theseus in greek translation

Plutarch's Lives (Clough)/Life of Theseus

Theseus (Greek Θησεύς) was a legendary king of Athens, son of Aegeus (or of Poseidon) and of Aethra. Theseus was a founder-hero, like Perseus, Cadmus or Heracles, all of whom battled and overcame foes that were identified with an archaic religious and social order. As Heracles was the Dorian hero, Theseus was the Ionian founding hero, considered by Athenians as their own great reformer. His name comes from the same root as θεσμoς ("thesmos"), Greek for institution. In The Frogs Aristophanes credited him with inventing many everyday Athenian traditions. He may have originated in, or been based upon, a historical person or persons.

The "Dryden translation" was first published in 1683 with a life of Plutarch by Dryden and translations by others supposedly under his direction. This edition first published in 1859, edited by A.H. Clough .

As geographers, Sosius, [1] crowd into the edges of their maps parts of the world which they do not know about, adding notes in the margin to the effect, that beyond this lies nothing but sandy deserts full of wild beasts, unapproachable bogs, Scythian ice, or a frozen sea, so, in this work of mine, in which I have compared the lives of the greatest men with one another, after passing through those periods which probable reasoning can reach to and real history find a footing in, I might very well say of those that are farther off, Beyond this there is nothing but prodigies and fictions, the only inhabitants are the poets and inventors of fables; there is no credit, or certainty any farther. Yet, after publishing an account of Lycurgus the lawgiver and Numa the king, I thought I might, not without reason, ascend as high as to Romulus, being brought by my history so near to his time. Considering therefore with myself

Whom shall I set so great a man to face? Or whom oppose? who's equal to the place?

(as Æschylus expresses it), I found none so fit as him that peopled the beautiful and far-famed city of Athens, to be ​ set in opposition with the father of the invincible and renowned city of Rome. Let us hope that Fable may, in what shall follow, so submit to the purifying processes of Reason as to take the character of exact history. In any case, however, where it shall be found contumaciously slighting credibility, and refusing to be reduced to any thing like probable fact, we shall beg that we may meet with candid readers, and such as will receive with indulgence the stories of antiquity.

Theseus seemed to me to resemble Romulus in many particulars. Both of them, born out of wedlock and of uncertain parentage, had the repute of being sprung from the gods.

Both warriors; that by all the world's allowed.

Both of them united with strength of body an equal vigor of mind; and of the two most famous cities of the world, the one built Rome, and the other made Athens be inhabited. Both stand charged with the rape of women; neither of them could avoid domestic misfortunes nor jealousy at home; but towards the close of their lives are both of them said to have incurred great odium with their countrymen, if, that is, we may take the stories least like poetry as our guide to the truth.

The lineage of Theseus, by his father's side, ascends as high as to Erechtheus and the first inhabitants of Attica. By his mother's side he was descended of Pelops. For Pelops was the most powerful of all the kings of Peloponnesus, not so much by the greatness of his riches as the multitude of his children, having married many daughters to chief men, and put many sons in places of command in the towns round about him. One of whom, named Pittheus, grandfather to Theseus, was governor of the small city of the Trœzenians, and had the repute of a man of the greatest knowledge and wisdom of his ​ time; which then, it seems, consisted chiefly in grave maxims, such as the poet Hesiod got his great fame by, in his book of Works and Days. And, indeed, among these is one that they ascribe to Pittheus,—

Unto a friend suffice A stipulated price; [2]

which, also, Aristotle mentions. And Euripides, by calling Hippolytus "scholar of the holy Pittheus," shows the opinion that the world had of him.

Ægeus, being desirous of children, and consulting the oracle of Delphi, received the celebrated answer which forbade him the company of any woman before his return to Athens. But the oracle being so obscure as not to satisfy him that he was clearly forbid this, he went to Trœzen, and communicated to Pittheus the voice of the god, which was in this manner,—

Loose not the wine-skin foot, thou chief of men, Until to Athens thou art come again.

Pittheus, therefore, taking advantage from the obscurity of the oracle, prevailed upon him, it is uncertain whether by persuasion or deceit, to lie with his daughter Æthra. Ægeus afterwards, knowing her whom he had lain with to be Pittheus's daughter, and suspecting her to be with child by him, left a sword and a pair of shoes, hiding them under a great stone that had a hollow in it exactly fitting them; and went away making her only ​ privy to it, and commanding her, if .she brought forth a son who, when he came to man's estate, should be able to lift up the stone and take away what he had left there, she should send him away to him with those things with all secrecy, and with injunctions to him as much as possible to conceal his journey from every one; for he greatly feared the Pallantida?, who were continually mutinying against him, and despised him for his want of children, they themselves being fifty brothers, all sons of Pallas. [3]

When Æthra was delivered of a son, some say that he was immediately named Theseus, from the tokens which his father had put [4] under the stone; others that he received his name afterwards at Athens, when Ægeus acknowledged [4] him for his son. He was brought up under his grandfather Pittheus, and had a tutor and attendant set over him named Connidas, to whom the Athenians, even to this time, the day before the feast that is dedicated to Theseus, sacrifice a ram, giving this honor to his memory upon much juster grounds than to Silanio and Parrhasius, for making pictures and statues of Theseus. There being then a custom for the Grecian youth, upon their first coming to man's estate, to go to Delphi and offer first-fruits of their hair to the god, Theseus also went thither, and a place there to this day is yet named Thesea, as it is said, from him. He clipped only the fore part of his head, as Homer says the Abantes did. [5] And this sort of tonsure was from him named Theseis. The Abantes first used it, not in imitation of the Arabians, as some imagine, nor of the Mysians, but because they were a warlike people, and used to close fighting, and above all other nations accustomed to engage hand to hand; as Archilochus testifies in these verses:—

Therefore that they might not give their enemies a hold by their hair, they cut it in this manner. They write also that this was the reason why Alexander gave command to his captains that all the beards of the Macedonians should be shaved, as being the readiest hold for an enemy.

Æthra for some time concealed the true parentage of Theseus, and a report was given out by Pittheus that he was begotten by Neptune; for the Trœzenians pay Neptune the highest veneration. He is their tutelar god, to him they offer all their first-fruits, and in his honor stamp their money with a trident.

Theseus displaying not only great strength of body, but equal bravery, and a quickness alike and force of understanding, his mother Æthra, conducting him to the stone, and informing him who was his true father, commanded him to take from thence the tokens that Ægeus had left, and to sail to Athens. He without any difficulty set himself to the stone and lifted it up; but refused to take his journey by sea, though it was much the safer way, and though his mother and grandfather begged him to do so. For it was at that time very dangerous to go by land on the road to Athens, no part of it being free from robbers and murderers. That age produced a sort of men, in force of hand, and swiftness of foot, and strength of body, excelling the ordinary rate, and wholly incapable of fatigue; making use, however, of these gifts of nature to no good or profitable purpose for mankind, but rejoicing and priding themselves in insolence, and taking the benefit of their superior strength in the exercise of ​ inhumanity and cruelty, and in seizing, forcing, and committing all manner of outrages upon every thing that fell into their hands; all respect for others, all justice, they thought, all equity and humanity, though naturally lauded by common people, either out of want of courage to commit injuries or fear to receive them, yet no way concerned those who were strong enough to win for themselves. Some of these, Hercules destroyed and cut off in his passage through these countries, but some, escaping his notice while he was passing by, fled and hid themselves, or else were spared by him in contempt of their abject submission; and after that Hercules fell into misfortune, and, having slain Iphitus, retired to Lydia, and for a long time was there slave to Omphale, a punishment which he had imposed upon himself for the murder, then, indeed, Lydia enjoyed high peace and security, but in Greece and the countries about it the like villanies again revived and broke out, there being none to repress or chastise them. It was therefore a very hazardous journey to travel by land from Athens to Peloponnesus; and Pittheus, giving him an exact account of each of these robbers and villains, their strength, and the cruelty they used to all strangers, tried to persuade Theseus to go by sea. But he, it seems, had long since been secretly fired by the glory of Hercules, held him in the highest estimation, and was never more satisfied than in listening to any that gave an account of him; especially those that had seen him, or had been present at any action or saying of his. So that he was altogether in the same state of feeling as, in after ages, Themistocles was, when he said that he could not sleep for the trophy of Miltiades; entertaining such admiration for the virtue of Hercules, that in the night his dreams were all of that hero's actions, and in the day a continual emulation stirred him up to perform ​ the like. Besides, they were related, being born of cousins german. For Æthra was daughter of Pittheus, and Alcmena of Lysidice; and Lysidice and Pittheus were brother and sister, children of Hippodamia and Pelops. He thought it therefore a dishonorable thing, and not to be endured, that Hercules should go out everywhere, and purge both land and sea from wicked men, and he himself should fly from the like adventures that actually came in his way; disgracing his reputed father by a mean flight by sea, and not showing his true one as good evidence of the greatness of his birth by noble and worthy actions, as by the tokens that he brought with him, the shoes and the sword.

With this mind and these thoughts, he set forward with a design to do injury to nobody, but to repel and revenge himself of all those that should offer any. And first of all, in a set combat, he slew Periphetes, in the neighborhood of Epidaurus, who used a club for his arms, and from thence had the name of Corynetes, or the club-bearer; who seized upon him, and forbade him to go forward in his journey. Being pleased with the club, he took it, and made it his weapon, continuing to use it as Hercules did the lion's skin, on whose shoulders that served to prove how huge a beast he had killed; and to the same end Theseus carried about him this club; overcome indeed by him, but now, in his hands, invincible.

Passing on further towards the Isthmus of Peloponnesus, he slew Sinnis, often surnamed the Bender of Pines, after the same manner in which he himself had destroyed many others before. And this he did without having either practised or ever learnt the art of bending these trees, to show that natural strength is above all art. This Sinnis had a daughter of remarkable beauty and stature, called Perigune, who, when her father was killed, fled, and was sought after everywhere by Theseus; and coming into a place overgrown with brushwood, shrubs, ​ and asparagus-thorn, there, in a childlike, innocent manner, prayed and begged them, as if they understood her, to give her shelter, with vows that if she escaped she would never cut them down nor burn them. But Theseus calling upon her, and giving her his promise that he would use her with respect, and offer her no injury, she came forth, and in due time bore him a son, named Melanippus; but afterwards was married to Deioneus, the son of Eurytus, the Œchalian, Theseus himself giving her to him. Ioxus, the son of this Melanippus who was born to Theseus, accompanied Ornytus in the colony that he carried with him into Caria, whence it is a family usage amongst the people called Ioxids, both male and female, never to burn either shrubs or asparagus-thorn, but to respect and honor them.

The Crommyonian sow, which they called Phæa, was a savage and formidable wild beast, by no means an enemy to be despised. Theseus killed her, going out of his way on purpose to meet and engage her, so that he might not seem to perform all his great exploits out of mere necessity; being also of opinion that it was the part of a brave man to chastise villanous and wicked men when attacked by them, but to seek out and overcome the more noble wild beasts. Others relate that Phæa was a woman, a robber full of cruelty and lust, that lived in Crommyon, and had the name of Sow given her from the foulness of her life and manners, and afterwards was killed by Theseus. He slew also Sciron, upon the borders of Megara, casting him down from the rocks, being, as most report, a notorious robber of all passengers, and, as others add, accustomed, out of insolence and wantonness, to stretch forth his feet to strangers, commanding them to wash them, and then while they did it, with a kick to send them down the rock into the sea. The writers of Megara, however, in contradiction to the received report, and, as Simonides ​ expresses it, "fighting with all antiquity," contend that Sciron was neither a robber nor doer of violence, but a punisher of all such, and the relative and friend of good and just men; for Æacus, they say, was ever esteemed a man of the greatest sanctity of all the Greeks; and Cychreus, the Salaminian, was honored at Athens with divine worship; and the virtues of Peleus and Telamon were not unknown to any one. Now Sciron was son-in-law to Cychreus, father-in-law to Æacus, and grandfather to Peleus and Telamon, who were both of them sons of Endeis, the daughter of Sciron and Chariclo; it was not probable, therefore, that the best of men should make these alliances with one who was worst, giving and receiving mutually what was of greatest value and most dear to them. Theseus, by their account, did not slay Sciron in his first journey to Athens, but afterwards, when he took Eleusis, a city of the Megarians, having circumvented Diodes, the governor. Such are the contradictions in this story. In Eleusis he killed Cercyon, the Arcadian, in a wrestling match. And going on a little farther, in Erineus, he slew Damastes, otherwise called Procrustes, forcing his body to the size of his own bed, as he himself was nsed to do with all strangers; this he did in imitation of Hercules, who always returned upon his assailants the same sort of violence that they offered to him; sacrificed Busiris, killed Antasus in wrestling, and Cycnus in single combat, and Termerus by breaking his skull in pieces (whence, they say, comes the proverb of "a Termerian mischief"), for it seems Termerus killed passengers that he met, by running with his head against them. And so also Theseus proceeded in the punishment of evil men, who underwent the same violence from him which they had indicted upon others, justly suffering after the manner of their own injustice.

​ As he went forward on his journey, and was come as far as the river Cephisus, some of the race of the Phytalidæ met him and saluted him, and, upon his desire to use the purifications, then in custom, they performed them with all the usual ceremonies, and, having offered propitiatory sacrifices to the gods, invited him and entertained him at their house, a kindness which, in all his journey hitherto, he had not met.

On the eighth day of Cronius, now called Hecatombæon, he arrived at Athens, where he found the public affairs full of all confusion, and divided into parties and factions, Ægeus also, and his whole private family, laboring under the same distemper; for Medea, having fled from Corinth, and promised Ægeus to make him, by her art, capable of having children, was living with him. She first was aware of Theseus, whom as yet Ægeus did not know, and he being in years, full of jealousies and suspicions, and fearing every thing by reason of the faction that was then in the city, she easily persuaded him to kill him by poison at a banquet, to which he was to be invited as a stranger. He, coming to the entertainment, thought it not fit to discover himself at once, but, willing to give his father the occasion of first finding him out, the meat being on the table, he drew his sword as if he designed to cut with it; Ægeus, at once recognizing the token, threw down the cup of poison, and, questioning his son, embraced him, and, having gathered together all his citizens, owned him publicly before them, who, on their part, received him gladly for the fame of his greatness and bravery; and it is said, that when the cup fell, the poison was spilt there where now is the enclosed space in the Delphinium; for in that place stood Ægeus's house, and the figure of Mercury on the east side of the temple is called the Mercury of Ægeus's gate.

​ The sons of Pallas, who before were quiet, upon expectation of recovering the kingdom after Ægeus's death, who was without issue, as soon as Theseus appeared and was acknowledged the successor, highly resenting that Ægeus first, an adopted son only of Pandion, and not at all related to the family of Erechtheus, should be holding the kingdom, and that after him, Theseus, a visitor and stranger, should be destined to succeed to it, broke out into open war. And, dividing themselves into two companies, one part of them marched openly from Sphettus, with their father, against the city, the other, hiding themselves in the village of Gargettus, lay in ambush, with a design to set upon the enemy on both sides. They had with them a crier of the township of Agnus, named Leos, who discovered to Theseus all the designs of the Pallantidæ. He immediately fell upon those that lay in ambuscade, and cut them all off; upon tidings of which Pallas and his company fled and were dispersed.

From hence they say is derived the custom among the people of the township of Pallene to have no marriages or any alliance with the people of Agnus, nor to suffer the criers to pronounce in their proclamations the words used in all other parts of the country, Acouĕtĕ Leoi (Hear ye people), hating the very sound of Leo, because of the treason of Leos.

Theseus, longing to be in action, and desirous also to make himself popular, left Athens to fight with the bull of Marathon, which did no small mischief to the inhabitants of Tetrapolis. And having overcome it, he brought it alive in triumph through the city, and afterwards sacrificed it to the Delphinian Apollo. The story of Hecale, also, of her receiving and entertaining Theseus in this expedition, seems to be not altogether void of truth; for the townships round about, meeting upon a certain day, ​ used to offer a sacrifice, which they called Hecalesia, to Jupiter Hecaleius, and to pay honor to Hecale, whom, by a diminutive name, they called Hecalene, because she, while entertaining Theseus, who was quite a youth, addressed him, as old people do, with similar endearing diminutives; and having made a vow to Jupiter for him as he was going to the fight, that, if he returned in safety, she would offer sacrifices in thanks of it, and dying before he came back, she had these honors given her by way of return for her hospitality, by the command of Theseus, as Philochorus tells us.

Not long after arrived the third time from Crete the collectors of the tribute which the Athenians paid them upon the following occasion. Androgeus having been treacherously murdered in the confines of Attica, not only Minos, his father, put the Athenians to extreme distress by a perpetual war, but the gods also laid waste their country; both famine and pestilence lay heavy upon them, and even their rivers were dried up. Being told by the oracle that, if they appeased and reconciled Minos, the anger of the gods would cease and they should enjoy rest from the miseries they labored under, they sent heralds, and with much supplication were at last reconciled, entering into an agreement to send to Crete every nine years a tribute of seven young men and as many virgins, as most writers agree in stating; and the most poetical story adds, that the Minotaur destroyed them, or that, wandering in the labyrinth, and finding no possible means of getting out, they miserably ended their lives there; and that this Minotaur was (as Euripides hath it)

A mingled form, where two strange shapes combined, And different natures, bull and man, were joined.

