Phaedra

Phaedra is one of the 10 surviving Roman tragedies attributed to Lucius Annaeus Seneca. It was probably composed in the first half of the first century CE, during the time when the Julio-Claudian Dynasty was in power in Rome. Considered one of Seneca’s most influential plays, Phaedra tells the story of Phaedra’s disastrous and unrequited passion for her stepson Hippolytus, loosely drawing on Euripides’s much earlier Greek tragedy, Hippolytus. The play explores themes such as The Destructive Power of the Passions, The Interplay of Heredity and Fate, and The Conflict of the Sexes.

This study guide refers to Emily Wilson’s translation of the play from the Oxford World Classics volume of Seneca: Six Tragedies (2010).

Content Warning: The source material features violence, rape, suicide, and sexual practices that may be disturbing to some readers.

Plot Summary

In the first “act” of the play, Hippolytus, the son of Theseus and an Amazon woman, makes preparations to go hunting. He prays to Diana, goddess of hunting and nature, to give him success. As Hippolytus departs, his stepmother, Phaedra, enters. Phaedra complains about the absence of her husband, Theseus, who has descended to the Underworld to abduct the goddess Proserpina for his friend Pirithous. Left in charge of the home, Phaedra finds her suffering intolerable. She longs to lose herself in the wilderness and remembers her mother Pasiphae, who slept with her husband’s prize bull and bore the monstrous Minotaur, who was half-man, half-bull.

The Nurse cautions Phaedra about the dangers of sexual transgression and urges her to restrain her passions. Phaedra, confessing that she has fallen in love with her stepson Hippolytus, explains that she can no longer control herself. To make matters worse, Hippolytus has sworn to remain chaste, making the consummation of Phaedra’s love even more unlikely. She even considers killing herself until finally the Nurse promises to find a way to help her. The Chorus sings the first choral ode, describing the power of the love gods Venus and Cupid over human beings, animals, and even gods themselves.

Hippolytus comes back from hunting. He speaks with the Nurse, who advises him to lead a less strict lifestyle and to allow himself to enjoy the pleasures of love and women. Hippolytus rejects this advice, praising the purity of a life devoted to nature and delivering a vicious tirade in which he denounces all women. Phaedra collapses before Hippolytus. Hippolytus revives her and asks her what is wrong, and Phaedra at last reveals her feelings for him. Horrified, Hippolytus is on the verge of killing Phaedra. When he realizes that Phaedra would find pleasure even in dying by his hands, Hippolytus is so disgusted that he throws away his sword and escapes to the woods.

Not wasting any time, the Nurse devises a plot to conceal Phaedra’s guilt: They will accuse Hippolytus of trying to rape Phaedra. She cries out that Hippolytus has assaulted her mistress and calls on the Athenians for help. The Chorus, much troubled by this development, sing the second choral ode in which they praise Hippolytus’s beauty and note that it is often the fate of beauty to suffer.

Theseus returns from the Underworld. He finds the house in disarray, and the Nurse tells him that Phaedra has decided to kill herself. Theseus confronts Phaedra and demands to hear the reason for her grief. Phaedra at first refuses to answer Theseus’s questions, but finally “confesses” when Theseus threatens to torture the truth out of the Nurse: Phaedra tells Theseus that Hippolytus has raped her. Theseus is enraged. He prays to his father Neptune and asks him to destroy Hippolytus. The Chorus sings the third ode, describing the power of fate or fortune and lamenting that the evil prosper while the good suffer.

A Messenger arrives and describes Hippolytus’s death: As Hippolytus was riding his chariot along the shore, a bull appeared from the sea and caused his horses to panic, throwing Hippolytus from the chariot and trampling him. Theseus, though still angry at Hippolytus, weeps to hear that he is dead. The Chorus sings another ode, noting that the gods cause the powerful to suffer.

Phaedra reenters and laments over the ruined corpse of Hippolytus. She confesses the truth to Theseus, after which she kills herself. Theseus descends into a rambling grief. He commands that Hippolytus’s body be reassembled and buried while dismissively condemning Phaedra for her wickedness.