Phaedra (Seneca)
Encyclopedia
Phaedra, sometimes known as Hippolytus, is a play by Seneca the Younger
, telling the story of Phaedra
and her taboo love for her stepson Hippolytus
. It is an adaptation of Hippolytus
by Euripides
; in Seneca's version, Phaedra is more sensual and shameless, deceiving her nurse in order to gain her as an accomplice.
According to Pierre Grimal
, it seems that this work is the result of the "contamination" of several sources, including Sophocles
' Phaedra (a lost tragedy), Lycophron
and Ovid
.
Stoicism teaches that caustic sentiments are the products of error in judgment, and that the only people who were exempt from experiencing these emotions were sages, people who possessed moral and intellectual perfection. Stoics also concerned themselves with the energetic association of cosmic determinism and freedom, and believed it moral to uphold a will according to nature. Best indication for a person’s philosophy was expressed through his behavior. It was with these philosophical teachings that Seneca wrote his play, Phaedra. For the style of Stoic writing, Seneca created his main character with one obsession, her lust for Hippolytus, which would be her tragic emotion that produced an error in judgment and would lead to her downfall. Because Hippolytus’ drive to remain innocent and favorable to the gods, alienated himself from women, gluttony, etc. acts as an indication to rectify behavior and provides a polar opposite to tragic hero’s wrong doings.
Lines 1-423
Hippolytus, son of King Theseus of Athens, leaves his palace at break of dawn to go boar-hunting--his favorite sport. He prays to the virgin goddess Diana for success in the hunt.
After he goes, Phaedra, wife of Theseus and daughter of King Minos of Crete, appears in front of the palace, lamenting her fate. Her husband has been gone for years after having left with his old friend Pirithous to capture Persephone from the underworld. Phaedra has been left alone to take care of the palace, and has lately felt ill. She finds herself pining for the forests and the hunt. Wondering what is causing her desire for the forest glades, she reflects on her mother, Pasiphae, daughter of Apollo, who was cursed to fall in love with a bull and give birth to a monster, the Minotaur. Phaedra wonders if she is as doomed as her mother was.
Phaedra’s aged nurse interjects that Phaedra should control the passions she feels, for love can be terribly destructive. She warns that Phaedra is on the brink of committing a terrible crime, more sinful in a way than the “monstrous passion” that gripped her mother, and that she should be cautious. Just because Theseus is in the underworld does not mean Phaedra’s crime will “go concealed”; her father Minos and her ancestor Apollo will see to it that the deed is exposed.
Phaedra explains that she is gripped by an uncontrollable lust, and that her passion has defeated her reason. It becomes clear that Hippolytus is the object of Phaedra's lust. The nurse warns Phaedra to “fear and respect” her husband. Phaedra counters that Theseus is probably forever trapped in the underworld. Theseus is not the only problem, however. Hippolytus himself detests women in general and Phaedra in particular. Nonetheless, Phaedra vows to follow him. Every argument the nurse makes, Phaedra shoots down: Hippolytus may shun all women, but that means Phaedra need “fear no rival.” Try as the nurse may to persuade her, Phaedra cannot be reasoned with, and declares that she will commit suicide. The nurse then begs Phaedra not to end her life, and promises to help her in her love: “Mine is the task to approach the savage youth and bend the cruel man’s relentless will.”
The Chorus sings of the power of love: Cupid is “reckless alike with torches and with arrows,” and even the gods are not immune. Zeus dons earthly disguises in order to possess the objects of his affection or lust, and Diana left her lunar perch in order to seek love with the shepherd Endymion.
Phaedra goes into an emotional frenzy, and the nurse begs the goddess Diana to soften Hippolytus' heart and make him fall in love with Phaedra.
Lines 424-834
Hippolytus returns from hunting and, seeing Phaedra’s nurse, asks her why she looks so sullen and worried. The nurse replies that there is no need to worry, but that Hippolytus should “show [him]self less harsh," enjoy life, seek the company of women. Hippolytus responds that life at its most innocent and free is life spent in the wild. He reflects on the men and women of “the primal age,” who lived “in friendly intercourse with gods.” They did not thirst for power; they found all they needed in the nature that surrounded them, and they lived in peace. Civilization changed everything; with it came crime and warfare. Hippolytus alludes to Phaedra, saying that stepmothers “are no whit more merciful than beasts”; he goes on to declare women “the leader of all wickedness” and points to Medea (Jason’s wife, who killed her own children) as an example. “Why make the crime of few the blame of all?” the nurse asks. She then argues that love can often change stubborn dispositions. Still, her arguments fall on deaf ears; Hippolytus maintains his steadfast hatred of womankind.