But Philochorus says that the Cretans will by no means ​ allow the truth of this, but say that the labyrinth was only an ordinary prison, having no other bad quality but that it secured the prisoners from escaping, and that Minos, having instituted games in honor of Androgeus, gave, as a reward to the victors, these youths, who in the mean time were kept in the labyrinth; and that the first that overcame in those games was one of the greatest power and command among them, named Taurus, a man of no merciful or gentle disposition, who treated the Athenians that were made his prize in a proud and cruel manner. Also Aristotle himself, in the account that he gives of the form of government of the Bottiasans, is manifestly of opinion that the youths were not slain by Minos, but spent the remainder of their days in slavery in Crete; that the Cretans, in former times, to acquit themselves of an ancient vow which they had made, were used to send an offering of the first-fruits of their men to Delphi, and that some descendants of these Athenian slaves were mingled with them and sent amongst them, and, unable to get their living there, removed from thence, first into Italy, and settled about Japygia; from thence again, that they removed to Thrace, and were named Bottiæans; and that this is the reason why, in a certain sacrifice, the Bottiæan girls sing a hymn beginning Let us go to Athens . This may show us how dangerous a thing it is to incur the hostility of a city that is mistress of eloquence and song. For Minos was always ill spoken of, and represented ever as a very wicked man, in the Athenian theatres; neither did Hesiod avail him by calling him "the most royal Minos," nor Homer, who styles him " Jupiter's familiar friend; " the tragedians got the better, and from the vantage ground of the stage showered down obloquy upon him, as a man of cruelty and violence; whereas, in fact, he appears to have been a king and a lawgiver, and ​ Rhadamanthus a judge under him, administering the statutes that he ordained.

Now when the time of the third tribute was come, and the fathers who had any young men for their sons were to proceed by lot to the choice of those that were to be sent, there arose fresh discontents and accusations against Ægeus among the people, who were full of grief and indignation that he, who was the cause of all their miseries, was the only person exempt from the punishment; adopting and settling his kingdom upon a bastard and foreign son, he took no thought, they said, of their destitution and loss, not of bastards, but lawful children. These things sensibly affected Theseus, who, thinking it but just not to disregard, but rather partake of, the sufferings of his fellow citizens, offered himself for one without any lot. All else were struck with admiration for the nobleness and with love for the goodness of the act; and Ægeus, after prayers and entreaties, finding him inflexible and not to be persuaded, proceeded to the choosing of the rest by lot. Hellanicus, however, tells us that the Athenians did not send the young men and virgins by lot, but that Minos himself used to come and make his own choice, and pitched upon Theseus before all others; according to the conditions agreed upon between them, namely, that the Athenians should furnish them with a ship, and that the young men that were to sail with him should carry no weapon of war; but that if the Minotaur was destroyed, the tribute should cease.

On the two former occasions of the payment of the tribute, entertaining no hopes of safety or return, they sent out the ship with a black sail, as to unavoidable destruction; but now, Theseus encouraging his father and speaking greatly of himself, as confident that he should kill the Minotaur, he gave the pilot another sail, ​ which was white, commanding him, as he returned, if Theseus were safe, to make use of that; but if not, to sail with the black one, and to hang out that sign of his misfortune. Simonides says that the sail which Ægeus delivered to the pilot was not white, but

Scarlet, in the juicy bloom Of the living oak-tree steeped, [6]

and that this was to be the sign of their escape. Phereclus, son of Amarsyas, according to Simonides, was pilot of the ship. But Philochorus says Theseus had sent him by Scirus, from Salamis, Nausithoüs to be his steersman, and Phæax his look-out-man in the prow, the Athenians having as yet not applied themselves to navigation; and that Scirus did this because one of the young men, Menesthes, was his daughter's son; and this the chapels of Nausithoüs and Phæax, built by Theseus near the temple of Scirus, confirm. He adds, also, that the feast named Cybernesia [7] was in honor of them. The lot being cast, and Theseus having received out of the Prytaneüm those upon whom it fell, he went to the Delphinium, and made an offering for them to Apollo of his suppliant's badge, which was a bough of a consecrated olive tree, with white wool tied about it.

Having thus performed his devotion, he went to sea, the sixth day of Munychion, on which day even to this time the Athenians send their virgins to the same temple to make supplication to the gods. It is farther reported that he was commanded by the oracle at Delphi to make Venus his guide, and to invoke her as the companion and conductress of his voyage, and that, as he was sacrificing a she goat to her by the seaside, it was suddenly changed into a he, and for this cause that goddess had the name of Epitragia. [8]

​ When he arrived at Crete, as most of the ancient historians as well as poets tell us, having a clue of thread given him by Ariadne, who had fallen in love with him, and being instructed by her how to use it so as to conduct him through the windings of the labyrinth, he escaped out of it and slew the Minotaur, and sailed back, taking along with him Ariadne and the young Athenian captives. Pherecydes adds that he bored holes in the bottoms of the Cretan ships to hinder their pursuit. Demon writes that Taurus, the chief captain of Minos, was slain by Theseus at the mouth of the port, in a naval combat, as he was sailing out for Athens. But Philochorus gives us the story thus: That at the setting forth of the yearly games by king Minos, Taurus was expected to carry away the prize, as he had done before; and was much grudged the honor. His character and manners made his power hateful, and he was accused moreover of too near familiarity with Pasiphae, for which reason, when Theseus desired the combat, Minos readily complied. And as it was a custom in Crete that the women also should be admitted to the sight of these games, Ariadne, being present, was struck with admiration of the manly beauty of Theseus, and the vigor and address which he showed in the combat, overcoming all that encountered with him. Minos, too, being extremely pleased with him, especially because he had overthrown and disgraced Taurus, voluntarily gave up the young captives to Theseus, and remitted the tribute to the Athenians. Clidemus gives an account peculiar to himself, very ambitiously, and beginning a great way back: That it was a decree consented to by all Greece, that no vessel from any place, containing above five persons, should be permitted to sail, Jason only excepted, who was made captain of the great ship Argo, to sail about and scour the sea of pirates. But Dædalus having escaped from Crete, and Hying by sea to Athens, ​ Minos, contrary to this decree, pursued him with his ships of war, was forced by a storm upon Sicily, and there ended his life. After his decease, Deucalion, his son, desiring a quarrel with the Athenians, sent to them, demanding that they should deliver up Dædalus to him, threatening, upon their refusal, to put to death all the young Athenians whom his father had received as hostages from the city. To this angry message Theseus returned a very gentle answer, excusing himself that he could not deliver up Dædalus, who was nearly related to him, being his cousin-german, his mother being Merope, the daughter of Erechtheus. In the mean while he secretly prepared a navy, part of it at home near the village of the Thymœtadæ, a place of no resort, and far from any common roads, the other part by his grandfather Pittheus's means at Trœzen, that so his design might be carried on with the greatest secrecy. As soon as ever his fleet was in readiness, he set sail, having with him Dædalus and other exiles from Crete for his guides; and none of the Cretans having any knowledge of his coming, but imagining, when they saw his fleet, that they were friends and vessels of their own, he soon made himself master of the port, and, immediately making a descent, reached Gnossus before any notice of his coming, and, in a battle before the gates of the labyrinth, put Deucalion and all his guards to the sword. The government by this means falling to Ariadne, he made a league with her, and received the captives of her, and ratified a perpetual friendship between the Athenians and the Cretans, whom he engaged under an oath never again to commence any war with Athens.

There are yet many other traditions about these things, and as many concerning Ariadne, all inconsistent with each other. Some relate that she hung herself, being deserted by Theseus. Others that she was carried away ​ by his sailors to the isle of Naxos, and married to Œnarus, priest of Bacchus; and that Theseus left her because he fell in love with another,

For Ægle's love was burning in his breast;

a verse which Hereas, the Megarian, says, was formerly in the poet Hesiod's works, but put out by Pisistratus, in like manner as he added in Homer's Raising of the Dead, to gratify the Athenians, the line

Theseus, Pirithous, mighty sons of gods.

Others say Ariadne had sons also by Theseus, Œnopion and Staphylus; and among these is the poet Ion of Chios, who writes of his own native city

Which once Œnopion, son of Theseus, built.

But the more famous of the legendary stories everybody (as I may say) has in his mouth. In Pæon, however, the Amathusian, there is a story given, differing from the rest. For he writes that Theseus, being driven by a storm upon the isle of Cyprus, and having aboard with him Ariadne, big with child, and extremely discomposed with the rolling of the sea, set her on shore, and left her there alone, to return himself and help the ship, when, on a sudden, a violent mud carried him again out to sea. That the women of the island received Ariadne very kindly, and did all they could to console and alleviate her distress at being left behind. That they counterfeited kind letters, and delivered them to her, as sent from Theseus, and, when she fell in labor, were diligent in performing to her every needful service; but that she died before she could be delivered, and was honorably interred. That soon after Theseus returned, and was greatly afflicted for her loss, and at his departure left a sum of money among the people of the island, ordering ​ them to do sacrifice to Ariadne; and caused two little images to be made and dedicated to her, one of silver and the other of brass. Moreover, that on the second day of Gorpiæus, [9] which is sacred to Ariadne, they have this ceremony among their sacrifices, to have a youth lie down and with his voice and gesture represent the pains of a woman in travail; and that the Amathusians call the grove in which they show her tomb, the grove of Venus Ariadne.

Differing yet from this account, some of the Naxians write that there were two Minoses and two Ariadnes, one of whom, they say, was married to Bacchus, in the isle of Naxos, and bore the children Staphylus and his brother; but that the other, of a later age, was carried off by Theseus, and, being afterwards deserted by him, retired to Naxos with her nurse Corcyna, whose grave they yet show. That this Ariadne also died there, and was worshipped by the island, but in a different manner from the former; for her day is celebrated with general joy and revelling, but all the sacrifices performed to the latter are attended with mourning and gloom.

Now Theseus, in his return from Crete, put in at Delos, and, having sacrificed to the god of the island, dedicated to the temple the image of Venus which Ariadne had given him, and danced with the young Athenians a dance that, in memory of him, they say is still preserved among the inhabitants of Delos, consisting in certain measured turnings and returnings, imitative of the windings and twistings of the labyrinth. And this dance, as Dicæarchus writes, is called among the Delians, the Crane. This he danced round the Ceratonian Altar, [10] so called from its consisting of horns taken from the left side of the head. They say also that he instituted games in Delos, where ​ he was the first that began the custom of giving a palm to the victors.

When they were come near the coast of Attica, so great was the joy for the happy success of their voyage, that neither Theseus himself nor the pilot remembered to hang out the sail which should have been the token of their safety to Ægeus, who, in despair at the sight, threw himself headlong from a rock, and perished in the sea. But Theseus, being arrived at the port of Phalerum, paid there the sacrifices which he had vowed to the gods at his setting out to sea, and sent a herald to the city to carry the news of his safe return. At his entrance, the herald found the people for the most part full of grief for the loss of their king, others, as may well be believed, as full of joy for the tidings that he brought, and eager to welcome him and crown him with garlands for his good news, which he indeed accepted of, but hung them upon his herald's staff; and thus returning to the seaside before Theseus had finished his libation to the gods, he stayed apart for fear of disturbing the holy rites, but, as soon as the libation was ended, went up and related the king's death, upon the hearing of which, with great lamentations and a confused tumult of grief, they ran with all haste to the city. And from hence, they say, it comes that at this day, in the feast of Oschophoria, the herald is not crowned, but his staff, and all who are present at the libation cry out eleleu, iou, iou, the first of which confused sounds is commonly used by men in haste, or at a triumph, the other is proper to people in consternation or disorder of mind.

Theseus, after the funeral of his father, paid his vows to Apollo the seventh day of Pyanepsion; for on that day the youth that returned with him safe from Crete made their entry into the city. They say, also, that the custom of boiling pulse at this feast is derived from hence; because the young men that escaped put all that was left ​ of their provision together, and, boiling it in one common pot, feasted themselves with it, and ate it all up together. Hence, also, they carry in procession an olive branch bound about with wool (such as they then made use of in their supplications), which they call Eiresione, crowned with all sorts of fruits, to signify that scarcity and barrenness was ceased, singing in their procession this song:

Eiresione bring figs, and Eiresione bring loaves; Bring us honey in pints, and oil to rub on our bodies, And a strong flagon of wine, for all to go mellow to bed on.

Although some hold opinion that this ceremony is retained in memory of the Heraclidas, who were thus entertained and brought up by the Athenians. But most are of the opinion which we have given above.

The ship wherein Theseus and the youth of Athens returned had thirty oars, and was preserved by the Athenians down even to the time of Demetrius Phalereus, for they took away the old planks as they decayed, putting in new and stronger timber in their place, insomuch that this ship became a standing example among the philosophers, for the logical question as to things that grow; [11] one side holding that the ship remained the same, and the other contending that it was not the same.

The feast called Oschophoria, or the feast of boughs, which to this day the Athenians celebrate, was then first instituted by Theseus. For he took not with him the full number of virgins which by lot were to be carried away, but selected two youths of his acquaintance, of fair and womanish faces, but of a manly and forward spirit, and having, by frequent baths, and avoiding the ​ heat and scorching of the sun, with a constant use of all the ointments and washes and dresses that serve to the adorning of the head or smoothing the skin or improving the complexion, in a manner changed them from what they were before, and having taught them farther to counterfeit the very voice and carriage and gait of virgins, so that there could not be the least difference perceived; he, undiscovered by any, put them into the number of the Athenian maids designed for Crete. At his return, he and these two youths led up a solemn procession, in the same habit that is now worn by those who carry the vine-branches. These branches they carry in honor of Bacchus and Ariadne, for the sake of their story before related; or rather because they happened to return in autumn, the time of gathering the grapes. The women whom they call Deipnopheræ, or supper-carriers, are taken into these ceremonies, and assist at the sacrifice, in remembrance and imitation of the mothers of the young men and virgins upon whom the lot fell, for thus they ran about bringing bread and meat to their children; and because the women then told their sons and daughters many tales and stories, to comfort and encourage them under the danger they were going upon, it has still continued a custom that at this feast old fables and tales should be told. For these particularities we are indebted to the history of Demon. There was then a place chosen out, and a temple erected in it to Theseus, and those families out of whom the tribute of the youth was gathered were appointed to pay a tax to the temple for sacrifices to him. And the house of the Phytalidæ had the overseeing of these sacrifices, Theseus doing them that honor in recompense of their former hospitality.

Now, after the death of his father Ægeus, forming in his mind a great and wonderful design, he gathered ​ together all the inhabitants of Attica into one town, and made them one people of one city, whereas before they lived dispersed, and were not easy to assemble upon any affair for the common interest. Nay, differences and even wars often occurred between them, which he by his persuasions appeased, going from township to township, and from tribe to tribe. And those of a more private and mean condition readily embracing such good advice, to those of greater power he promised a commonwealth without monarchy, a democracy, or people's government, in which he should only be continued as their commander in war and the protector of their laws, all things else being equally distributed among them;—and by this means brought a part of them over to his proposal. The rest, fearing his power, which was already grown very formidable, and knowing his courage and resolution, chose rather to be persuaded than forced into a compliance. He then dissolved all the distinct state-houses, council halls, and magistracies, and built one common state-house [12] and council hall on the site of the present upper town, and gave the name of Athens to the whole state, ordaining a common feast and sacrifice, which he called Panathenæa, or the sacrifice of all the united Athenians. He instituted also another sacrifice, called Metœcia, or Feast of Migration, which is yet celebrated on the sixteenth day of Hecatombæon. Then, as he had promised, he laid down his regal power and proceeded to order a commonwealth, entering upon this great work not without advice from the gods. For having sent to consult the oracle of Delphi concerning the fortune of his new government and city, he received this answer:

Son of the Pitthean maid, To your town the terms and fates,

My father gives of many states. Be not anxious nor afraid; The bladder will not fail to swim On the waves that compass him.

Which oracle, they say, one of the sibyls long after did in a manner repeat to the Athenians, in this verse,

The bladder may be dipt, but not be drowned.

Farther yet designing to enlarge his city, he invited all strangers to come and enjoy equal privileges with the natives, and it is said that the common form, Come hither all ye people, was the words that Theseus proclaimed when he thus set up a commonwealth, in a manner, for all nations. Yet he did not suffer his state, by the promiscuous multitude that flowed in, to be turned into confusion and be left without any order or degree, but was the first that divided the Commonwealth into three distinct ranks, the noblemen, the husbandmen, and artificers. [13] To the nobility he committed the care of religion, the choice of magistrates, the teaching and dispensing of the laws, and interpretation and direction in all sacred matters; the whole city being, as it were, reduced to an exact equality, the nobles excelling the rest in honor, the husbandmen in profit, and the artificers in number. And that Theseus was the first, who, as Aristotle says, out of an inclination to popular government, parted with the regal power, Homer also seems to testify, in his catalogue of the ships, where he gives the name of People to the Athenians only.

He also coined money, and stamped it with the image of an ox, either in memory of the Marathonian bull, or of Taurus, whom he vanquished, or else to put his people in mind to follow husbandry; and from this coin came ​ the expression so frequent among the Greeks, of a thing being worth ten or a hundred oxen. After this he joined Megara to Attica, and erected that famous pillar on the Isthmus, which bears an inscription of two lines, showing the bounds of the two countries that meet there. On the east side the inscription is,—

Peloponnesus there, Ionia here,

and on the west side,—

Peloponnesus here, Ionia there.

He also instituted the games, in emulation of Hercules, being ambitious that as the Greeks, by that hero's appointment, celebrated the Olympian games to the honor of Jupiter, so, by his institution, they should celebrate the Isthmian to the honor of Neptune. For those that were there before observed, dedicated to Melicerta, were performed privately in the night, and had the form rather of a religious rite than of an open spectacle or public feast. There are some who say that the Isthmian games were first instituted in memory of Sciron, Theseus thus making expiation for his death, upon account of the nearness of kindred between them, Sciron being the son of Canethus and Heniocha, the daughter of Pittheus; though others write that Sinnis, not Sciron, was their son, and that to his honor, and not to the other's, these games were ordained by Theseus. At the same time he made an agreement with the Corinthians, that they should allow those that came from Athens to the celebration of the Isthmian games as much space of honor before the rest to behold the spectacle in, as the sail of the ship that brought them thither, stretched to its full extent, could cover; so Hellanicus and Andro of Halicarnassus have established.

