Hippolytus

Blurb

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.
Euripides first treated the myth in Hippolytos Kalyptomenos, now lost. The overwhelming majority of scholars believe that the contents to the missing Kalyptomenos portrayed a shamelessly lustful Phaedra who directly propositioned Hippolytus to the displeasure of the play's audience.
Euripides' failure to maintain audience approval prompted him to revisit the myth in Hippolytos Stephanophoros, its title referencing the crown of garlands Hippolytus - this time with a modest Phaedra who fights her sexual appetites - wears as a worshipper of Artemis. The surviving play offers a much more even-handed and psychologically complex treatment of the characters than is commonly found in the retelling of myths.