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Hippolytus (Ancient Greek: Ἱππόλυτος, Hippolytos) 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.[1]
Euripides first treated the myth in Hippolytos Kalyptomenos (Ἱππόλυτος καλυπτόμενος – Hippolytus Veiled), now lost. Scholars are virtually unanimous[2] in believing that the contents to the missing Kalyptomenos portrayed a shamelessly lustful Phaedra who directly propositions Hippolytus,[3] to the displeasure of the audience.[4]
This failure prompted Euripides to revisit the myth in Hippolytos Stephanophoros (Ἱππόλυτος στεφανοφόρος – "Hippolytus who wears a crown"), in reference to the crown of garlands Hippolytus wears as a worshipper of Artemis, this time with a modest Phaedra who fights her sexual appetites. The surviving play offers a much more even-handed and psychologically complex treatment of the characters than is commonly found in traditional retelling of myths.