Concerning his voyage into the Euxine Sea, Philochorus ​ and some others write that he made it with Hercules, offering him his service in the war against the Amazons, and had Antiope given him for the reward of his valor; but the greater number, of whom are Pherecydes, Hellanicus, and Herodorus, write that he made this voyage many years after Hercules, with a navy under his own command, and took the Amazon prisoner,—the more probable story, for we do not read that any other, of all those that accompanied him in this action, took any Amazon prisoner. Bion adds, that, to take her, he had to use deceit and fly away; for the Amazons, he says, being naturally lovers of men, were so far from avoiding Theseus when he touched upon their coasts, that they sent him presents to his ship; but he, having invited Antiope, who brought them, to come aboard, immediately set sail and carried her away. An author uamed Menecrates, that wrote the History of Nicæa in Bithynia, adds, that Theseus, having Antiope aboard his vessel, cruised for some time about those coasts, and that there were in the same ship three young men of Athens, that accompanied him in this voyage, all brothers, whose names were Euneos, Thoas, and Soloon. The last of these fell desperately in love with Antiope; and, escaping the notice of the rest, revealed the secret only to one of his most intimate acquaintance, and employed him to disclose his passion to Antiope, she rejected his pretences with a very positive denial, yet treated the matter with much gentleness and discretion, and made no complaint to Theseus of any thing that had happened; but Soloon, the thing being desperate, leaped into a river near the seaside and drowned himself. As soon as Theseus was acquainted with his death, and his unhappy love that was the cause of it, he was extremely distressed, and, in the height of his grief, an oracle which he had formerly received at Delphi came into his mind; for he had been ​ commanded by the priestess of Apollo Pythias, that, wherever in a strange land he was most sorrowful and under the greatest affliction, he should build a city there, and leave some of his followers to be governors of the place. For this cause he there founded a city, which he called, from the name of Apollo, Pythopolis, and, in honor of the unfortunate youth, he named the river that runs by it Soloon, and left the two surviving brothers intrusted with the care of the government and laws, joining with them Hermus, one of the nobility of Athens, from whom a place in the city is called the House of Hermus; though by an error in the accent [14] it has been taken for the House of Hermes, or Mercury, and the honor that was designed to the hero, transferred to the god.

This was the origin and cause of the Amazonian invasion of Attica, which would seem to have been no slight or womanish enterprise. For it is impossible that they should have placed their camp in the very city, and joined battle close by the Pnyx and the hill called Museum, unless, having first conquered the country round about, they had thus with impunity advanced to the city. That they made so long a journey by land, and passed the Cimmerian Bosphorus when frozen, as Hellanicus writes, is difficult to be believed. That they encamped all but in the city is certain, and may be sufficiently confirmed by the names that the places thereabout yet retain, and the graves and monuments of those that fell in the battle. Both armies being in sight, there was a long pause and doubt on each side which should give the first onset; at last Theseus, having sacrificed to Fear, in obedience to the command of an oracle he had received, gave them battle; and this happened in the month of Bœdromion, in which to this very day the Athenians celebrate the Feast Boedromia. Clidemus, desirous to be very ​ circumstantial, writes that the left wing of the Amazons moved towards the place which is yet called Amazonium and the right towards the Pnyx, near Chrysa, [15] that with this wing the Athenians, issuing from behind the Museum, engaged, and that the graves of those that were slain are to be seen in the street that leads to the gate called the Piraic, by the chapel of the hero Chalcodon; and that here the Athenians were routed, and gave way before the women, as far as to the temple of the Furies, but, fresh supplies coming in from the Palladium, Ardettus, and the Lyceum, they charged their right wing, and beat them back into their tents, in which action a great number of the Amazons were slain. At length, after four months, a peace was concluded between them by the mediation of Hippolyta (for so this historian calls the Amazon whom Theseus married, and not Antiope), though others write that she was slain with a dart by Molpadia, while fighting by Theseus's side, and that the pillar which stands by the temple of Olympian Earth was erected to her honor. Nor is it to be wondered at, that in events of such antiquity, history should be in disorder. For indeed we are also told that those of the Amazons that were wounded were privately sent away by Antiope to Chalcis, where many by her care recovered, but some that died were buried there in the place that is to this time called Amazonium. That this war, however, was ended by a treaty is evident, both from the name of the place adjoining to the temple of Theseus, called, from the solemn oath there taken, Horcomosium; [16] and also from the ancient sacrifice which used to be celebrated to the Amazons the day before the Feast of Theseus. The Megarians also show a spot in their city where some Amazons were buried, on the way from the market to a place called ​ Rhus, where the building in the shape of a lozenge stands. It is said, likewise, that others of them were slain near Chæronea, and buried near the little rivulet, formerly called Thermodon, but now Hæmon, of which an account is given in the life of Demosthenes. It appears further that the passage of the Amazons through Thessaly was not without opposition, for there are yet shown many tombs of them near Scotussa and Cynoscephalæ.

This is as much as is worth telling concerning the Amazons. For the account which the author of the poem called the Theseid gives of this rising of the Amazons, how Antiope, to revenge herself upon Theseus for refusing her and marrying Phædra, came down upon the city with her train of Amazons, whom Hercules slew, is manifestly nothing else but fable and invention. It is true, indeed, that Theseus married Phædra, but that was after the death of Antiope, by whom he had a son called Hippolytus, or, as Pindar writes, Demophon. The calamities which befell Phædra and this son, since none of the historians have contradicted the tragic poets that have written of them, we must suppose happened as represented uniformly by them.

There are also other traditions of the marriages of Theseus, neither honorable in their occasions nor fortunate in their events, which yet were never represented in the Greek plays. For he is said to have carried off Anaxo, a Trœzenian, and, having slain Sinnis and Cercyon, to have ravished their daughters; to have married Peribœa, the mother of Ajax, and then Pherebœa, and then Iope, the daughter of Iphicles. And further, he is accused of deserting Ariadne (as is before related), being in love with Ægle the daughter of Panopeus, neither justly nor honorably; and lastly, of the rape of Helen, which filled all Attica with war and blood, and was in the end the occasion of his banishment and death, as will presently be related.

​ Herodorus is of opinion, that though there were many famous expeditions undertaken by the bravest men of his time, yet Theseus never joined in any of them, once only excepted, with the Lapithæ, in their war against the Centaurs; but others say that he accompanied Jason to Colchis and Meleager to the slaying of the Calydonian boar, and that hence it came to be a proverb, Not without Theseus; that he himself, however, without aid of any one, performed many glorious exploits, and that from him began the saying, He is a second Hercules. He also joined Adrastus in recovering the bodies of those that were slain before Thebes, but not as Euripides in his tragedy says, by force of arms, but by persuasion and mutual agreement and composition, for so the greater part of the historians write; Philochorus adds further that this was the first treaty that ever was made for the recovering the bodies of the dead, but in the history of Hercules it is shown that it was he who first gave leave to his enemies to carry off their slain. The burying-places of the most part are yet to be seen in the village called Eleutheræ; those of the commanders, at Eleusis, where Theseus allotted them a place, to oblige Adrastus. The story of Euripides in his Suppliants is disproved by Æschylus in his Eleusinians, where Theseus himself relates the facts as here told.

The celebrated friendship, between Theseus and Pirithoüs is said to have been thus begun: the fame of the strength and valor of Theseus being spread through Greece, Pirithoüs was desirous to make a trial and proof of it himself, and to this end seized a herd of oxen which belonged to Theseus, and was driving them away from Marathon, and, when news was brought that Theseus pursued him in arms, he did not fly, but turned back and went to meet him. But as soon as they had viewed one another, each so admired the gracefulness and beauty, ​ and was seized with such a respect for the courage, of the other, that they forgot all thoughts of fighting; and Pirithoüs, first stretching out his hand to Theseus, bade him be judge in this case himself, and promised to submit willingly to any penalty he should impose. But Theseus not only forgave him all, but entreated him to be his friend and brother in arms; and they ratified their friendship by oaths. After this Pirithoüs married Deidamia, and invited Theseus to the wedding, entreating him to come and see his country, and make acquaintance with the Lapithæ; he had at the same time invited the Centaurs to the feast, who growing hot with wine and beginning to be insolent and wild, and offering violence to the women, the Lapithaa took immediate revenge upon them, slaying many of them upon the place, and afterwards, having overcome them in battle, drove the whole race of them out of their country, Theseus all along taking their part and fighting on their side. But Herodorus gives a different relation of these things: that Theseus came not to the assistance of the Lapithæ till the war was already begun; and that it was in this journey that he had the first sight of Hercules, having made it his business to find him out at Trachis, where he had chosen to rest himself after all his wanderings and his labors; and that this interview was honorably performed on each part, with extreme respect, good-will, and admiration of each other. Yet it is more credible, as others write, that there were, before, frequent interviews between them, and that it was by the means of Theseus that Hercules was initiated at Eleusis, and purified before initiation, upon account of several rash actions of his former life.

Theseus was now fifty years old, as Hellanicus states, when he carried off Helen, who was yet too young to be married. Some writers, to take away this accusation of one of the greatest crimes laid to his charge, say, that he ​ did not steal away Helen himself, but that Idas and Lynceus were the ravishers, who brought her to him, and committed her to his charge, and that, therefore, he refused to restore her at the demand of Castor and Pollux; or, indeed, they say her own father, Tyndarus, had sent her to be kept by him, for fear of Enarophorus, the son of Hippocoön, who would have carried her away by force when she was yet a child. But the most probable account, and that which has most witnesses on its side, is this: Theseus and Pirithoüs went both together to Sparta, and, having seized the young lady as she was dancing in the temple of Diana Orthia, fled away with her. There were presently men in arms sent to pursue, but they followed no further than to Tegea; and Theseus and Pirithoüs, being now out of danger, having passed through Peloponnesus, made an agreement between themselves, that he to whom the lot should fall should have Helen to his wife, but should be obliged to assist in procuring another for his friend. The lot fell upon Theseus, who conveyed her to Aphidnæ, not being yet marriageable, and delivered her to one of his allies, called Aphidnus, and, having sent his mother Æthra after to take care of her, desired him to keep them so secretly, that none might know where they were; which done, to return the same service to his friend Pirithoüs, he accompanied him in his journey to Epirus, in order to steal away the king of the Molossians' daughter. The king, his own name being Aidoneus, or Pluto, called his wife Proserpina, and his daughter Cora, and a great dog which he kept Cerberus, with whom he ordered all that came as suitors to his daughter to fight, and promised her to him that should overcome the beast. But having been informed that the design of Pirithoüs and his companion was not to court his daughter, but to force her away, he caused them both ​ to be seized, and threw Pirithoüs to be torn in pieces by his dog, and put Theseus into prison, and kept him.

About this time, Menestheus, the son of Peteus, grandson of Orneus, and great-grandson to Erechtheus, the first man that is recorded to have affected popularity and ingratiated himself with the multitude, stirred up and exasperated the most eminent men of the city, who had long borne a secret grudge to Theseus, conceiving that he had robbed them of their several little kingdoms and lordships, and, having pent them all up in one city, was using them as his subjects and slaves. He put also the meaner people into commotion, telling them, that, deluded with a mere dream of liberty, though indeed they were deprived both of that and of their proper homes and religious usages, instead of many good and gracious kings of their own, they had given themselves up to be lorded over by a new-comer and a stranger. Whilst he was thus busied in infecting the minds of the citizens, the war that Castor and Pollux brought against Athens came very opportunely to further the sedition he bad been promoting, and some say that he by his persuasions was wholly the cause of their invading the city. At their first approach, they committed no acts of hostility, but peaceably demanded their sister Helen; but the Athenians returning answer that they neither had her there nor knew where she was disposed of, they prepared to assault the city, when Academus, having, by whatever means, found it out, disclosed to them that she was secretly kept at Aphidnæ. For which reason he was both highly honored during his life by Castor and Pollux, and the Lacedæmonians, when often in aftertimes they made incursions into Attica, and destroyed all the country round about, spared the Academy for the sake of Academus. But Dicæarchus writes that there were two Arcadians in the army of Castor and Pollux, the one called Echedemus, and the other Marathus; ​ from the first that which is now called Academia was then named Echedemia, and the village Marathon had its name from the other, who, to fulfil some oracle, voluntarily offered himself to be made a sacrifice before battle. As soon as they were arrived at Aphidnaæ, they overcame their enemies in a set battle, and then assaulted and took the town. And here, they say, Alycus, the son of Sciron, was slain, of the party of the Dioscuri (Castor and Pollux), from whom a place in Megara, where he was buried, is called Alycus to this day. And Hereas writes that it was Theseus himself that killed him, in witness of which he cites these verses concerning Alycus,

And Alycus, upon Aphidna's plain By Theseus in the cause of Helen slain.

Though it is not at all probable that Theseus himself was there when both the city and his mother were taken.

Aphidnæ being won by Castor and Pollux, and the city of Athens being in consternation, Menestheus persuaded the people to opeu their gates, and receive them with all manner of friendship, for they were, he told them, at enmity with none but Theseus, who had first injured them, and were benefactors and saviors to all mankind beside. And their behavior gave credit to those promises; for, having made themselves absolute masters of the place, they demanded no more than to be initiated, since they were as nearly related to the city as Hercules was, who had received the same honor. This their desire they easily obtained, and were adopted by Aphidnus, as Hercules had been by Pylius. They were honored also like gods, and were called by a new name, Anaces, either from the cessation [17] of the war, or from the care they took that none should suffer any injury, though there was so great an army within the walls; for the phrase anăkōs ĕkhein is ​ used of those who look to or care for any thing; kings for this reason, perhaps, are called anactes . Others say, that from the appearance of their star in the heavens, they were thus called, for in the Attic dialect this name comes very near the words that signify above . [18]

Some say that Æthra, Theseus's mother, was here taken prisoner, and carried to Lacedæmon, and from thence went away with Helen to Troy, alleging this verse of Homer, to prove that she waited upon Helen,

Æthra of Pittheus born, and large-eyed Clymene.

Others reject this verse as none of Homer's, as they do likewise the whole fable of Munychus, who. the story says, was the son of Demophon and Laodice, born secretly, and brought up by Æthra at Troy. But Ister, in the thirteenth book of his Attic History, gives us an account of Æthra, different yet from all the rest: that Achilles and Patroclus overcame Paris in Thessaly, near the river Sperchius, but that Hector took and plundered the city of the Trœzenians, and made Æthra prisoner there. But this seems a groundless tale.

Now Hercules, passing by the Molossians, was entertained in his way by Aidoneus the king, who, in conversation, accidentally spoke of the journey of Theseus and Pirithoüs into his country, of what they had designed to do, and what they were forced to suffer. Hercules was much grieved for the inglorious death of the one and the miserable condition of the other. As for Pirithoüs, he thought it useless to complain; but begged to have Theseus released for his sake, and obtained that favor from the king. Theseus, being thus set at liberty, returned to Athens, where his friends were not yet wholly suppressed, and dedicated to Hercules all the sacred places which the city had set apart for himself, changing their names from ​ Thesea to Heraclea, four only excepted, as Philochorus writes. And wishing immediately to resume, the first place in the commonwealth, and manage the state as before, he soon found himself involved in factions and troubles; those who long had hated him had now added to their hatred contempt; and the minds of the people were so generally corrupted, that, instead of obeying commands with silence, they expected to be flattered into their duty. He had some thoughts to have reduced them by force, but was overpowered by demagogues and factions. And at last, despairing of any good success of his affairs in Athens, he sent away his children privately to Eubœa, commending them to the care of Elephenor, the son of Chalcodon; and he himself, having solemnly cursed the people of Athens in the village of Gargettus, in which there yet remains the place called Araterion, or the place of cursing, sailed to Scyros, where he had lands left him by his father, and friendship, as he thought, with those of the island. Lycomedes was then king of Scyros. Theseus, therefore, addressed himself to him, and desired to have his lands put into his possession, as designing to settle and to dwell there, though others say that he came to beg his assistance against the Athenians. But Lycomedes, either jealous of the glory of so great a man, or to gratify Menestheus, having led him up to the highest cliff of the island, on pretence of showing him from thence the lands that he desired, threw him headlong down from the rock, and killed him. Others say he fell down of himself by a slip of his foot, as he was walking there, according to his custom, after supper. At that time there was no notice taken, nor were any concerned for his death, but Menestheus quietly possessed the kingdom of Athens. His sons were brought up in a private condition, and accompanied Elephenor to the Trojan war, but, after the decease of Menestheus in that expedition, returned to ​ Athens, and recovered the government. But in succeeding ages, beside several other circumstances that moved the Athenians to honor Theseus as a demigod, in the battle which was fought at Marathon against the Medes, many of the soldiers believed they saw an apparition of Theseus in arms, rushing on at the head of them against the barbarians. And after the Median war, Phædo being archon of Athens, the Athenians, consulting the oracle at Delphi, were commanded to gather together the bones of Theseus, and, laying them in some honorable place, keep them as sacred in the city. But it was very difficult to recover these relics, or so much as to find out the place where they lay, on account of the inhospitable and savage temper of the barbarous people that inhabited the island. Nevertheless, afterwards, when Cimon took the island (as is related in his life), and had a great ambition to find out the place where Theseus was buried, he, by chance, spied an eagle upon a rising ground pecking with her beak and tearing up the earth with her talons, when on the sudden it came into his mind, as it were by some divine inspiration, to dig there, and search for the bones of Theseus. There were found in that place a coffin of a man of more than ordinary size, and a brazen spear-head, and a sword lying by it, all which he took aboard his galley and brought with him to Athens. Upon which the Athenians, greatly delighted, went out to meet and receive the relics with splendid processions and with sacrifices, as if it were Theseus himself returning alive to the city. He lies interred in the middle of the city, near the present gymnasium. His tomb is a sanctuary and refuge for slaves, and all those of mean condition that fly from the persecution of men in power, in memory that Theseus while he lived was an assister and protector of the distressed, and never refused the petitions of the afflicted that fled to hira. The chief and most solemn sacrifice which they ​ celebrate to him is kept on the eighth day of Pyanepsion, on which he returned with the Athenian young men from Crete. Besides which, they sacrifice to him on the eighth day of every month, either because he returned from Trœzen the eighth day of Hecatombæon, as Diodorus the geographer writes, or else thinking that number to be proper to him, because he was reputed to be born of Neptune, because they sacrifice to Neptune on the eighth day of every month. The number eight being the first cube of an even number, and the double of the first square, seemed to be an emblem of the steadfast and immovable power of this god, who from thence has the names of Asphalius and Gæiochus, that is, the establisher and stayer of the earth.

