note that this is a part of Aphrodite's curse on Hippolytus. There is an interesting thing that I have picked up from the Greek dramas because in our society we would simply call it love sickness, and personally, we really don't know how it comes about. I doubt the Greeks did either, which is why they blamed the gods. We see a similar thing with madness cursing Herakles in his self-named play, and a similar thing with Ajax in his self-named play.

tNow, Phaedra, who cannot handle Hippolytus' rejection, and cannot imagine living without a sexual liason with him, decides to kill herself and to leave a note blaming Hippolytus for her death. This indicates hints of depression, however it does seem to be a very extreme case in killing herself because she cannot have Hippolytus. However I suspect that such suicides are not unheard of in our own society, though I must admit that I haven't explored this concept deeply. We should note that psychologists have turned to this play in relation to some mental health issues. Anyway, Thesus pretty much prejudges Hippolytus and it is only after he has called curses down on him that he realises that he has acted too rashly. I guess it is not surprising. In fact it is a very human grief reaction to act and blame before rationally thinking about what has been occurring. We actually saw the grief cycle at a seminar today, though I must admit that I can't remember the specific. I suspect, though, that if we look at Theseus' reaction to Phaedra's death then we will see the grief cycle (and one aspect is denial followed by blame and then later on comes acceptance).

tOnce again, I am not convinced Hippolytus did anything wrong, and it appears that he is simply being persecuted for his way of life. I was going to say morality, but my feeling is that celibacy is not actually a question of morality because there is actually nothing wrong with sex. It is like many of the other good things on this Earth, namely that it is good but it can be quite destructive if not respected.

tSo what we seem to see here is the struggle between sexuality and celibacy. It is once again something that is all too common in our society. It is unacceptable to be celibate, as seems to be the case here. Our society believes that we are fools if we chose a path of celibacy, where as in this play, celibacy angers Aphrodite. However, the catch is that celibacy is accepted by Artemis and I also suspect that Athena is celibate as well. I guess that the one reason that celibacy is looked down upon has nothing to do with sexual pleasure and everything to do with the failure to procreate. This is something that does come out in the Bible, especially when we have one of Judah's children in the book of Genesis spilling his seed on the ground and then God punishing him when he does so. Remember that twice in Genesis God commands humanity to be fruitful and multiply and to fill the earth with progeny.

tI wish to finish off on the nature of death. When Hippolytus dies Artemis comes to comfort him in his final hours. It is not a quick death - it is a long, slow, and painful one, namely because he was trampled by his horses. Anyway the tragedy of the situation is that despite his lifelong devotion to Artemis it is clear that he is not going to be spending his afterlife with her. In fact this is clearly spelt out in the text. I suspect that that was not originally a Greek concept, and was probably inherited from the Middle East. Islam, Judaism, and Christianity all have the concept of spending the afterlife with the deity. With the Greeks, and I suspect the Romans, this is not the case. Mind you, the Greeks did believe in reincarnation, but I suspect that this was not going to happen to Hippolytus (though we do know that Achilles did go to the Elysian Fields, which is the closest one can come the Greek concept of Heaven).

I once saw someone describe Hippolytus as a fedora-wearing MRA, and that pretty much sums up this play. Phaedra herself is full of internalised misogyny. As always in Euripides, the nature of the gods is very interesting. I have studied Greek tragedy for years, and I do not understand why, out of all Euripides' plays, Hippolytus is considered his masterpiece.