Phaedra appears, swoons, and collapses. Hippolytus wakes her. When asked why she is so miserable, she decides that she will confess to Hippolytus, hoping that her words might sway him. After ensuring that no else is watching or listening, Phaedra tries to subtly suggest Hippolytus should take his father’s place, as Theseus will likely never return from the underworld. Hippolytus takes the bait, offering to fill his father’s shoes while awaiting his return. Phaedra sees her opportunity and declares her love for him. At this, Hippolytus is aghast. He cries out that he is “guilty,” for he has “stirred [his] stepmother to love.” Then he pins the blame on Phaedra, railing against what he perceives as her terrible crime. He draws his sword to kill Phaedra, but upon realizing this is what she wants, he casts the weapon away and flees into the forest.
“Crime must be concealed by crime,” the nurse decides, and plots with Phaedra to accuse Hippolytus of incestuous lust. Since Phaedra’s confession was made in secret, it will be Hippolytus’ word against hers. “Help, Athens, help!” she shouts. “The ravisher, Hippolytus, with vile, lustful intent, is after us; he is upon us and threatens us with death; with the sword he is terrifying our chaste queen – ah! he has rushed headlong forth and, dazed, in panic flight, has left his sword.”
The Chorus interjects, praising Hippolytus’ beauty but noting that beauty is subject to the wiles of time. The Chorus then condemns Phaedra’s wicked scheme.
It is then that Theseus appears, freshly returned from the underworld.
Lines 835-1280
Theseus asks “What is this tearful outcry that strikes my ears?” The nurse informs him of Phaedra’s plight: “she scorns our tears,” she says, “and is on the very edge of death.” Theseus demands why Phaedra has resolved to die, especially now that her husband has come back. The nurse explains that Phaedra is telling no one the cause of her grief. Theseus opens the doors to the palace and sees Phaedra clutching a sword, ready to slay herself. He asks her why she is in such a state, but she responds only with vague, epigrammatic quips, alluding to a “sin” she has committed. Theseus asks to know what that sin is. “That I still live,” comes the reply.
Theseus orders the nurse to be bound in chains and tormented with the “scourge” until she confesses her mistress’s secret. Phaedra intervenes, telling her husband that she has been raped and that the “destroyer of [her] honor” is the one whom Theseus would least expect. She then points to the sword Hippolytus left behind.
“Ah me!” Theseus cries. “What villainy do I behold?” After Phaedra tells him that Hippolytus was last seen “speeding away in headlong flight,” Theseus, in a rage, summons his father Neptune to destroy the young man. (He notes that his father granted him three wishes, two of which he has already used.) He vows to pursue Hippolytus.
The Chorus asks the heavens why they do not reward the innocent (such as Hippolytus) and punish the guilty and evil. The Chorus asserts that the order of the world has become skewed: “wretched poverty dogs the pure, and the adulterer, strong in wickedness, reigns supreme.”
Moments later, a Messenger arrives to inform Theseus that Hippolytus is dead. As the Messenger tells us, a great storm broke out and out of the ocean’s depths, a monstrous bull appeared before Hippolytus. Hippolytus, steering his horse-drawn chariot, kept his calm and tried to control the situation; his horses, however, were terrified from the monster and broke from his grasp. Hippolytus’ limbs became entwined in the reins, and his body was dragged through the forest and torn asunder.
Upon hearing the news, Theseus breaks into tears. Although he wished this death upon his son, hearing of it makes him despair. “Truly I deem this the crowning woe of woes, if fortune makes what we must loathe that we must long for,” he says. The Chorus proclaims that the gods most readily target mortals of wealth or power, while “the low-roofed, common home ne’er feels [Jove’s] mighty blasts.”
Phaedra reappears, again with a sword. She condemns Theseus for his harshness and turns to Hippolytus’ mangled corpse. She bemoans the young man’s fate: “Whither is thy glorious beauty fled?" Then she reveals the truth – that she had falsely accused Hippolytus of her own crime. With that, she falls on her sword and dies...