• ↑ Sosius Senecio, Plutarch's friend at Rome, whom he addresses.
• ↑ In the Works and Days this proverb, as it now stands, certainly means, "Stipulate your price beforehand with your friend." "Even," adds the following line, "in a bargain with your brother, laugh, and call in a witness." Aristotle understood it to say, that no one can claim, in justice, more than the sum that had been first agreed upon. Before Hesiod, however, and perhaps originally in Hesiod, it may have simply been an injunction to pay a friend fairly and fully the price that at first was appointed.
• ↑ Brother to Ægeus.
• ↑ 4.0 4.1 Thēsis, putting; Thesthai, to take to oneself, to adopt or acknowledge, as a son.
• ↑ The Eubœans of the Iliad.
• ↑ Prinus, the scarlet-oak.
• ↑ Pilots' feast.
• ↑ Trăgos, a he goat.
• ↑ September.
• ↑ Kēras, a horn.
• ↑ The Problem called Auxanomĕnos, the grower, like the more famous one called Pseudmĕnos, the liar.
• ↑ Prytaneüm
• ↑ Eupatrĭdæ, Geomŏri, Demiurgi.
• ↑ Hermoû, genitive case of Hermes, instead of Hérmou, that of Hermes.
• ↑ Or near the golden figure of Victory.
• ↑ Horcos, oath; omŏsai, to swear.
• ↑ Anēkas, anecāthen.

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Theseus and Aethra by Laurent de La Hyre (ca. 1635–1636)

Theseus—son of Aegeus (or Poseidon) and Aethra—was by far the most important of the mythical heroes and kings of Athens. His heroic accomplishments included killing the Minotaur, though he was also remembered as a political innovator who transformed his city into a major regional power.

Theseus was raised by his mother in Troezen but moved to Athens upon reaching adulthood. He traveled widely and performed many heroic exploits, eventually sailing to Crete to kill the Minotaur.

As king of Athens, Theseus greatly improved the government and expanded the power of his city. He was sometimes seen as the mythical predecessor of the political unification of Attica.

Who were Theseus’ parents?

Theseus was the product of an affair between Aegeus, the king of Athens, and Aethra, a princess of Troezen. But in some traditions, the sea god Poseidon slept with Aethra the same night as Aegeus, making Theseus his son instead.

Theseus was raised by his mother Aethra in Troezen. The identity of his father was kept secret until Theseus had proven himself worthy of his inheritance.

Whom did Theseus marry?

Theseus had a weakness for women and was not always loyal to them. He eventually married Phaedra, a princess from Crete. Their marriage ended disastrously, however, when Phaedra fell passionately in love with Hippolytus, Theseus’ son by another consort.

Aside from Phaedra, Theseus had many lovers throughout his storied career. These included Phaedra’s own sister Ariadne; an Amazon queen named either Antiope or Hippolyta; and even the famous Helen, according to some traditions.

Ariadne by Asher Brown Durand, after John Vanderlyn (ca. 1831–1835)

How did Theseus die?

Like many Greek heroes, Theseus did not die happily. In the common tradition, he was exiled from Athens after his recklessness turned the city and its nobility against him. He traveled to the small island of Scyros, where he fell to his death from a cliff (or was thrown from the cliff by the local king).

Roman fresco of Theseus from Herculaneum (ca. 45–79 CE)

Theseus Slays the Minotaur

Shortly after meeting his father Aegeus in Athens, Theseus voyaged to the island of Crete as one of the fourteen “tributes” sent annually as a sacrifice to the Minotaur—a half-man, half-bull hybrid imprisoned in the Labyrinth. Theseus vowed to kill the Minotaur and end the bloody custom once and for all.

In Crete, Theseus’ good looks won him the love of Ariadne, the daughter of the king. Ariadne helped Theseus on his mission by giving him a ball of thread that he unraveled as he made his way through the maze-like Labyrinth. After finding and killing the Minotaur, Theseus re-wound the thread to safely escape.

Theseus Slaying the Minotaur by Antoine-Louis Barye (1843)

The name Theseus was likely derived from the Greek word θεσμός ( thesmos ), which means “institution.” Theseus’ name thus reflects his mythical role as a founder or reformer of the Athenian government.

Pronunciation

In his iconography, Theseus is usually depicted as a handsome, strong, and beardless young hero. Theseus’ battle with the half-bull Minotaur was an especially popular theme in Greek art.

Theseus’ father was either Poseidon , the god of the sea, or Aegeus, the king of Athens. His mother was Aethra, the daughter of King Pittheus of Troezen.

Family Tree

Theseus was the son of Aethra, the daughter of King Pittheus of Troezen, and either Aegeus or Poseidon. Aegeus, who was the king of Athens, had no children and therefore no heir to his throne. Hoping to remedy this, Aegeus went to Delphi, where he received a strange prophecy:

The bulging mouth of the wineskin, O best of men, loose not until thou hast reached the height of Athens. [1]

On his way back to Athens, Aegeus stopped at Troezen, where he was entertained by King Pittheus. Aegeus revealed the prophecy to Pittheus, who understood its meaning and plied Aegeus with wine. Aegeus then slept with Pittheus’ daughter Aethra. 

Before leaving Troezen, Aegeus hid a sword and sandals under a large stone. He told Aethra that if she had a son, she should wait until he had grown up and bring him to the stone. If he managed to lift it and retrieve the tokens, he should be sent to Athens.

According to other versions, Aethra had also been seduced by the god Poseidon, and it was he who was Theseus’ father. [2] In any case, Theseus grew up to be a strong and intelligent young man. When he had come of age, his mother took him to the stone where Aegeus had long ago deposited his sword and sandals. Theseus successfully retrieved these tokens and left for Athens to find his father.

Journey to Athens

Instead of travelling to Athens by sea, Theseus decided to make a name for himself by taking the more dangerous overland route through the Greek Isthmus. At the time, it was plagued by bandits and monsters. On his way to Athens, Theseus cleared the Isthmus in what are sometimes called the “Six Labors of Theseus”:

At Epidaurus, Theseus met Periphetes, famous for slaughtering travellers with a giant club. Theseus killed Periphetes and claimed the club for himself.

Theseus then met Sinis, who would bend two pine trees to the ground, tie a traveller between the bent trees, and then let the trees go, thus tearing apart the traveller’s limbs. Theseus killed Sinis using this same method. He then seduced Sinis’ daughter Perigone, who later gave birth to a son named Melanippus.

Theseus next killed the monstrous Crommyonian Sow (sometimes called Phaea), [3] an enormous pig that terrorized travellers.

Near Megara, Theseus met the robber Sciron, who would throw his victims off a cliff. Theseus, as usual, used his opponent’s method against him and threw Sciron off a cliff.

At Eleusis, Theseus fought Cerycon , who challenged travellers to a wrestling match and killed whomever he defeated. Following this model, Theseus wrestled Cerycon, beat him, and killed him.

Finally, Theseus defeated Procrustes (sometimes called Damastes), who had two beds that he would offer to travellers. If the traveller was too tall to fit in the bed, Procrustes would cut off their limbs; if they were too short, he would stretch them until they fit. Theseus killed Procrustes by putting him on one of his beds, cutting off his legs, and then decapitating him.

Arrival at Athens

After clearing the Isthmus, Theseus finally arrived at Athens. He did not, however, reveal himself to his father Aegeus immediately. Aegeus became suspicious of the stranger and consulted Medea , whom he had married after sleeping with Aethra. 

Medea realized that Theseus was the son of Aegeus, but she did not want Aegeus to recognize him. She was afraid he would choose Theseus as his heir over her own son. Medea therefore tried to trick her husband into killing Theseus. 

In some stories, Medea convinced Aegeus to send Theseus to slay the monstrous Bull of Marathon, hoping that the bull would kill him first.

Painting in tondo of kylix showing Theseus fighting the Bull of Marathon by unknown artist (c. 440–430 BC).

In other stories, Medea tried to poison Theseus. But Aegeus recognized Theseus by the sword he was carrying (the sword he had left with Aethra at Troezen) and stopped him from drinking the poison. Medea fled into exile.

Medea was not the only threat to Theseus’ standing in Athens. The sons of Aegeus’ brother Pallas (often called the Pallantides) had hoped to inherit the throne if their uncle Aegeus died childless. According to some sources, the sons of Pallas ambushed or rebelled against Theseus and Aegeus. This attempt failed, however, and after Theseus killed the sons of Pallas he was secured as the heir to the throne of Athens. [4]

The Minotaur

During Aegeus’ reign, the Athenians were forced to send a regular tribute of fourteen youths (seven boys and seven girls) to Minos , the king of the island of Crete. This was reparation for the murder of Minos’ son Androgeus in Athens several years before.

When the fourteen tributes reached Crete, they were fed to the Minotaur, a terrible bull-man hybrid born from an affair between a divine bull and Minos’ wife Pasiphae: 

A mingled form and hybrid birth of monstrous shape, ... Two different natures, man and bull, were joined in him. [5]

The Minotaur was imprisoned in the Labyrinth, a giant maze built by the Athenian architect Daedalus. None of the tributes who were sent into the Labyrinth ever made it out. 

Soon after his arrival in Athens, Theseus sailed off as one of the fourteen tributes dedicated to the Minotaur. According to some traditions, Theseus actually volunteered to go to Crete, vowing that he would kill the Minotaur and bring an end to the terrible tribute once and for all. [6]

The ship on which he and the other tributes embarked had a black sail; before the ship left for Crete, Aegeus made Theseus swear that if he managed to return alive he would have the black sail changed to a white one. 

At Crete, Minos’ daughter Ariadne fell in love with Theseus and agreed to help him kill the Minotaur if he would take her with him to Athens. Before Theseus entered the Labyrinth, Ariadne gave him a ball of thread. Theseus unravelled the thread as he moved through the Labyrinth, killed the Minotaur, and found his way out of the Labyrinth by following the thread back to the exit. Theseus and Ariadne then escaped from Crete with the other tributes.

Detail of the Aison cup showing Theseus slaying the Minotaur in the presence of Athena (c. 435–415 BC).

On their journey back to Athens, Theseus stopped at the island of Naxos. There are different versions of what happened to Ariadne there. According to some, Theseus simply abandoned her. Another well-known story, however, claims that Dionysus fell in love with Ariadne while she was on Crete and carried her off for himself. In any case, Theseus arrived at Athens without Ariadne. [7]

Ariadne weeps as Theseus' ship leaves her on the island of Naxos. Roman fresco from Pompeii at Naples Archaeological Museum.

Whether distracted by the loss of Ariadne or for some other reason, Theseus forgot to raise the white flag as he came back to Athens. Aegeus, who was watching from a tower, saw the black flag and thought that his son had died.

Overcome by grief, Aegeus killed himself by leaping into the sea (this is the origin, according to the Greeks, of the name of the “Aegean Sea”). Theseus arrived to find his father dead and so became king of Athens.

The Amazons

Like many heroes of Greek mythology, Theseus waged war with the Amazons . The Amazons were a fierce race of warrior women who lived near the Black Sea or the Caucasus. Their queens were said to be the daughters of the war god Ares . 

While among the Amazons, Theseus fell in love with their queen, Antiope (sometimes called Hippolyta), [8] and carried her off with him to Athens. The Amazons then attacked Athens in an attempt to get Antiope back. In some versions of the myth, the Amazons laid waste to the countryside of Attica and only left after Antiope was accidentally killed in battle. [9]  

In other versions, Theseus tried to abandon Antiope so that he could marry Phaedra, a princess from Crete; when the jilted Antiope tried to stop the wedding, Theseus killed her himself. [10] In all versions of the story, however, Theseus finally managed to drive the Amazons away from Athens after the death of Antiope, though only after Antiope had given him a son named Hippolytus.

After the death of Antiope, Theseus married Phaedra, the daughter of the Cretan king Minos and thus the sister of his former lover Ariadne. Phaedra bore Theseus two children, Acamas and Demophon . 

Roman mosaic of Phaedra and Hippolytus at House of Dionysus, Cyprus (ca. 3rd century CE).

Eventually, however, Phaedra fell in love with Hippolytus, the son of Theseus’ first wife, Antiope. Phaedra tried to convince Hippolytus to sleep with her. When he refused, Phaedra tore her clothing and falsely claimed that Hippolytus had raped her. Theseus was furious and prayed to Poseidon that Hippolytus might be punished.

Poseidon, unfortunately, heard Theseus’ prayer and sent a bull from the sea to charge Hippolytus as he was riding his chariot near the coast. Hippolytus’ horses were frightened; he lost control of the chariot, became entangled in the reins, and was trampled to death.

Theseus discovered his son’s innocence too late; Phaedra, ashamed and guilty, hanged herself. [11]  

Abduction of Helen and Persephone

Theseus took part in several other adventures. Some sources include him among the Argonauts who sailed with Jason to retrieve the Golden Fleece, or with the heroes who took part in the Calydonian Boar Hunt. 

In many of these adventures, Theseus was accompanied by his best friend Pirithous , the king of the Lapiths of northern Greece. In one famous tradition, Theseus and Pirithous both vowed to marry daughters of Zeus. Theseus chose Helen, and Pirithous helped him abduct her from her father Tyndareus’ home in Sparta. 

Pirithous then chose Persephone as his bride, even though she was already married to Hades . Theseus left Helen in the care of his mother, Aethra, while he and Pirithous went to the Underworld to abduct Persephone. Predictably, this did not end well. Theseus and Pirithous were caught trying to abduct Persephone and trapped in the Underworld. 

While Theseus was away from Athens, Helen’s brothers, Castor and Polydeuces , retrieved her and took Aethra prisoner. Meanwhile, Theseus was eventually rescued from Hades by Heracles, but Pirithous remained trapped in eternal punishment for his impiety (in the most common version of the story). [12] When Theseus returned to Athens, he found that Helen was gone and that his mother had become her slave in Sparta.

Athenian Government and Death

Theseus was said to have been responsible for the synoikismos (“dwelling-together”), the political and cultural unification of the region of Attica under the rule of the city-state of Athens. In later times, some Athenians even traced the origins of democratic government to Theseus’ rule, even though Theseus was a king. Theseus was always seen as an important founding figure of Athenian history.

As an old man, Theseus fell out of favor in Athens. Driven into exile, he came to Scyrus, a small island in the Aegean Sea. It was in Scyrus that Theseus died. In some stories, he was thrown from a cliff by Lycomedes, the king of Scyrus. In 475 BCE, the Athenians claimed to have identified the remains of Theseus on Scyrus and brought them back to be reinterred in Athens.

Festivals and/or Holidays

The festival of Theseus, called the Theseia, was celebrated in Athens in the autumn. It was presided over by the Phytalidae, the hereditary priests of Theseus. The Phytalidae were said to have been the direct descendants of the fourteen tributes Theseus saved when he killed the Minotaur. [13] Little else is known of the festivals or worship of Theseus.

The hero-cult of Theseus was almost certainly concentrated solely in the city of Athens. The main sanctuary of Theseus, the Theseion, may have existed as early as the sixth century BCE. [14] It was most likely located at the center of Athens, in the vicinity of the Agora. Though the Theseion was probably the main center of Theseus’ hero-worship, little else is known about it, and there is still virtually no archaeological evidence of it. There were likely other sanctuaries of Theseus in Athens by the fourth century BCE.

Pop Culture

Theseus has had a rich afterlife in modern popular culture. The 2011 film Immortals is loosely based on the myth of Theseus and the Minotaur; Theseus is portrayed by Henry Cavill. Theseus also features in the miniseries Helen of Troy (2003), in which he kidnaps Helen with his friend Pirithous. 

The myths of Theseus are also retold in many modern books and novels. Mary Renault’s critically acclaimed The King Must Die (1958) is a historicized retelling of Theseus’ early life and his battle with the Minotaur; its sequel, The Bull from the Sea (1962), deals with Theseus’ later career. The myth of Theseus and Antiope is also reimagined in Steven Pressfield’s novel Last of the Amazons (2002).

Jorge Luis Borges’ short story The House of Asterion (published in Spanish in 1947) presents an interesting variation on the myth of the Minotaur, told from the perspective of the Minotaur rather than Theseus. The myth of Theseus inspired Suzanne Collins’ The Hunger Games trilogy (2008–2010).

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Unit 2: Metaphysics

Ship of Theseus

The  ship of Theseus , also known as  Theseus’ paradox , is a thought experiment that raises the question of whether an object that has had all of its components replaced remains fundamentally the same object. The paradox is most notably recorded by Plutarch in  Life of Theseus  from the late first century. Plutarch asked whether a ship that had been restored by replacing every single wooden part remained the same ship.

The paradox had been discussed by other ancient philosophers such as Heraclitus and Plato prior to Plutarch’s writings, and more recently by Thomas Hobbes and John Locke. Several variants are known, including the  grandfather’s axe , which has had both head and handle replaced.

Variations of the paradox

The classic paradox.

This particular version of the paradox was first introduced in Greek legend as reported by the historian, biographer, and essayist Plutarch,

The ship wherein Theseus and the youth of Athens returned from Crete had thirty oars, and was preserved by the Athenians down even to the time of Demetrius Phalereus, for they took away the old planks as they decayed, putting in new and stronger timber in their places, in so much that this ship became a standing example among the philosophers, for the logical question of things that grow; one side holding that the ship remained the same, and the other contending that it was not the same.

— Plutarch, Theseus

Plutarch thus questions whether the ship would remain the same if it were entirely replaced, piece by piece. Centuries later, the philosopher Thomas Hobbes introduced a further puzzle, wondering what would happen if the original planks were gathered up after they were replaced, and used to build a second ship. Hobbes asked which ship, if either, would be the original Ship of Theseus.

