Hippolytus, Euripides’in antik Yunan tanrılarının acımasızlığına dair tragedyası. Aşk tanrıçası Afrodit, kendisi yerine masumiyet yemini etmiş av tanrıçası Artemis’e tapan Hippolytus’a korkunç bir son hazırlar. Afrodit’in etkisiyle üvey oğluna aşık olan efsanevi Atina kralı Theseus’un eşi Phaedra hem kendisini hem de Hippolytus’u Afrodit’in tuzağına doğru çekecektir. Euripides’in diğer tragedyaları gibi kolay okunan, insanoğlunu ikibin küsur yıl sonra bile etkileyen duyguları konu alan bir eser.

Hippolytus is the story of the title character, who is caught up in a weird, slightly incestuous situation, as his step-mother falls violently in love with him due to interference with Aphrodite. By this point, any reader knows that mentions of incest are not too uncommon in Greek drama of any kind (if this case even technically counts as incest), but I feel that the main reason these kinds of situations show up is to present a warning against this. Perhaps in a historical sense, this was an issue, but who knows?

The plot of this story is fairly simple: Phaedra, Hippolytus' step-mother, falls in love with Hippolytus because Hippolytus would not back down from his allegiance with Artemis for Aphrodite. Out of her guilt and shame, Phaedra kills herself, but not before leaving a note saying that Hippolytus raped her (perhaps she felt the need for revenge?). Theseus, Phaedra's husband, becomes enraged and sends Hippolytus to exile. However, Hippolytus is killed in a chariot accident, as his horses becomes scared and crash him into rocks. Was this predestined by the gods?

All in all, this play is a good one that develops characters fairly well as a whole; the story is woven in a unique way that only the Greeks could have done. Surprisingly, it doesn't really seem that Hippolytus is the main catalyst of the story, but rather someone who has been caught up in a very awkward situation. I feel that he is the real tragic character mainly because he really didn't do much wrong at all, but the fate of the gods led him to the situation.

Those Greek gods and godesses were easily offended and the penalty for insulting them was always a hard one, and didn't always just hit the person who had offended, either. This play is one fine example of that.

4 stars

The conflict between silence and voice was so compelling in this play, especially when tied to guilt. Does sin originate in the thought or only when verbalised into existence? The power of words is demonstrated through the oaths and confessions, which become uncontrollable once spoken into reality. I love texts that investigate language so this one was really enjoyable for me.

Hippolytus

By Euripides
First presented in 428 BC

I have reread this tragedy shortly after I had read the play of ‘Phaedra’ by Racine.

Euripides work is an extremely beautiful reading pleasure and provides a very colorfully painted picture of events.
Especially the chorus and coryphe give the reader a feeling of participation.
The distribution of the drama is quite different from Racine’s play.
The actors are Theseus, the great Athenian hero, Phaedra his second wife, Hippolytus, her stepson, son of Ariane, the previous wife.

The weight of the tragedy is placed on Hippolytus, rather than on Phaedra.

The influence of the deities is in a more apparent presence.
Hippolytus worships the goddess of chastity, Artemis, while Phaedra gives her offerings to the goddess of love, Cypris.

Both humans are victims of the secret plans of their gods, who are jealous of each other, as goddesses would be.

Unlike in Racine’s play, Phaedra does not meet Hippolytus and declare her love to him.

Instead, under strict promise to never reveal her secret, Phaedra relenting to pressure, informs her maid of her sufferings.
The maid now on her own initiative gives the information to Hippolytus hoping that he may share the passion.

Hippolytus is horrified and offended and turns away in disgust.

As Phaedra hears of it and fearing the consequences commits suicide, but with a wicked plan of vengeance for her rejected love.

When Theseus finds the body of his wife, she clasps a written tablet in her hands, accusing Hippolytus of a forced adultery.

Theseus, outraged by this apparent treachery by his son, appeals to Poseidon, his own intimate god, to destroy Hippolytus.

And so it happened that poor Hippolytus got dragged along the seashore, thrown from his horse chariot and killed on the rocks.

However, while still able to mutter some words, he again swears of his innocence and forgives his father for the deadly spell he had cast on him.
So it came that Theseus, in his haste, had destroyed his child and his own life.

So, even with some differences, Euripides play is just as powerful and expressive as is Racine’s French version.

…and this is why communication is important

Hippolytus was assigned reading for freshman Humanities at Grinnell College. Having already read Aeschylus, Sophocles and Aritotle's essay on the character of tragedy, I was not much impressed. Euripides read like the script of soap opera. Too much hinged on divine interference and over-scrupulous moralism. By the latter I mean people keeping their oaths when breaking them might have prevented disaster--a moral dilemma to be sure, but one in which the disproportion is obvious. Our class spent much time discussing the ethics of the actions of Theseus, Hippolytus and Phaedra--a spirited discussion.

Quedé

I've read the Anne Carson translation before this, tried to get through the David Grene, and now have found my favorite of the lot in Robert Bagg. I think the introductory essay is a great way to pre-judge a particular translation, because one can glean whether or not the translator even gives a shit about the work they've translated. In Carson's and Bagg's case their essays are powerful, almost as much so as the amazing work of Euripides itself. This is by far one of Euripides' best and deserves a translator who gives a shit. Grene on the other hand, reduces the god-given compulsions of our protagonists to "a flimsy ambiguity of motive." Piss off, mate.

Stick with Bagg, and for a different take not quite as good but worth considering, go with Carson.

Another early experiment. Deadly family dynamics and celestial pettiness.
It's Greek, after all.

This was pretty heartbreaking and powerful and I haven't even thought about it for more than an hour yet.

eerste twee boeken van het jaar voor school doet pijn fr

dit was de derde tragedie die ik las van Euripides en mss wel de minste maar it's growing on me... heel veel interessante dingen over te zeggen, over aseksualiteit avant la lettre, Aphrodite vs. Artemis in vergelijking tot de normale tweestrijd tussen Dionysus en Apollo, het noodlot en rechtvaardigheid etc etc
Aphrodite en Artemis zijn ook mijn twee favoriete goden, die toch vaak op de achtergrond staan dus leuk hen is op de voorgrond te zien!! de koorlieden waren unmatched over hen heeel mooi

anyways nog wel wat te lezen van het lectuurpakket ngl helaas zijn dat mijn pauzes oeps