This selection of plays shows Euripides transforming the titanic figures of Greek myths into recognizable, fallible human beings. Medea, in which a spurned woman takes revenge upon her lover by killing her children, is one of the most shocking of all the Greek tragedies. Medea is a towering figure who demonstrates Euripides' unusual willingness to give voice to a woman's case. Alcestis is based on a magical myth in which Death is overcome, and The Children of Heracles examines conflict between might and right, while Hippolytus deals with self-destructive integrity.
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APHRODITE appears above the stage-building and begins her soliloquy. APHRODITE: I am the goddess called Cypris.
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(@PenguinUKBooks, 27 March 2003, first published -428, 206 pages, paperback, bought @AmazonUK)
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I only read Hippolytus from this collection of plays. I read it as part on an Open University course on Greek Mythology. I'm familiar with a lot of Greek myths but have never heard of Hippolytus before so this play was my first experience of this play. I loved it. The goddess Aphrodite is furious because Hippolytus, a chaste man doesn't worship her so curses him. Aphrodite makes his step-mother Phaedra fall in love with him. Phaedra tells her nurse who tries to persuade Hippolytus to seduce her but he refuses. Phaedra kills herself but not before writing a poisonous letter to Hippolytus's father Theseus, accusing her stepson of rape. Theseus, who is Poseidon's son, calls on his father for revenge. Hippolytus's horses are attacked by a sea monster and he's dragged to his death across rocks. Artemis tells Theseus the truth in Hippolytus's final moments and they are reunited before he dies. The play is quite short, less than fifty pages but a lot happens across such scant pages. It's a recent translation so very easy to follow and understand.