Modern variations

John Locke proposed a scenario regarding a favorite sock that develops a hole. He pondered whether the sock would still be the same after a patch was applied to the hole, and if it would be the same sock after a second patch was applied, and a third, etc., until all of the material of the original sock has been replaced with patches.

George Washington’s axe (sometimes “my grandfather’s axe”) is the subject of an apocryphal story of unknown origin in which the famous artifact is “still George Washington’s axe” despite having had both its head and handle replaced.

This has also been recited as “Abe Lincoln’s axe”; Lincoln was well known for his ability with an axe, and axes associated with his life are held in various museums.

The French equivalent is the story of Jeannot’s knife, where the eponymous knife has had its blade changed fifteen times and its handle fifteen times, but is still the same knife. In some Spanish-speaking countries, Jeannot’s knife is present as a proverb, though referred to simply as “the family knife”. The principle, however, remains the same.

A Hungarian version of the story features “Lajos Kossuth’s pocket knife”, having its blade and handle continuously replaced but still being referred to as the very knife of the famous statesman. As a proverbial expression it is used for objects or solutions being repeatedly renewed and gradually replaced to an extent that it has no original parts.

One version is often discussed in introductory Jurisprudence and Evidence classes in law school, discussing whether a weapon used in a murder, for example, would still be considered the “murder weapon” if both its handle and head/blade were to be replaced at separate, subsequent times.

Examples in popular culture

The paradox appears in various forms in fictional contexts, particularly in fantasy or science-fiction, for example where a character has body parts swapped for artificial replacements until the person has been entirely replaced. There are many other variations with reference to the same concept in popular culture for example axes and brooms.

Examples in Japan

In Japan, Shinto shrines are rebuilt every twenty years with entirely “new wood”. The continuity over the centuries is spiritual and comes from the source of the wood in the case of the Ise Jingu’s Naiku shrine, which is harvested from an adjoining forest that is considered sacred. The shrine has currently been rebuilt 62 times.

Proposed resolutions

The Greek philosopher Heraclitus attempted to solve the paradox by introducing the idea of a river where water replenishes it. Arius Didymus quoted him as saying “upon those who step into the same rivers, different and again different waters flow”. Plutarch disputed Heraclitus’ claim about stepping twice into the same river, citing that it cannot be done because “it scatters and again comes together, and approaches and recedes”.

Aristotle’s causes

According to the philosophical system of Aristotle and his followers, four causes or reasons describe a thing; these causes can be analyzed to get to a solution to the paradox. The formal cause or ‘form’ (perhaps best parsed as the cause of an object’s form or of its having that form) is the design of a thing, while the material cause is the matter of which the thing is made. Another of Aristotle’s causes is the ‘end’ or final cause, which is the intended purpose of a thing. The ship of Theseus would have the same ends, those being, mythically, transporting Theseus, and politically, convincing the Athenians that Theseus was once a living person, though its material cause would change with time. The efficient cause is how and by whom a thing is made, for example, how artisans fabricate and assemble something; in the case of the ship of Theseus, the workers who built the ship in the first place could have used the same tools and techniques to replace the planks in the ship.

According to Aristotle, the “what-it-is” of a thing is its formal cause, so the ship of Theseus is the ‘same’ ship, because the formal cause, or design, does not change, even though the matter used to construct it may vary with time. In the same manner, for Heraclitus’s paradox, a river has the same formal cause, although the material cause (the particular water in it) changes with time, and likewise for the person who steps in the river.

This argument’s validity and soundness as applied to the paradox depend on the accuracy not only of Aristotle’s expressed premise that an object’s formal cause is not only the primary or even sole determiner of its defining characteristic(s) or essence (“what-it-is”) but also of the unstated, stronger premise that an object’s formal cause is the sole determiner of its  identity  or “ which -it-is” ( i.e. , whether the previous and the later ships or rivers are the “same” ship or river). This latter premise is subject to attack by indirect proof using arguments such as “Suppose two ships are built using the same design and exist at the same time until one sinks the other in battle. Clearly the two ships are not the same ship even before, let alone after, one sinks the other, and yet the two have the same formal cause; therefore, formal cause cannot by itself suffice to determine an object’s identity” or ” […] therefore, two objects’ or object-instances’ having the same formal cause does not by itself suffice to make them the same object or prove that they are the same object.”

Definitions of “the same”

One common argument found in the philosophical literature is that in the case of Heraclitus’ river one is tripped up by two different definitions of “the same”. In one sense, things can be “qualitatively identical”, by sharing some properties. In another sense, they might be “numerically identical” by being “one”. As an example, consider two different marbles that look identical. They would be qualitatively, but not numerically, identical. A marble can be numerically identical only to itself.

Note that some languages differentiate between these two forms of identity. In German, for example, “ gleich ” (“equal”) and “ selbe ” (“self-same”) are the pertinent terms, respectively. At least in formal speech, the former refers to qualitative identity (e.g.  die gleiche Murmel , “the same [qualitative] marble”) and the latter to numerical identity (e.g.  die selbe Murmel , “the same [numerical] marble”). Colloquially, “ gleich ” is also used in place of “ selbe “, however.

Four-dimensionalism

Ted Sider and others have proposed that considering objects to extend across time as four-dimensional causal series of three-dimensional “time-slices” could solve the ship of Theseus problem because, in taking such an approach, each time-slice and all four dimensional objects remain numerically identical to themselves while allowing individual time-slices to differ from each other. The aforementioned river, therefore, comprises different three-dimensional time-slices of itself while remaining numerically identical to itself across time; one can never step into the same river-time-slice twice, but one can step into the same (four-dimensional) river twice.

Citation and Use

Levin, Noah, ed. “Introduction to Philosophy and the Ship of Theseus.” In Ancient philosophy reader, AN OPEN EDUCATIONAL RESOURCE . NGE Far Press, 2019. https://human.libretexts.org/Bookshelves/Philosophy/Book%3A_Ancient_Philosophy_Reader_(Levin)/01%3A_The_Start_of_Western_Philosophy_and_the_Pre-Socratics/1.01%3A_Introduction_to_Philosophy_and_the_Ship_of_Theseus

Use of this work is governed by CC-BY-SA-NC license.

Ship of Theseus Copyright © 2020 by Noah Levin is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License , except where otherwise noted.

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Dramatis Personae

Aphrodite (also known as Aphrodite)

Theseus (King of Athens)

Phaedra (Wife of Theseus)

Nurse (To Phaedra)

Chorus 1 (Of Women of Troezen)

Chorus 2 (Slaves to Hippolytus)

Messenger (And slave to Hippolytus)

Various Attendants (silent)

Before Theseus’ palace in Troezen (Northern Peloponnese).

The statues of two goddesses, Aphrodite and Artemis, flank the door of the palace. The statue of Artemis holds a bow and a quiver of arrows.

SL is a couch.

Enter Aphrodite from the side of her statue.

Aphrodite I am Aphrodite.

Also called Cypris.

A great goddess among the mortals, as well as throughout the heavens.

Of those mortals who look upon the light of the sun and who live between the very edges of the East, the Black Sea and the farthest ends of the West, the great Pillars of Atlas, of all those of them who respect my power, I, respect them, also.

But those of them who treat me with disrespect, them, I crush and destroy!

It’s part of being a god. We, gods, all of us, enjoy being revered by the mortals.

So I say and so I shall prove very shortly!

You see, Hippolytus, that child of the Amazon Hippolyta, by the seed of Theseus, who was raised by that pure man, Pittheus, is the only one -the only one in the whole of Troezen, who hates me. He says that I am the worst of all the gods! 10

Hippolytus, says this! He is the only mortal, the only man, who says this!

The boy will neither marry anyone nor go anywhere near the bed of love!

Instead, he reveres that Artemis, Zeus’ daughter, Apollo’s sister!

Nods towards the statue of Artemis

He thinks she’s by far the greater of all the goddesses and so, the two of them, he and his little virgin deity there, take their great hunting dogs and go roaming about the plush forest together all day, sending all the wild beasts away!

A mortal has no business being in such a close relationship with an immortal!

Far too inappropriate a behaviour for a mortal, I say!

But the fact is, the relationship itself doesn’t bother me, really. I’m not the jealous type. Why should I be bothered about those two? 20

But the disrespect he shows for me –a goddess! For that I will punish him severely! Today!

Today Hippolytus will pay for all the sins he has ever committed against me and, since I’ve been preparing this plan for a long time now, it will only take a tiny bit more effort on my part to see it through to its execution.

A while ago, Hippolytus had travelled all the way from Pittheus’ house to the precincts of Pandion, to watch, as well as to take part in the celebrations of the great mysteries of the goddesses Demeter and Kore.

Well, his father’s noble wife, Phaedra – that is, Hippolytus’ step mother- saw him there and, at that very moment, the moment her eyes fell on that boy, her heart missed a beat! She fell in love with Hippolytus, her step son!

Now, you see, that little heart flutter of hers was my own doing!

And then, before Phaedra came here, to Trozen, I mean, she had built a temple, next to the rock of Pallas Athena, as a monument to her love, you see, a monument dedicated to me; and because her lover was away, the temple was built so it looked over towards this way, that is, our way. Then she let it known to everyone that she had built that temple in honour of Hippolytus. 29

Then, Theseus, her husband, that is Hippolytus’ father, left Athens to escape the blood guilt he had brought about for treacherously murdering his cousins, the sons of Pallas, that is Aegeas’ brother…

So, Theseus then takes his wife Phaedra and sails off from Athens to end up here, in Troezen, for a one-year long exile from his home.

Poor Phaedra!

Indicating inside the palace

So, she is here now, in there, moaning and groaning from the pain inflicted by the pointy pricks of love! She’s dying in silence, the poor dear because she won’t tell anyone what she is suffering from.

But this is not the way this love sickness of hers is going to end. 41

No. I shall tell Theseus all about it and then the secret will be out.

As for the young man, my enemy, his father -Theseus that is- will have him killed by using one of the three wishes –curses, rather- that his own father, the Lord of the sea, Poseidon, that is, had granted him –Theseus, that is – as a gift. Theseus can ask Poseidon for three things and all three will be delivered.

Still, Phaedra will die! She will but with her… honour, still intact!

I’m not at all interested in her misfortune. No, what I am far more interested in is to see that those who treat me with disrespect get adequately punished.

Noise from within (SL) from a group of men who are singing, as they are approaching.

Ah! I can see Hippolytus coming this way. End of his hunting venture for the day, it seems. I’d better be off! 51

A whole hoard of his servants are with him singing songs about his lovely Artemis!

If only he knew how wide the gates of the Underworld are opened and ready for him! If only he knew that today’s light is the last light his eyes will enjoy!

Exit Aphrodite.

Enter Hippolytus, carrying a garland, followed by a throng of servants.

He walks over to the statue of Artemis.

Hippolytus Come, men, sing with me!

Let’s sing about Zeus’ daughter, the divine Artemis, the one who cares for us!

Servant 1 Most reverend lady, most gracious lady! 61

Artemis, daughter of Zeus and Leto!

Servant 2 The fairest virgin of them all.

You live in a house of gold!

Your father’s house in heaven!

Servant 3 Greetings, Artemis,

Greetings, gracious lady,

The fairest of all the virgins who live on Mount Olympus!

Hippolytus offering the garland

This is for you, dear lady!

I’ve plaited this garland for you, gracious goddess.

I’ve gathered its flowers from a virgin meadow, gracious lady.

A meadow where no shepherd thinks it proper to bring his flocks to graze,

A meadow never yet touched by the blade of the iron scythe.

A truly virgin meadow, gracious lady!

A meadow where even the bee makes its way through it in Spring with utmost care!

A meadow which Holy Reverence nourishes its ground with the cool water of the river streams!

A meadow which only those who are chaste, not simply by schooling but by their very nature, may harvest its blooms. For all others, for those who are impure, it is forbidden to pluck its flowers.

Enter Slave from the palace who stands quietly and watches his master and the group of friends.

And so gracious lady, from the hands of one who worships you, take this garland for your golden hair. 81

He places the garland on the statue’s head.

Of all the mortals alive, only I am allowed this honour because only I spend my days with you and speak with you. Only I, gracious lady, hear your voice, though never see your face.

How I wish, dear lady that my life will end in the purity that it has begun.

Slave My Prince –I’ll call you Prince, my Prince because we should really only call the gods “masters” isn’t that right, my Prince?

Hippolytus nods in agreement

Well, my Prince, would you, my Prince, listen to a word of good advice from me, my Prince?

Hippolytus Of course I would, slave. Not to do so would be the deed of a fool.

Slave My Prince, you do know the rule that all mortals should follow, don’t you, my Prince? 90

Hippolytus No, which rule are you referring to, slave?

Slave My Prince, I’m referring to the rule that says that all mortals detest the proud.

Hippolytus Ah, of course, I do. All proud mortals are a pain to us all.

Slave And, of course, those who are humble are charming, yes, my Prince?

Hippolytus They certainly are. And they are quick to help and serve.

Slave Do you think, my Prince, that this is also true with the gods?

Hippolytus Of course, I do. That is, if we, mortals abide by the laws of the immortals.

Slave But then, my Prince, why is it you do not show any reverence to a venerable goddess?

Hippolytus Which goddess are you talking about? 100

Watch your mouth now, slave! Careful that your mouth does not utter the wrong words to me!

Slave  Indicating the statue of Aphrodite

This goddess, there, my Prince. The one right next to your gate, my Prince!

Aphrodite, sir!

Hippolytus Dismissively

Ah, that one!

Being a pure man, I greet her only from a distance.

Slave But, my Prince, this goddess is revered by many mortals. She’s very famous among us all, my Prince!

Hippolytus Different mortals revere different gods, slave, just as different gods respect different mortals.

Slave My Prince, I wish you good fortune and to gain all the wisdom you need.

Hippolytus I honour no god who is honoured only at night!

Slave Ah, my son! We must honour all the gods!

Hippolytus Turning his back to the slave

My friends, go inside and prepare the meal!

A full table after a good hunting session is an absolute joy!

And rub down my horses, as well, so that after the meal I can harness them to the cart and give them a proper exercise. 110

Turning to the slave again

As for your Aphrodite, well, tell her that I bid her a long farewell!

Friends and Hippolytus exit into the palace.

Slave Shakes his head with disbelief at the words and attitude of his master

No, we old folks should not act like the young folks do. At least not when they have thoughts like that!

Turning to the statue of Aphrodite

No, my gracious lady, Aphrodite, I shall pray to you, to your statue, with words that are appropriate for a slave, a slave, just like me.

And, gracious lady, do please forgive the young whose excessive pride make them say silly things. Pretend, my lady, not to hear their foolish words! I’m sure that gods are much wiser than mortals!

Exit slave into the palace.

Enter the chorus of Troezen women.

Chorus There is a rock, at the very edge of the earth, they say, out of which the clear waters of the river Oceanus flow and fall from all around its precipices to form lots of fountains. People dip their urns into those fountains. That’s where my friend was the other day. She washes her brightly coloured clothes in the waters of that river and then she spreads them over the warm backs of the rocks, under the sun. 121

It was there that I first heard the news about our queen.

Chorus Ah, our queen! 131

They say, she just lies sick in bed, indoors, all day, her beautiful head of blond hair, covered by finely woven veils.

Chorus I heard that for three days now her divine lips haven’t touched even one of the holy and life-nourishing fruit of the goddess Demeter.

Chorus It’s her wish to put an end to some secret thing she’s suffering from, by cutting short her life.

Chorus Poor girl!

Has some god or other took possession of your mind, dear girl?

Pan, or Hekate, perhaps?

Chorus Perhaps the reverend Chorybantes?

Chorus Or Cybele, the mountain mother?

Chorus Could it be that you’re being tormented by guilt for sinning against Dictyna, the goddess of the wild beasts? Maybe you have forgotten to offer her the sacrificial bread. Because, she, too wanders about near those salt-water eddies that swirl about on the dry land, down by the shore.

Chorus Perhaps it’s your Lord and husband, my dear lady, the King of the Athenians! 151

Chorus Perhaps some other woman has turned his mind, dear lady.

Chorus Perhaps she took him into her house and turned him against your embraces!

Chorus Maybe some sailor from Crete, sailed into our welcoming harbour and brought some dreadful news to our queen –

Chorus So dreadful that her soul, weighed heavily with grief drove her to her bed!

Chorus No friends! 161

No! This is the very nature of women!

It is unbalanced.

There’s the awful pain of childbirth and then the pain of dizzy spells in the brain – and there is no harmony between these two.

I had that scream of terror dart through my womb once!

But then I prayed to Artemis, the goddess who averts that pain, the goddess of the bow and arrow and she came! Praise be to the heavens, this, most welcome visitor came to me!

From the palace enter the nurse and Phaedra, who is supported by her servants. They help her walk over to the couch where she lies down.

Chorus Ah, look! Her old nurse is bringing our queen outside! 170

Chorus Look how sad and heavy her face looks!

Chorus It’s getting worse!

Chorus I wish I knew what it is that’s hurting her so much!

Chorus Look how withered her body looks!

Chorus Look how pale her face looks!

Nurse Oh, the horrible things, the shocking diseases that mortals can suffer from!

Tell me what I should do for you, my dear lady and tell what I should I not!

Here we are then.

The daylight, my lady. The clear sky. Your couch is here, too, outside the house.

All day, you talked about coming out here but I know, in no time at all, you’ll be sick of all this and you’ll want to go back inside again. Nothing can give you any pleasure, my lady. Nothing. Nothing you have pleases you, only what you have not. 180

It’s better to be sick yourself than to be looking after someone else who’s sick. The first is a single task but the second, the second makes for double work. The work of the hand follows the work of the heart.

But then again, the whole of a mortal is nothing but trouble. Trouble and work and no rest from either!