Theseus is despondent. He looks upon his son’s body and calls for his missing parts to be assembled, so that Hippolytus may be given a proper burial. Then, pointing to Phaedra’s corpse, he utters the play’s closing line: “As for her, let her be buried deep in earth, and heavy may the soil lie on her unholy head!”
Phaedra - Theseus' wife and Hippolytus' stepmother. Daughter of Pasiphae, who fell in love with a bull and gave birth to the Minotaur, she too becomes stricken with a "sinful" desire - a lust for Hippolytus.
Theseus - King of Athens, famed for his heroic exploits, trapped in the Underworld at the play's beginning, on a quest with his friend Pirithous to capture Persephone and bring her to the mortal world. Known for his harshness, he killed his former wife Antiope, mother of Hippolytus.
The Nurse - Phaedra's nurse, an old woman who at first seems a vessel of wisdom in her attempts to console and advise her mistress, but then reveals a more sinister side when she hatches a plan to falsely accuse Hippolytus of trying to rape his stepmother.
Seneca the Younger
Lucius Annaeus Seneca was a Roman Stoic philosopher, statesman, dramatist, and in one work humorist, of the Silver Age of Latin literature. He was tutor and later advisor to emperor Nero...
, telling the story of Phaedra
Phaedra (mythology)
In Greek mythology, Phaedra is the daughter of Minos and Pasiphaë, wife of Theseus and the mother of Demophon of Athens and Acamas. Phaedra's name derives from the Greek word φαιδρός , which meant "bright"....
and her taboo love for her stepson Hippolytus
Hippolytus (mythology)
thumb|260px|The Death of Hippolytus, by [[Sir Lawrence Alma-Tadema]] .In Greek mythology, Hippolytus was a son of Theseus and either Antiope or Hippolyte...
. It is an adaptation of Hippolytus
Hippolytus (play)
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....
by Euripides
Euripides
Euripides was one of the three great tragedians of classical Athens, the other two being Aeschylus and Sophocles. Some ancient scholars attributed ninety-five plays to him but according to the Suda it was ninety-two at most...
; in Seneca's version, Phaedra is more sensual and shameless, deceiving her nurse in order to gain her as an accomplice.
According to Pierre Grimal
Pierre Grimal
Pierre Grimal was a French historian, classicist and Latinist. Fascinated by the Roman civilization, he did much to promote the cultural inheritance of ancient Rome, both among specialists and the general public.-Biography:Admitted to the École Normale Supérieure in 1933, and receiving a third in...
, it seems that this work is the result of the "contamination" of several sources, including Sophocles
Sophocles
Sophocles is one of three ancient Greek tragedians whose plays have survived. His first plays were written later than those of Aeschylus, and earlier than or contemporary with those of Euripides...
' Phaedra (a lost tragedy), Lycophron
Lycophron
Lycophron was a Hellenistic Greek tragic poet, grammarian, and commentator on comedy, to whom the poem Alexandra is attributed .-Life and miscellaneous works:...
and Ovid
Ovid
Publius Ovidius Naso , known as Ovid in the English-speaking world, was a Roman poet who is best known as the author of the three major collections of erotic poetry: Heroides, Amores, and Ars Amatoria...
.
Phaedra and stoicism
Stoicism teaches that caustic sentiments are the products of error in judgment, and that the only people who were exempt from experiencing these emotions were sages, people who possessed moral and intellectual perfection. Stoics also concerned themselves with the energetic association of cosmic determinism and freedom, and believed it moral to uphold a will according to nature. Best indication for a person’s philosophy was expressed through his behavior. It was with these philosophical teachings that Seneca wrote his play, Phaedra. For the style of Stoic writing, Seneca created his main character with one obsession, her lust for Hippolytus, which would be her tragic emotion that produced an error in judgment and would lead to her downfall. Because Hippolytus’ drive to remain innocent and favorable to the gods, alienated himself from women, gluttony, etc. acts as an indication to rectify behavior and provides a polar opposite to tragic hero’s wrong doings.
Plot
Lines 1-423
Hippolytus, son of King Theseus of Athens, leaves his palace at break of dawn to go boar-hunting--his favorite sport. He prays to the virgin goddess Diana for success in the hunt.