But then again, whatever else there is, whatever good there is outside of life, it’s all covered by a great cloud of darkness. And so we cling onto this one. Onto this life. We stick to this life because it’s this life that shines on this earth. What experience do we have of the other? What do we know of the things that are beneath it? 190

We listen to too many stories! Blindly get carried away with them!

Fables of fancy!

Phaedra Help me, friends! Help me stay upright. Help me keep my head up.

Come, come! Hold my hands, friends!

This scarf is heavy on my head, take it off, please! Let my hair fall loose on my shoulders!

Nurse Come, my child! Courage!

Stop shifting your body about like that!

You could cope with your pain much easier, my child if you behaved like the noble lady you are. With silence and with a strong heart.

Mortals must endure pain.

Phaedra Oh, how I wish!

How I wish I could drink some pure water from the cool springs!

How I wish I could lie and rest under the poplar trees of a lush meadow!

Nurse Dear child! 212

What are you saying?

Stop talking like this in front of all these people. What silly things your tongue rattles off!

Phaedra  Tries to get up

Come, take me to the mountains!

I want to go to the mountains! To the woods. The pine forests.

Take me to where the hunting dogs chase the spotted deer!

I want to watch the dogs hunt the deer.

I want to cheer them on!

And I want to hold a Thessalian spear in my hand, up here, next to my golden hair and hold it high and then hurl it at them!

Nurse Heavens, my child! 223

Why in heavens’ name would you want to do such things?

What is this sudden love for hunting? And mountain springs?

Goodness! We have a lovely cool spring right here, just around the walls of the palace. You can take all the water you want from there!

Phaedra Oh, dear Artemis!

My goddess!

Goddess of the salty lakes!

Goddess of the race tracks that echo with the hooves of horses!

How I wish I were there now, on your plains, breaking Enetians colts!

Nurse Again! 232

Again these mad words, my child!

Such madness, child!

One minute you want to race off to the mountains to go hunting and the next you want to run off to the sandy racetracks chasing after horses!

We need a mighty seer to work out what god pulls at the reins of your mind, my child, what god has driven your senses away from their right track!

Phaedra Ah! 241

Such misery!

What have I done? What could it be that I have done?

Where has my mind gone?

I have gone mad!

Some god has taken my mind away.

Nurse, put the scarf over my head again! I am so ashamed of the things I’ve said.

Quick, nurse, cover my head. My face is flooded with tears!

Oh, I am so ashamed!

Sanity is a source of pain but madness is a sickness!

Best die sensing nothing!

Nurse  Rolls the scarf back over Phaedra’s face and head. 250

Here you are, child. I cover your head!

Now when will death cover my body?

This long life of mine has taught me many things. One is that when friends fill each other’s cup with love, they should do so carefully. Moderately.

Give love, by all means but not drain the very marrow of your soul of it.

The ribbons of love in your heart should be loosely bound so that you can either undo them completely or tighten them at will. To suffer the pain of two loves in the one soul, like I am doing now, is heavy suffering, indeed. I fear I suffer too much for this child.

They say a life that’s lived too sternly is a life that brought more distress than joy, worse to your health. That’s why I’d rather praise moderation than extreme austerity. 260

The wise folks will agree with me there.

Chorus Old lady, faithful nurse to our Queen, what is it that’s brought our dear Phaedra into such a dreadful state?

Chorus Please tell us, dear nurse, what’s wrong with the poor girl?

Nurse I don’t know. She won’t tell me what’s wrong with her. 271

Chorus Not even how this illness started?

Nurse No, she won’t answer that question or any other question I ask her.

Chorus Ah, but look at her!

Look how weak her body looks!

Nurse Of course her body is weak! She hasn’t touch any food for three days now!

Chorus Why has she done that? Has she gone mad or is she trying to kill herself?

Nurse Kill herself. She wants to die –by starving herself!

Chorus But does her husband know what she’s up to? Does he agree with it?

Nurse No, he knows nothing. She says nothing to him. Denies she’s ill.

Chorus But can he not work it out? 280

Chorus All he’s got to do is look at her face!

Nurse How could he do that? He’s always running off abroad!

Chorus Why don’t you force her to tell you what’s wrong with her?

Chorus Force her to tell you what’s driven her out of her senses.

Nurse Ladies, I’ve tried everything and got nowhere with her.

But I won’t stop trying. And now that you’re all here, you can see for yourselves how I behave towards my lady in her hour of pain.

Come dear girl!

Come, let’s forget all the things we said to each other before!

Now, dear child, let’s make a deal.

You try and loosen that painful look of your face –there, undo those wrinkles of pain from your forehead and I, this time, I will try and behave better; listen much more sympathetically to everything you want to tell me and… and I’ll use more soothing words to you. 290

And then, if you’re suffering from those… those unmentionable ills we, women suffer from, well, there are women here who can comfort you. But if it can be uttered in the presence of men, then tell us so we can bring in a physician.

Speak, darling, speak!

Come on, don’t stay silent. Speak, my child!

Come, child, either argue with me or agree with me but don’t just stay silent.

Say something, child! 300

Turning to the chorus

You see, girls?

I can make no progress at all with her. None! I am wasting my time!

Ah! I can’t get anywhere with the girl!

She was not moved by gentle words before and she is not moved now.

Back to Phaedra

But you can be certain of this, child: Be as stubborn as the ocean, if you want but by being so stubborn, you will die and by dying, you will be betraying your sons! Yes, my queen, your sons because they will no longer have any claim to your father’s inheritance! To his palace, my queen! They will have no claim to it at all!

By the Amazonian goddess, my lady! By the horse-loving Artemis, who bore the master of your own sons, my lady. A bastard son, child, a bastard who thinks himself a noble. You know very well who I mean, my child. You know I mean Hippolytus!

Phaedra Oh!

Nurse What, does that thought bother you? 310

Phaedra Nurse, you are killing me!

I beg you, Nurse! I beg you, in Heaven’s name, never speak of him again, Nurse!

Nurse Ah, ha! You are, after all, sane!

But sane or not, you’re still not willing to help your own sons, my child!

Save your sons by staying alive, my Queen!

Phaedra My sons!

I love my sons. It is not my sons who torture me!

Nurse What then?

Suddenly a horrible thought crosses her mind

Your hands, my Queen. Your hands are clean of blood?

Phaedra Yes, Nurse. My hands are clean of blood!

But my mind, my mind, Nurse, is unclean!

Nurse Your mind, child?

How so? Can some enemy have hurled some calamitous curse at you?

Phaedra No, Nurse. Not an enemy but a friend, Nurse.

A friend is destroying me. Against his wishes, against mine.

Nurse What? A friend? 320

Has Theseus committed a grave sin against you, my lady?

Phaedra Ah no!

May I never sin against that man!

Nurse Not Theseus?

But then, child, what is this terror that overwhelms you so much that you want to die?

Phaedra Oh, dear Nurse!

Nurse, do let me sin! It is not against you, I sin my Nurse!

Nurse No, you’re not sinning against me, willingly, child but you’ll still be the end of me!

In a sudden move, the Nurse kneels beside Phaedra and grasps her hand and knee.

Phaedra What are you doing, Nurse? Ah, my arm!

Nurse Your arm and your knees, child! And I’ll never let go of them!

Phaedra Ah, poor woman! You want to know the truth but the truth will be the end of you!

Nurse It would be worse for me to lose you, child!

Phaedra Lose me?

My death, dear Nurse, will bring death to you but honour to me!

Nurse Honour? Well then, why hide it from me, child? Have I not the right to know this…. this truth? 330

Phaedra No, because I’m trying to turn shame into honour.

Nurse But then, will this honour not be greater if it were revealed?

Phaedra Oh, Nurse!

Please! By the gods, I ask you to leave me be! Let me go of my hand!

Nurse I shall not! Not until you give me what is mine!

Phaedra Ah, nurse!

I have too much respect for your suppliant hand not to give it you, so I shall!

Nurse Good. Then I’ll say no more.

From now it is your turn to speak.

The Nurse lets go of Phaedra’s hand and knee.

Phaedra sits up on the couch.

Phaedra Oh, mother! Oh, Pasiphae! King Minos’ bride!

Oh, my poor mother! What a love you had endured!

Nurse Are you talking about the bull from Crete, my child?

Is that what you mean?

Phaedra And, you, poor darling sister, Ariadne, Dionysus’ bride!

Nurse What’s wrong, my child? Are you speaking ill of your parents? 340

Phaedra Yes, those two and me, a third! How miserably I die!

Nurse Child you’re baffling me! Where do all these words take us?

Phaedra They take us back. Back to that time… This misery of mine is old. It comes from long ago.

Nurse That does not make things any clearer for me, child…

Phaedra Oh, nurse! If only you could utter my words instead of me!

Nurse Phaedra, I am not a seer to uncover what is hidden in your mind.

Phaedra Nurse, tell me, please: What do people mean when they say, they’re in love?

Nurse Ah, love! They mean to say, my girl that they feel great pleasure and great pain all the very same time!

Phaedra Well then, it would be the second that I feel.

Nurse What are you saying, my child? That you are in love? But who is the man? 350

Phaedra His name?

I wonder what it is.

Turning towards the statue of Artemis.

He is the son of the Amazon goddess.

Nurse Hippolytus? Do you mean Hippolytus, child?

Phaedra You uttered the words, not me!

Nurse Oh, no! My child, what could you mean by this? You have destroyed me with this!

Ladies, no! No, this is unbearable! I cannot bear to live any longer!

No! I hate the light of this day! I hate this day!

I shall throw myself over a cliff and die! Hades will save me from this life!

Farewell, ladies! I am leaving you! I am no longer alive!

Even the virtuous desire the evil! They might not wish it but they do, just the same.

Indicating the statue of Aphrodite

Now I see that she is not just a mere god but some force far mightier than that!

She has destroyed Phaedra!

She has destroyed me!

She has destroyed the Palace!

The chorus rushes about in alarm and confusion.

Chorus Ah! Did you hear that? Did you hear what our queen just said between her sighs of pain? 362

Chorus Misery that the ears can’t bear to hear!

Chorus How I wish! How I wish I was not alive to hear the pain in your heart, my queen!

Chorus Oh, how you must suffer from this agony, my queen!

Chorus Ah, what pains we mortals feed on!

Chorus Oh, my Queen!

You have brought evil –evil and death!- out into the sunlight!

Chorus What else awaits you this endless day?

Chorus Some unexpected horror will happen to the palace! 370

Chorus There is no doubt about what the Cretan goddess has in store for us.

Chorus Oh, you poor Cretan girl!

Phaedra Ladies!

You, women who live in this, the uttermost corner of Pelops’ land!

I have often wondered, just wondered, during some long nights, what it is that brought about the downfall of the lives of mortals and I came to the opinion that this is not due to the nature of their minds because, many of them do possess much wisdom.

Rather, I think, we ought to look at the question in this manner: 380

We know and understand very well what is virtue and what is evil but, unfortunately, we fail to act virtuously. Some of us do so because we are lazy, others again because we give priority to pleasure rather than virtue.

And life has many pleasures. Lengthy and idle chats, for example, and indolence –a pleasant wrong, and shame; which has a double face, one of which, to be sure, is not an evil thing to possess but then there is yet the other face of it, the one whose weight crushes whole households, and if which was the good face of it and which was the bad was easy to discern, then the word describing them would not be the same.

This, as it happens, is my opinion on the matter and no drug, no magic potion that would make me contradict it and then believe its opposite.

Let me tell you the path my mind took to arrive at this conclusion. 391

Once the darts of love had caused their wounds, I wondered how best to treat them.

First, I thought I’d say nothing about them. The tongue can never be trusted, I thought. It can give grand advice to others but it can also get you into a great deal of trouble, all by itself!

Then, I thought that I could behave like the noble woman I am and tolerate this madness nobly. Use self discipline, I thought. That would heal it.

But then, when neither of these two plans managed to beat Aphrodite’s attack, a third plan came to my mind. 400

It’s the best plan and I am certain you’ll agree.

It is to die.

Death will not only hide what good deeds I have committed but it will also spare me from a throng of witnesses to those deeds I am ashamed of.

I knew only too well that this madness I suffered and the deed that brought it about was shameful. Not only that but I am also a woman, something that men detest!

Curse the woman who first began to pollute her marriage bed by sleeping with another one! Let her die a most miserable death!

And this thing… this evil…. it begins with the women in the families of the nobles. Where else? Because when the common folks see the nobles behaving in such a shameful manner, they’ll think that it’s acceptable and so they, too, will behave just as shamefully! 410

And then there’s the other lot! The lot that are full of virtue with words but their thoughts are full of mischief. I hate that sort of woman, as well!

Tell me Aphrodite! Tell me Lady of the sea!

Tell me how these women can dare look at their husbands in the eye? How can they be so certain that their accomplices, the Night and the walls of their house won’t suddenly start screaming? How can they not be afraid of that?

And that’s what brought me to my conclusion, dear friends. To my death. 419

I don’t won’t to be found shaming my husband or the sons I bore. I want my sons to live as free men in this glorious city. In Athens. Free to speak their mind, free to flourish, free to enjoy a good name, a name untarnished by me, their own mother.

Even the bravest of men falls if he finds out that his mother or father have committed deeds of shame.

They say there’s only one thing that rivals the worth of a life: to have an untarnished, a virtuous heart! The others, the mortals whose hearts are bad, will be exposed sooner or later, according to their Fate, by Time who will raise a mirror of their deeds to their face, as if to a little girl. I hope I will not be among them.

Chorus Yes, yes! What a wondrous thing virtue is everywhere! 431

Chorus How great its fruits of glory and honour they are among all mortals!

Nurse My lady, I admit that what you have told me earlier had given me a sudden and dreadful shock but then I thought again and realised that I was quite wrong.

Second thoughts are can often be much wiser with us mortals.

What you’re suffering from, dear girl is nothing unusual nor beyond comprehension.

No, dear child, what has happened to you is that you are the victim of the goddess’ anger.

So you’re in love! Well, what is strange about that? You’re in love just like many others. Do you want to die because of that? Because of love?

What would then be the point of people falling in love with their neighbours, if they must then die for it? Where’s the benefit in that? 440

When Aphrodite charges at us in full flight, she is unstoppable! No point in trying to resist her because whilst she treats gently those who accept her and obey her, she is ruthless to those who are too proud for her. Those who think they are stronger than her. She grabs that lot and what do you think she does with them? She is merciless with them!

Our goddess is everywhere. In the air, in every wave of the sea. She sows and she harvests everything! She plants love and from love all we mortals are born.

All those people who read the old books, those who love the Muses, they all know that Zeus once lusted madly after Semele and they also know that Dawn, goddess of that delightful light, loved Cephalus so much that she grabbed him and took him up to the heavens with her! But do these gods commit suicide like you want to do by exiling themselves from the heavens and coming to live down here, among us mortals? No, they go on living up there, with each other. They simply shrug the whole thing off as a bit of bad luck! 450

And you can’t cope with all that? 459

Well then, my child, if you don’t want to live under these rules, then perhaps your father should have made a deal with the gods before he did his sowing, or perhaps he should have given you a different lot of gods to be your masters!

Think, child!

How many men do you think there are –men full of sense- who see their marriage beds betrayed but pretend to see nothing?

How many fathers do you think there are who have helped their sons deal their way out of entanglements with Aphrodite?

Here’s the rule mortals follow: The wise thing to do with shameful deeds is to hide them! Out of everyone’s eye!

No point in mortals killing themselves trying to make their lives all perfect! Nobody can build a perfect roof over their house, now, can they? Same thing.

A horrible misfortune like the one that has crashed upon you – how could you hope to escape it? No, my child! In the full reckoning of things, being a mortal, if your good deeds overweigh the bad ones, then consider yourself lucky, indeed. 470

So, dear girl, forget all these ugly thoughts. Swallow your pride. What, after all, is pride? It is thinking that you’re better than the immortals!

Accept, it, girl: You’re in love! You’re in love because a god ordered it that you’d fall in love; and if being in love is making you ill, then try a good remedy to ease its effect, not all this horrible stuff you’ve got in your head!

There are all sorts of charms and chants and potions that we can find to cure you of it.

And it has to be us, us, women, to go looking for these devices because men, well, men are just too slow when it comes to conjuring them up for us.

Chorus Phaedra, I think the advice your nurse is giving you to overcome your great misfortune, is admirable, though I prefer your way of thinking. 482

But I do know, my lady, that my words are more hurtful to your ears than hers.

Phaedra And that’s exactly what destroys good cities and homes: fine speeches!

No, our words shouldn’t just try to please our ears but, rather, to build us a good reputation!

Nurse Angry 490

Oh! What huge words! What piousness!

Forget the big words, dear girl! We must think of this man of yours! Find him immediately and tell him with straight talk what’s really going on here.

Now listen, my girl!

If you hadn’t strayed and fallen into such a great mountain of troubles, I wouldn’t have talked to you the way I did about love and lust and all that!

But trying to save your life, my dear girl, requires lots of hard work and so, who would argue with my method?

Phaedra Outraged at the Nurse

Shame! Shame on you for uttering such disgraceful words! Keep your mouth shut and never talk like that again!

Nurse Shameful they might be but they speak of the better course for you! 500

The deed that saves your life is better than the fine words that may save your reputation but send you to the world below!

Phaedra By the gods!

I beg you, go no further! Speak no more!

You utter pretty words that say shameful things.

My soul has been worked upon by love so much that if you use these pretty words to say such shameful things then, I’m afraid, I shall be undone by the very thing I’m trying to escape!

Nurse As you wish.

Still, since you’ve made the mistake then take my advice and do as I tell you now: I just remembered that I have some love medicine at home which, if you’re brave enough to take it, will get you out of this trouble of yours without shame to your reputation nor harm to your mind.

First, though I must get some little token from your lover. A lock of hair, or a small piece of his clothing and then mingle the two into one, single charm. 510

Phaedra What sort of medicine is it, something you drink or do you apply it on your skin?

Nurse I don’t know, child. Seek the cure, not the knowledge!

Phaedra I’m afraid you’re getting too clever for me!

Nurse Afraid of what child? There’s nothing to be afraid of.

Phaedra I’m afraid you might say something to Theseus’ son.

Nurse Oh, don’t worry about that, my child! 520

I’ll organize everything perfectly.

I only pray that you, my lady, goddess of the sea, help in all this.

As to the rest of my plans, I’ve got enough friends inside the palace to talk them over with.

Phaedra retreats to the couch and lies down, covering her face with her scarf.

Chorus Oh, god of lust!

Chorus Eros!

Chorus You make eyes drip with desire!

Chorus You infuse sweet pleasure into the souls you hunt!

Chorus Oh, Eros! Never hunt me in anger! Never be violent towards me!

Chorus Neither the arrows of fire or that of the stars are as powerful as those of Aphrodite which Eros, the son of Zeus, flings at us by his own hand! 530

Chorus It’s pointless for the Greeks to slaughter even more bulls on the shrines of the Pythian Apollo, and by the banks of the Alpheus river, if we neglect to honour Eros!

Chorus Eros! Lord and master of all mortals!

Chorus Eros, who holds the keys to Aphrodite’s sweet chambers! 540

Chorus Eros, whose visits bring ruin and devastation to mortals!

Chorus And then there was princess Iole of Oechalia!

Right up until the moment that Aphrodite delivered that girl to Herakles, Alcmene’s son, she knew nothing of men, of marriage beds or love.

Chorus Like a Water nymph!

A carefree filly!

Chorus Aphrodite tore that poor girl from her father’s house. 550

The house of Eurytus.

Chorus What blood was shed for the sake of that union!

What smoke was raised for the sake of that wedlock!

What a murderous wedding!

Chorus A whole city was sacked for the sake of that marriage!

What misery that yoke had brought you!

Chorus Oh, sacred walls of Thebes!

And you, springs of Dirce, witness my account of how Aphrodite comes to us.

Chorus Even Semele, mother of twice-born Dionysius, she yoked with the fiery thunder! 560

Chorus A wedding bed of death for the poor girl!

Chorus Aphrodite is dreadful!

Her breath kills all!

She hovers above us all like a bee.

Suddenly Phaedra hears a noise from the palace and bolts upright with fright.

Phaedra Quiet, women!

She moves closer to the wall and listens.

Oh, no! I hear my undoing!

Chorus What is it, Phaedra?

Chorus What did you hear in the house that made you so afraid?

Phaedra Wait! Be quiet! Let me work out what they’re saying in there!

Chorus I’ll be quiet but this looks like trouble.

Chorus What is it, my lady? 571

Chorus What are you saying?

Chorus What did you hear, my lady?

Chorus What is that shook your heart so much?

Phaedra I am dead, ladies! I am dead! Come and listen! Listen through this door. Listen to what havoc the house is in!

Chorus Refusing to approach the door

No, my lady! You listen through the door.

What goes on in your house is for you to find out…

Chorus …and then for you to tell us!

Phaedra It’s Hippolytus, the son of that amazon woman who loves horses! 581

He is shouting horrible things at my servant!

Chorus Ah! I can hear his voice but I can work out what he’s saying!

Chorus Tell us what he’s shouting about!

Phaedra I can work it out very clearly! He’s just called her a dirty bawd and told her that she has betrayed her master’s marriage bed!

Chorus Ah! How terrible! 591

Chorus Dear friend, you’ve been betrayed!

Chorus How can I help you, my dear girl?

Chorus Your secret is out!

Chorus You are destroyed!

Phaedra Ah!

Chorus Betrayed by your own friends!

Phaedra She has destroyed me!

Out of love and out of a desire to cure this illness of mine, she has told him of my concerns! Love but betrayal also.

Chorus So, what will you do then?

Chorus Oh, you have suffered something that no one can cope with!

Phaedra I know only of one thing that I can do. 599

To die as quickly as possible! It’s the only cure of these troubles of mine.

Exit Phaedra into the palace.

A minute later an outraged Hippolytus, enter through the same door, followed by the Nurse

Hippolytus Shouts

Oh, mother Earth!

Oh, broad sunlight!

The things I hear! Unspeakable stuff!

Nurse Hush, my boy!

Someone will hear you, shouting like that!

Hippolytus Quiet?

How can I be quiet after the words I’ve heard?

Nurse  Takes his right hand and raises it to her heart

My, son, I beg you!

Please, by your beautiful, right hand, I beg you!

Hippolytus Keep your distance! Don’t touch my clothes, woman!

Nurse  She falls to her knees and touches his

By your knees, my son!

I beg you, my son! You will ruin me!

Hippolytus Ruin you? How would I ruin you?

Didn’t you just tell me that there was nothing wrong with your little tale?

Nurse My son, what I’ve told you was not for everyone else to hear.

Hippolytus It is best that good tales are heard by many. 610

Nurse Your oath, my child! I beg you, don’t break it!

Hippolytus That oath was sworn by my tongue, not by my heart!

Nurse Rises from her knees

But what is it you want to do, my son, destroy all your friends?

Hippolytus  Spits

Ha! Friends! I spit the word! Criminals are not friends!

Nurse Then forgive them!

All mortals make mistakes, my son. It is in our nature.

Hippolytus Zeus!

Oh, Zeus! Why did you bring woman into the light of the sun?

Woman, this impure, this evil destroyer of mortals!

If you wanted to sow the seeds for the mortal race you should not have done it through women but a price.

Men should be able to just go to some temple or other, put there some piece of bronze or iron, or even some gold –whatever their means would allow- and with that price paid, pick themselves the son they want. Take him home with him and there, the two men could live out their lives, in their house without a woman to be seen anywhere! 620

As it is now, even before we want to bring this… this curse, into our house, we must squander away our whole estate!

And here’s what I mean by this. Here’s the clear proof of it: The woman’s father, the man who had begotten that beast and who had raised her -that poor man, not only has to lay a dowry out for her but he must also send her away, so he can shed from himself this unbearable burden!

And then, her husband, the other poor creature, the one who has brought this… fake statue, into his house, this ruinous beast, her husband, the moment he gets her into his house, he begins to happily decorate her! 630

He begins the little game of cajoling her with pretty clothes! Fancy clothes for a worthless, vile statue! And there, you see, there goes, bit by little bit, all the wealth of his estate!

And then come the unavoidable choices of his constrains. Either his in-laws are so good that he accepts the burden of having to endure a rotten and painful marriage, or it’s the other way around: he gets a great wife but rotten and painful in-laws, in which case, he’ll need to content himself with the thought that, the good part of this marriage cancels out the rotten part.

But the man who gets it the easiest is the one who brings into his house a woman who is totally useless. A nothing. A zero. A simple, simple- minded woman. A useless woman.

But I hate the smart ones! I simply loathe that sort! 640

Oh, Zeus, spare me!

I hope I’ll never end up with a woman in my house who’s cleverer than women should be! Aphrodite plants a lot more evil schemes in the minds of those clever ones! The dumb ones are kept on the straight and narrow because of their… rather diminutive wit.

And, if you do get a wife, give her no slave. Instead, give her animals. Give her dumb brutes for companions. Wild beasts that you can’t talk to and they can’t talk back.

Give a bitch of a wife a servant and what have you got? The two talk together inside, hatch up all sorts of evil plans and then the servant goes off and carry those plans outside the house!

Turning to the Nurse 651

And that’s how you did this, you vile creature!

That’s how you came to me, to fill my ears with abhorrent stories about my father’s sacred marriage bed.

Stories that I will flush out with running water. How could I ever be such traitor, the very thought of it makes me feel disgusting?

And let me tell you straight, woman! What saves your life after this, is my own piety because, had not my hands been tied by that oath, I’d never have kept this whole story from my father! But since he’s out of the country, I’ll leave the house and keep silent about it.

But we’ll both be back and then I’ll see how you treat him. You and your mistress. I’ve had a taste of your arrogance, now, so I’ll see how you behave in his presence. 660

Turns to leave in disgust

Curse you woman and curse all of you, women!

No matter how often I’m told that I am constantly saying this, my hatred to you all will never be quenched. I say it again and again because again and again you prove yourselves to be hateful and if they want me to stop saying it then let a man teach them how not to be hateful Otherwise let me disparage them for ever!

Exit Hippolytus SL

Nurse How miserable is the fate of women! How unfortunate their lives!

Chorus What then?

Chorus What’s left for us now?

Chorus What words are left for us? 670

Chorus What tricks can we devise to undo this miserable knot of accusations?

Nurse We have failed.

Enter Phaedra from the palace

Phaedra We have received justice!

How can I escape what Fate has in store for me, my friends?

What god, my friends, what mortal will come to help me now?

Who will appear at my side to help me, my friends, help someone to commit unjust deeds?

This pain, this torture I’m suffering now will be hard to endure in life.

Oh! What woman is more unfortunate than me?

Chorus Ah! 680

Chorus Dear lady, it’s all over!

Chorus Your servant’s schemes have not worked!

Chorus It’s all bad, my lady!

Phaedra  To Nurse

Vile monster!

Monster who destroys friends! See now what you have done to me!

I hope Zeus, who is the father of my race destroys you now! I hope he destroys you with his blazing thunderbolt! Destroys you root and branch!

Have I not told you to be silent about these things? Not to reveal any of these things and that to do so would cause me this horrible shame?

But you couldn’t keep your mouth shut, could you? How can I now die with my honor unblemished?

Ah! Now I must work out new plans because now, with a mind whetted with rage, he’ll run off to his father and tell him that it was all my fault – blame me for all the wrong things you’ve done.

He will tell the old man Pitheus about my troubles and then he will have the whole world echoing with tales of shame about me! 690

Curses to you!

Curses to you and to anyone else who thinks of helping their friends against their will and by shameful means!

Nurse My lady, you are right in blaming me for the trouble I have caused you but, my lady, what hurts sharply stops good judgment.

But, my child, listen to me and you will hear that I do have a reason for what I’ve done. I brought you up, my child and so I love you.

I looked around for the medicine to cure your illness, my child but I could not find it but rest assured, if I had found it, I would have been considered as one of the wisest mortals alive. Wisdom is measured by success, my child.

Phaedra What? What manners are these? 702

First you cause me all this shame and then you argue with me?

Nurse We are chatting idly now, my lady. I admit, I made a mistake but even from this point you can still save your life, child!

Phaedra Enough of your talk!

Your first advice was shameful and what you did was wrong.

Now leave me and you look after your own affairs. I shall look after mine –honourably!

As for you dear noble ladies of Troezen, grant me, please this one request: Say nothing of what you’ve just heard here. 710

Chorus I swear, my lady!

Chorus By holy Artemis!

Chorus Zeus’ own daughter!

Chorus I will reveal none of your troubles to the daylight!

Phaedra These are good words to hear, my ladies!

I have found a means by which I can remedy my situation in such a way that my sons can live with an honourable reputation and for me to get some benefit out of my present troubles.

I will never disgrace the homes of Crete, nor will I appear before Theseus after having committed shameful deeds, just so I can save my one life!

Chorus What horrible, incurable deed are you thinking of performing, my lady? 722

Phaedra The deed is death. But its performance will be directed by me.

Chorus Such shocking words, my lady!

Chorus Utter good words only, my lady!

Phaedra And you, dear friends, only give me good advice.

This day, I shall please Cypris, the goddess who so wants to destroy me, by shedding my life. I am weaker than this bitter passion.

My death though will hurt someone else. A man who shall learn not to rejoice over my ill fate. This man will take his share of my misfortune and doing so will learn about humility.

Chorus Oh, how I wish! 732

Chorus How I wish I lived in hidden caves…

Chorus … far away on some steep crags.

Chorus … mountains and rocks.

Chorus And a god turned me into a bird with wings…

Chorus A bird flying in huge flocks.

Chorus Soaring high above the swelling ocean…

Chorus …all the way to the shores around the Adriatic…

Chorus …above the waters of Eridanus

Chorus The waters of Eridanus where the tears of grief from the unlucky virgins fall…

Chorus Drip by drip the gleaming amber of their tears…

Chorus Tears of grief over their brother’s fall…

Chorus …son of Helios, the sun god…

Chorus They fall and fall into the deep blue waves.

Chorus How I wish! 741

Chorus How I wish I could fly to that shore where the apple trees grow.

Chorus The trees of the harmony lovers, the Hesperides!

Chorus There, where Poseidon, the Lord of the sea, forbids the mariners from passing through into the turbulent waters and where he marks the boundary in the sky which Atlas holds.

Chorus There in Zeus’ halls, where fountains gush out ambrosia, beside his every couch.

Chorus There where the sacred earth gives rich fruit to the gods, gracing them with even greater bliss.

Chorus Oh, you great white-winged ship from Crete!

You have carried my queen through the salty waves of the thunderous ocean!

Chorus And from a blessed home you carried here, to a miserable marriage!

Chorus A joyless joy!

Chorus An evil omen sent her off from Crete, her land, her home and an evil omen brought her here, to glorious Athens. 760

Chorus Here, her ship tied their platted ropes on the moorings of the shores at the port Munichus. Here it was where she first stepped on our land.

Chorus And so the omens were correct.

Chorus Our lady was smitten by a gruesome illness.

Chorus An unholy passion sent by the goddess Aphrodite.

Chorus An incestuous love that spun her heart into madness.

Chorus Now, crushed by her bitter luck, our lady will tie a noose around her white neck and hang herself from the beams in her bridal chamber. 770

Chorus Shame and a hatred for life, drove her to leave it for the glory of a clear reputation and for the ridding from her heart the pain of a shameful desire.

Nurse within

Help! Anyone who’s near the palace, come! Help!

Oh, my lady!

Phaedra, Theseus’ wife has hanged herself!

Chorus It’s all over!

Chorus The queen is dead!

Chorus Snared in the noose!

Chorus She has hanged herself!

Nurse  within 780

Please someone hurry!

Bring a knife someone to cut the noose!

Won’t someone please bring a knife?

Chorus Ladies, what do we do now?

Chorus Should we rush into the house and cut our lady free from the noose?

Chorus Shouting through the door

Are there no young slaves about the place?

It’s not wise for us to meddle!

Nurse Within

Come, lay her neatly on the stretcher.

Straighten out her poor corpse.

What bitter house work I must perform for my master!

Then the poor girl must be dead now!

Chorus They are laying out her corpse.

Enter Theseus SR.

He is wearing a garland of green leaves.

He walks over to the palace door and bangs on it but the door id not opened for him.

Loud noises of people moving about, of tears, of wails come from within the palace

Theseus turns to the chorus:

Theseus Ladies, do you know what those noises in the palace are about? 790

I hear such loud screams from the servants!

No one in palace is seeing fit to open the door for me and, as usual, receive me with joy and with due respect.

Could it be that something has happened to old Pittheus?

He is far into his years but losing the man would still grieve me greatly.

Chorus No, Theseus!

It is not the old folk who is hi by ill fortune!

Chorus It is the young, Theseus!

It is the young who have died!

Chorus Grieve for the young, Theseus, the young!

Theseus Oh, no!

No, it isn’t my sons, surely!

Have I been robbed of the lives of my sons, ladies?

Chorus No, Theseus. Your sons live. 800

Chorus It is their mother who is dead!

Grieve for their mother, Theseus!

Theseus What? What are saying?

Is my wife dead? How did she die?

Chorus Theseus, she has hanged herself.

Chorus She tied a long rope to the rafters of her ceiling and made a noose.

Theseus Did some great sorrow stirred her mind? Or was it some other misfortune?

Chorus I know no more than that.

Chorus We’ve only just arrived to the palace, ourselves, Theseus. We came to grieve at your misfortune.

Theseus Oh!

Tears the garland from his head and throws it to the ground in disgust

And here I am with a crown of plaited leaves on my head!

Oh, such a foul oracle!

Shouts through the door

Servants unlock this door! Pull back the heavy bars! Loosen its bolts!

I want to see the bitter sight of my dear wife!

A sight of death that has destroyed me!

The door opens and through it, the body of Phaedra is carried on a bier by servants.

Her hands are crossed over her body and a wrapped and sealed tablet lies over them.

Chorus Ah! 811

Chorus Poor woman!

Chorus Unfortunate girl!

Chorus What things you’ve done, my girl!

Chorus Things that have destroyed this house!

Chorus What courage, my child!

Chorus How horrible the death you’ve died!

Chorus Unholy death!

Chorus A death by your own hand, Phaedra!

Chorus What was it, Phaedra?

What was it that took your life down to Hades’ darkness?

Theseus Ah!

What pains I feel!

What misery I am suffering!

How horrible my Fate!

Oh, my city! Oh, Athens!

How heavy this Fate has fallen upon my house! Upon my head!

Some invisible stain, sent here by some invisible spirit! 820

It has crushed my life! It has made my life unlivable!

Dear woman!

Oh, the endless ocean of sorrow I can see before me!

I cannot swim through it! I cannot cross its span.

What word would be proper for me to utter, dear woman? What word would match your grave misfortune?

You flew away from within my hands and with force and violence you jumped into the hands of Hades.

How can I bear the horror of this Fate? 830

This is the doing of some ancestor!

The evil deeds of long ago.

The gods are punishing me for those ancient deeds.

Chorus My King!

The pain falls not only upon you but upon many others!

Theseus I want to go to the gloomy darkness of the world below the earth, Phaedra, wife, since I’ve been robbed of your sweet company!

You have killed me more than you have killed yourself, wife!

Who can tell me, dear wife, where this deadly arrow came from, this arrow that pierced your heart? 840

Will not someone tell me?

Or does this royal house gives shelter to all these servants for no reason at all?

Ah, my wife!

What pain comes with your death!

What grief do I see here, my wife? What grief sees my palace!

Unbearable grief, unutterable pain, my queen!

Oh, this is death! This is my death and the death of my house!

You have left our sons, dear girl! Made them orphans!

Ah, the most beautiful of all the women under the bright sun and under the sparkling light of the night’s stars!