After he goes, Phaedra, wife of Theseus and daughter of King Minos of Crete, appears in front of the palace, lamenting her fate. Her husband has been gone for years after having left with his old friend Pirithous to capture Persephone from the underworld. Phaedra has been left alone to take care of the palace, and has lately felt ill. She finds herself pining for the forests and the hunt. Wondering what is causing her desire for the forest glades, she reflects on her mother, Pasiphae, daughter of Apollo, who was cursed to fall in love with a bull and give birth to a monster, the Minotaur. Phaedra wonders if she is as doomed as her mother was.
Phaedra’s aged nurse interjects that Phaedra should control the passions she feels, for love can be terribly destructive. She warns that Phaedra is on the brink of committing a terrible crime, more sinful in a way than the “monstrous passion” that gripped her mother, and that she should be cautious. Just because Theseus is in the underworld does not mean Phaedra’s crime will “go concealed”; her father Minos and her ancestor Apollo will see to it that the deed is exposed.
Phaedra explains that she is gripped by an uncontrollable lust, and that her passion has defeated her reason. It becomes clear that Hippolytus is the object of Phaedra's lust. The nurse warns Phaedra to “fear and respect” her husband. Phaedra counters that Theseus is probably forever trapped in the underworld. Theseus is not the only problem, however. Hippolytus himself detests women in general and Phaedra in particular. Nonetheless, Phaedra vows to follow him. Every argument the nurse makes, Phaedra shoots down: Hippolytus may shun all women, but that means Phaedra need “fear no rival.” Try as the nurse may to persuade her, Phaedra cannot be reasoned with, and declares that she will commit suicide. The nurse then begs Phaedra not to end her life, and promises to help her in her love: “Mine is the task to approach the savage youth and bend the cruel man’s relentless will.”
The Chorus sings of the power of love: Cupid is “reckless alike with torches and with arrows,” and even the gods are not immune. Zeus dons earthly disguises in order to possess the objects of his affection or lust, and Diana left her lunar perch in order to seek love with the shepherd Endymion.
Phaedra goes into an emotional frenzy, and the nurse begs the goddess Diana to soften Hippolytus' heart and make him fall in love with Phaedra.
Lines 424-834
Hippolytus returns from hunting and, seeing Phaedra’s nurse, asks her why she looks so sullen and worried. The nurse replies that there is no need to worry, but that Hippolytus should “show [him]self less harsh," enjoy life, seek the company of women. Hippolytus responds that life at its most innocent and free is life spent in the wild. He reflects on the men and women of “the primal age,” who lived “in friendly intercourse with gods.” They did not thirst for power; they found all they needed in the nature that surrounded them, and they lived in peace. Civilization changed everything; with it came crime and warfare. Hippolytus alludes to Phaedra, saying that stepmothers “are no whit more merciful than beasts”; he goes on to declare women “the leader of all wickedness” and points to Medea (Jason’s wife, who killed her own children) as an example. “Why make the crime of few the blame of all?” the nurse asks. She then argues that love can often change stubborn dispositions. Still, her arguments fall on deaf ears; Hippolytus maintains his steadfast hatred of womankind.
Phaedra appears, swoons, and collapses. Hippolytus wakes her. When asked why she is so miserable, she decides that she will confess to Hippolytus, hoping that her words might sway him. After ensuring that no else is watching or listening, Phaedra tries to subtly suggest Hippolytus should take his father’s place, as Theseus will likely never return from the underworld. Hippolytus takes the bait, offering to fill his father’s shoes while awaiting his return. Phaedra sees her opportunity and declares her love for him. At this, Hippolytus is aghast. He cries out that he is “guilty,” for he has “stirred [his] stepmother to love.” Then he pins the blame on Phaedra, railing against what he perceives as her terrible crime. He draws his sword to kill Phaedra, but upon realizing this is what she wants, he casts the weapon away and flees into the forest.
“Crime must be concealed by crime,” the nurse decides, and plots with Phaedra to accuse Hippolytus of incestuous lust. Since Phaedra’s confession was made in secret, it will be Hippolytus’ word against hers. “Help, Athens, help!” she shouts. “The ravisher, Hippolytus, with vile, lustful intent, is after us; he is upon us and threatens us with death; with the sword he is terrifying our chaste queen – ah! he has rushed headlong forth and, dazed, in panic flight, has left his sword.”
The Chorus interjects, praising Hippolytus’ beauty but noting that beauty is subject to the wiles of time. The Chorus then condemns Phaedra’s wicked scheme.
It is then that Theseus appears, freshly returned from the underworld.
Lines 835-1280
Theseus asks “What is this tearful outcry that strikes my ears?” The nurse informs him of Phaedra’s plight: “she scorns our tears,” she says, “and is on the very edge of death.” Theseus demands why Phaedra has resolved to die, especially now that her husband has come back. The nurse explains that Phaedra is telling no one the cause of her grief. Theseus opens the doors to the palace and sees Phaedra clutching a sword, ready to slay herself. He asks her why she is in such a state, but she responds only with vague, epigrammatic quips, alluding to a “sin” she has committed. Theseus asks to know what that sin is. “That I still live,” comes the reply.
Theseus orders the nurse to be bound in chains and tormented with the “scourge” until she confesses her mistress’s secret. Phaedra intervenes, telling her husband that she has been raped and that the “destroyer of [her] honor” is the one whom Theseus would least expect. She then points to the sword Hippolytus left behind.
“Ah me!” Theseus cries. “What villainy do I behold?” After Phaedra tells him that Hippolytus was last seen “speeding away in headlong flight,” Theseus, in a rage, summons his father Neptune to destroy the young man. (He notes that his father granted him three wishes, two of which he has already used.) He vows to pursue Hippolytus.
The Chorus asks the heavens why they do not reward the innocent (such as Hippolytus) and punish the guilty and evil. The Chorus asserts that the order of the world has become skewed: “wretched poverty dogs the pure, and the adulterer, strong in wickedness, reigns supreme.”
Moments later, a Messenger arrives to inform Theseus that Hippolytus is dead. As the Messenger tells us, a great storm broke out and out of the ocean’s depths, a monstrous bull appeared before Hippolytus. Hippolytus, steering his horse-drawn chariot, kept his calm and tried to control the situation; his horses, however, were terrified from the monster and broke from his grasp. Hippolytus’ limbs became entwined in the reins, and his body was dragged through the forest and torn asunder.
Upon hearing the news, Theseus breaks into tears. Although he wished this death upon his son, hearing of it makes him despair. “Truly I deem this the crowning woe of woes, if fortune makes what we must loathe that we must long for,” he says. The Chorus proclaims that the gods most readily target mortals of wealth or power, while “the low-roofed, common home ne’er feels [Jove’s] mighty blasts.”
Phaedra reappears, again with a sword. She condemns Theseus for his harshness and turns to Hippolytus’ mangled corpse. She bemoans the young man’s fate: “Whither is thy glorious beauty fled?" Then she reveals the truth – that she had falsely accused Hippolytus of her own crime. With that, she falls on her sword and dies...
Theseus is despondent. He looks upon his son’s body and calls for his missing parts to be assembled, so that Hippolytus may be given a proper burial. Then, pointing to Phaedra’s corpse, he utters the play’s closing line: “As for her, let her be buried deep in earth, and heavy may the soil lie on her unholy head!”
Characters
Hippolytus -Son of Theseus and the Amazonian Antiope. A lover of the hunt and of the woods, he is known to despise women. He prefers the freedoms of the wilderness to the comforts (and constraints) of civilization.Phaedra - Theseus' wife and Hippolytus' stepmother. Daughter of Pasiphae, who fell in love with a bull and gave birth to the Minotaur, she too becomes stricken with a "sinful" desire - a lust for Hippolytus.
Theseus - King of Athens, famed for his heroic exploits, trapped in the Underworld at the play's beginning, on a quest with his friend Pirithous to capture Persephone and bring her to the mortal world. Known for his harshness, he killed his former wife Antiope, mother of Hippolytus.
The Nurse - Phaedra's nurse, an old woman who at first seems a vessel of wisdom in her attempts to console and advise her mistress, but then reveals a more sinister side when she hatches a plan to falsely accuse Hippolytus of trying to rape his stepmother.
External links
- http://www.theatredatabase.com/ancient/seneca_001.html
- Original text of Phaedra in Latin
- Free English Text