Chorus Poor man! 851

Chorus What miserable grief has come down upon your house!

Chorus Tears have flooded my eyes!

Chorus Your pains have melted my heart, my lord!

Chorus I shudder at the thought of what’s to come yet!

Theseus What’s this here?

This tablet. It’s hanging from her hand. Is there some message on it, something I don’t know? Perhaps she’s left me some instructions about our children, our marriage….

Oh, my poor girl, fear not! Our bridal bed and my house will be possessed by no other woman! 860

Takes the tablet out of her hand

Ah! Look! Her golden seal on the message! How enchanting it is to my eyes!

Let me see what the tablet says.

He unwraps the tablet and begins to read it silently

Chorus A fresh catastrophe from the gods!

Chorus Another to follow the old one!

Chorus Why live any longer now?

Chorus This is the end of my King’s house!

Chorus Of Fate!

I pray to you, if prayers you accept!

Chorus Fate do not destroy this house! 870

I see evil signs heading this way!

Prophetic signs!

What is this?

A new grief!

Ah! A grief upon a grief, this one even more unbearable, even more unutterable!

Ah! What a dismal creature I am!

Chorus What is it, my lord?

Tell us that we may know!

Theseus This tablet shouts its words!

It shouts the horror!

Ah! How can my ears endure the burden of this heavy song?

I cannot! I cannot!

Chorus Ah! 881

What ominous words!

Theseus I cannot!

I cannot hold the words locked behind my lips!

Destructive words! Unutterable words that must be uttered!

Shouts as if to the whole city

Various citizens stream in from the sides of the stage

Come, hear my words!

My son, Hippolytus!

He dared assault my bridal bed!

Hippolytus has shamed the holy eye of Zeus!

Well then, my father Poseidon, I call upon you!

You have promised me three curses, once! Grant me one of them now!

Strike dead my son and let him not live beyond the end of this day!

Show me, father, that your gift is true!

Chorus Shocked 891

My lord, no!

Chorus No, my lord!

In heavens’ name, I beg you!

Call back that prayer!

Chorus Soon, you’ll learn my lord…

Chorus …You’ve made a mistake, my lord!

Chorus Listen to me, my lord!

Theseus No, no it’s not a mistake!

And, to be certain, I shall also banish him from this land!

One of the two punishments will strike him. Either Poseidon will hear my prayer and send him off down to the house of Hades, or else, he’ll go off wondering as an exile, his miserable life draining away over foreign soils.

Chorus Indicating within, SL

My lord, look!

It is your son, Hippolytus.

Chorus Just in time!

Chorus Soften your anger, my lord, Theseus! 900

Think carefully about what’s best, for you and for your house!

Hippolytus rushes in.

Hippolytus Father, what is it?

I’ve just heard your shout of distress and came straight here.

Tell me what’s troubling you so much?

He sees Phaedra’s corpse.

What? What is this here? Father, this is your wife. She’s dead!

Oh, what painful shock, is this!

But I have only just left her, father. She was alive only a short time ago. What’s happened to her? How did she die?

Father tell me. I want to hear about this only from your own lips.

Theseus lowers his head but says nothing

Why the silence, father? 911

It is no use being silent during misfortunes, father because the heart, the heart, father, is even more greedy to hear things when it comes to misfortune.

It is not right to keep things from friends, father, and we are more than friends!

Theseus To hell with all you, mortals!

So much, you are so wrong!

Why teach a thousand crafts and skills, a thousand tricks, a thousand inventions!

Why teach all that, when you can’t even teach –not even seek to teach- how to give wisdom to the fool?

Hippolytus Father, you ask for much: A teacher wise enough to make a fool think! 921

But what may these words of yours mean here and now, father?

I’m afraid, father, your grief has made your tongue wander about of its own accord.

Theseus His tone implies that he blames Hippolytus of being an untrue friend.

There should be some way of knowing, of proving, which man is true and which is false. To show clearly the true friend from the false one.

And each man should own two voices, one of them to be true and the other as it wills; and then the voice of truth would convict the other of its falsehood and so we would never be deceived!

Hippolytus Father! 932

Has someone in our family whispered in your ear some accusation against me?

Am I to suffer for something I have not done?

Your words are baffling, father! They are too hard for my mind to understand.

Theseus The boldness of the mortal mind! How far does it extend? Where does its arrogance, its shame end?

Because if it burgeons on endlessly with every new generation, if each successive man surpasses his predecessor in evil, then the gods must build yet another earth upon this earth to fit all those who are born bereft of virtue. 940

Ha! Look at this man here!

My son! The product of my own loins! And yet he has disgraced my bridal bed.

This dead woman here has convicted him completely! He is a man of shame. The accusation is clearly made.

Hippolytus turns to walk away

Come now, turn and face your father! Give me your eye!

No, don’t worry about polluting me now. I am already polluted by your presence, the presence of one who has shed blood. My pollution is beyond redemption.

So, come, turn and face me!

Hippolytus turns towards his father

Well then, are you the man who goes about in the company of gods, away from us, mere mortals? Are you such a rare mortal? Full of virtue and chastity and free of sin?

Oh, I’m not in the slightest way convinced by all of this boasting of yours and the gods are not such fools as not to be able to see what you’re truly like. 950

Go on, then, by all means, spout out all you want about your vegetarian diet like a quack. By all means, let Orpheus be your master! Enjoy, no, revere, if you so wish, all his idle musings, all of his many books.

You have been caught out red handed!

Citizens, I warn you all!

Have nothing to do with such men! They will trick you with their holy-sounding words, only so that they can conjure up against you, deeds of shame!

Look there!

Yes, she is dead!

Do you think this fact will save you?

No, murderer! It will not! Because this fact is the very fact that will convict you!

Waves the tablet angrily at Hippolytus

What oaths, what arguments could there be, you evil man, what could you possibly say that could yield more power than this tablet? Where is there more powerful proof than this? Where is there proof enough to save you from the charge of murder? 960

Will your argument be that she hated you? Will I be that a bastard son is always regarded as the enemy of the pure-bred? Will that be your defence?

Do you think of her such a poor merchant, then, as to trade her own life, the thing she values the most, with something as worthless as mere hatred, the hatred of you?

Or will you argue that evil resides only in women but never in men?

Ha! I know of men who, once Aphrodite takes a hold of their minds and shakes them about for a bit, they are far less stable than women. Their heads spin into utter befuddlement. And their maleness, in fact, gives them an advantage over women.

Why waste my breath arguing with you when the body of this dead woman, the very proof of your evil deed, is right here?

Leave this land immediately!

Go off into exile and never return to this land, this land which was founded by the divine Athena herself! Go and never approach any other land ruled by the might of my spear either!

Let it not be said by anyone that in this affair I am proven to be weaker than you, or else the Isthmian Sinis will also say that I have never killed him and that I have merely boasted that I have, and so too, with the rocks of Skiron by the sea. They, too will say the same.

Chorus When things can change so quickly, from excellent to dreadful, how can any mortal say he’s ever truly happy? 981

Hippolytus Father!

This intense anger in your heart is dreadful!

If you had examined the issue more thoroughly, father, you would have seen that though your words were good, your facts were lacking.

Father, I am more skilled in making speeches to small crowds of my own age group than to the general public. It’s only natural.

And then, those who are found by the wise folks to be fools, are seen by the mob as persuasive orators.

But I am forced by this disaster that has fell upon me, to loosen my tongue and speak! But let me begin with your first attack against me. 990

You said you would crush me, crush me, even before I had a chance to speak even a word in my defence!

Here is the light of the sun and here is the earth and upon this sun lit earth there is no man -deny it all you wish- there is not a single man, who is more moral than I am!

To begin with, I know the importance of showing reverence to the gods. Then I also know how to make friends only with those who will do no evil whatsoever, who would feel great shame in even suggesting to others to commit evil or to do evil themselves.

And, father, I don’t pretend to be one thing to those of my friends who are present and yet another to those who are absent. 1000

The very thing which causes you enough anger that you want to destroy me, the very thing that you thing you’ve caught me at red handed, I am innocent. To this day, my body is unstained by sex. I know nothing about this act except for what I have heard in talk or seen in paintings, paintings that I care not to look at either, because I have a virgin soul.

But perhaps you are indeed not convinced that I am pure. Well then, show me the proof you have that I am not so. What is it that you think has corrupted me?

Her body? Do you think hers was more beautiful than that of all the rest of the women in the world, or do you think I wanted to marry her so as to rule your kingdom and inherit your estate? What a fool such thinking would have made of me! Totally without a wit! 1009

To be pure and to be a king at the same time? Do you think that would be such a pleasant thing? Not in the slightest! The crowns of tyranny corrupt the minds of those who love to wear them. I prefer the crowns of victory in the sporting events of Greece but as a citizen, I am quite content to be a runner up and enjoy the blessings that come with the company of my noble friends. That would give me enough freedom to do as I please, free of danger, something that I consider to be far more enjoyable than the crown of a king.

There is only one more thing left for me to mention. You’ve heard all the rest. 1021

Had there been a trial and had I a witness to speak on my character and had this woman been alive at this trial and had there been a careful examination of the facts, then you would surely learn who the real guilty person is.

But all I can do as things are now, is to swear by Zeus, god of all oaths and by the earth beneath my feet, that I have never touched your wife, that I have never ever wished to do so and that the thought had never crossed my mind.

And if I am lying then let me die in dishonour, without a name, without a city, without a shelter, an exile ever-wandering all over the earth!

And, if I am guilty, let no sea, nor soil receive my flesh once I am dead! 1030

Perhaps she has taken her own life out of some fear she had. That, I don’t know.

Beyond this, it is improper for me to speak.

She behaved virtuously, though she could not have been virtuous, whereas I who am virtuous have used my virtue to my disadvantage.

Chorus The oaths you have made to the gods are adequate enough to guarantee your innocence.

Chorus More than adequate!

Theseus Well then!

Is this man not a weaver of charms and spells? Is he not a trickster?

Such confidence! Such an even disposition!

He thinks he will seduce my soul, the soul of the father he has dishonoured!

Hippolytus I agree with your anger, father because were I your father and you my son, and had you dared defile my wife, I wouldn’t have just send you into exile but I would have killed you! 1041

Theseus How fitting these words are, coming from you!

But no, you will not die like this. This is the law you’ve declared for yourself, so, no, you will not die like this. A quick death is a merciful death for a miserable wretch like you.

No, your death will come as an exile, sent away from your ancestral land. You will go off wondering as an exile, your miserable life draining away over foreign soils.

That is the punishment of a disrespectful man.

Hippolytus What? Will you not at least wait long enough for some evidence of my innocence appear? Will you banish me from this land immediately? 1051

Theseus Yes!

And if I could, I would banish you to the furthest reaches of the world.

That’s how much I detest you!

Hippolytus But, will you not examine any evidence? Will you not check my oaths, ask any seers?

Will you send away without a trial?

Theseus Shaking the tablet at Hippolytus

This tablet needs no seers.

It has made a very convincing trial of your guilt.

And I don’t care at all about what the birds of omen, that fly about over my head say!

Hippolytus Oh, gods! 1060

Since you, whom I worship will destroy me, why then do I not open my mouth?

But no! It’ll serve no purpose. I shall not persuade those who should be persuaded and I would have also broken the oaths I’ve sworn!

All this piety of yours is unbearable!

Leave your father’s land immediately!

Hippolytus But where can I go, father?

Oh, how sad this is!

How will anyone ever offer me a shelter when I’m exiled under this charge?

Theseus You will find shelter in the house of people who love defilers of bridal beds, people who stay at home all day planning deeds of evil.

Hippolytus Your insults father have stabbed deep into my heart! 1070

To know that you think of me as evil makes me want to shed tears!

Theseus You should have shed these tears and thought more carefully before you had planned to perform this outrage against your father’s wife.

Hippolytus Oh, Palace!

If only your walls could speak and reveal my innocence!

Theseus Now that’s a clever tactic! Ask the dumb walls to stand up for you when all along, the truth, though also silent, lies right here!  Indicating Phaedra.

Here is the proof of your evil deeds!

Hippolytus Ah!

Gods, split me in two so that I can stand across from myself and weep at my own misery!

Theseus How fitting! 1080

You’d much rather stand and worship your own self than show respect towards your father!

Hippolytus Oh, poor mother!

Oh, what a miserable existence I live!

May none of my friends ever suffer the existence of a bastard son!

Theseus Servants!

Why haven’t you thrown this man out yet?

Have you not heard me telling you for such a long time now, that this man is no son of mine. He is a stranger.

Hippolytus If any of you lay a hand on me you’ll regret it!

Here’s your chance father. Show me that you have the heart to throw me out of this land with your own hands!

Theseus I’ll be doing just that if you don’t do as you’re told. My heart will not feel sorry by your banishment!

Hippolytus So, this is the end then. Miserable Fate! 1090

Impossible Fate! I have the truth yet I can not reveal it!

Well then, Artemis, Leto’s own daughter.

You are the god, most dear to my heart!

You are the god I have hunted with and whose company I have enjoyed.

Now, Artemis, I must leave this glorious Athens and become an exile!

Oh, Athens! City and soil of Erechtheus, farewell!

Soil of Troezen! What countless blessing you provide to a young man as he grows up!

Let me take one last look at you before I bid you farewell!

Come, friends! Escort me out of this land and bid me farewell!

Come, say good bye to the most virtuous man you’ll ever see, even though my father does not seem to think so!

Exit Hippolytus and friends SL,

Exit Theseus into the palace

Chorus The thought that the gods care for us mortals sends away all my sadness but if I look for it, if I look for evidence of this care in the deeds and fortunes of mortals, I find none. One minute you see one thing and the next a thing that’s totally its opposite. A man’s life changes constantly. 1104

Chorus Oh, how I wish that the gods would answer my prayer and grant me a Fate that is replete with prosperity and a soul free of sadness. 1111

Let me not be stubborn in my views nor also be ever-shifting.

And let not my mood be stiff and unreceptive to the new things that each dawn brings. Let it be willing to receive each dawn’s new blessing.

Chorus But my mind is now thoroughly confused. 1120

What I have just seen is not what I have expected.

Chorus The brightest star of Greece– we all saw this, we saw it with our own eyes!

The brightest star of Greece was banished from his own land by his own father!

His own father’s anger!

Chorus Oh, you golden sands of our city’s shores!

Chorus And you, dense woods where, with his swift hounds and the goddess Artemis, he hunted and slew wild beasts.

Chorus Poor boy! 1131

The horses, Hippolytus!

You’ll never train your team of Venetian steeds for the chariot races again!

There you were, thundering along the racecourse around Limna, jumping from the back one onto the back of the other, tightening your legs hard around their bare flanks!

Chorus And the music, Hippolytus!

The music that never slumbered, ever-singing beneath those lyre strings of yours!

That music will now fall silent in your father’s palace!

Chorus And the garlands, Hippolytus!

The fallen logs and the rocks, those resting spots in the green precincts of Artemis, Leto’s daughter, will miss your garlands.

Chorus And the girls, Hippolytus! 1140

The girls who fought over your love will stop their rivalry, now that you’re an exile!

Chorus And I, Hippolytus!

I shall live out the rest of my life in tears!

I, who have become unfortunate because of your misfortune.

Chorus Oh, mother of the boy!

Why ever did you give birth to him?

Chorus Gods!

I am so angry with you!

Chorus And you, Graces of marriage!

Why do you send the poor boy away from his land for no reason at all?

He has committed no wrong!

Chorus Indicating behind the wings of SL 1151

I see one of the boy’s servants rushing towards the palace.

Chorus His face looks very sad!

Enter Messenger

Messenger Women, where is the king? Where do I go to find Theseus?

Is he in the Palace? Tell me!

Enter Theseus from the palace

Chorus Here he is now.

Messenger Theseus!

I have brought you news that will cause you and the rest of the people of Athens and the rest of Troezen, great concern!

Theseus What sort of news? Has something dreadful happened our two neighbouring cities? 1160

Messenger My lord, Hippolytus is dead –or, rather, at the very edge of the sun’s light.

Theseus Oh, yes? And who killed him? No doubt some poor husband whose wife he defiled and turned against him!

Messenger No, my lord.

His own chariot has killed him. That, with the help of your curse. The one you uttered in your prayer to your father, Poseidon, god of the sea.

Theseus Oh, yes!

Thank you gods!

Thank you, Poseidon! You have heard my prayer because you are truly my father!

Tell me, man, how did he die? How did the sword of Justice strike this man, this man who has dishonored his own father?

Messenger We were near the wave-torn shore, grooming our horses, brushing their manes, when a messenger came and told us that Hippolytus was no longer allowed to walk upon this land because you’ve had the poor man banished. This news made us shed many tears. Then Hippolytus himself appeared at the shore, followed by a whole lot of his friends and joined us in our groans of pain. 1173

Eventually, he stopped crying and said, “why am I so distressed over this? It is my duty to obey my father’s words. Come, friends, yoke the horses to my chariot. This city is no longer mine.” 1181

At that, we all jumped and, in no time at all, we had the horses readied and brought the chariot around beside our master. He took the reins from the rails and planted his sandaled feet onto the chariot’s boards.

Then he first spread his hands wide, palms upward in prayer and said, “Oh, Zeus, may I die, if I am evil but, whether I die or live to see the light of day, let it be known by my father that he has treated me unfairly.” 1190

And with those words, he picked up the whip and cracked it at the four horses.

We, his servants, followed close by, on foot, along the roads that lead directly to Argos and Epidaurus.

Eventually we arrived at some deserted spot, outside our territory, near the shores of a headland that’s jutting out into the Saronic Sea. Just there we heard a tremendous, horrible groan, roaring up through the earth, a groan that made us shudder, a groan that sounded like Zeus’ thunderbolts! It got the horses shooting their heads and ears up towards the heavens and us servants terrified. We couldn’t work our where that horrible noise came from; that is, until we looked towards the wave-beaten shore. That’s when we saw a huge wave, reaching up high and deep into the sky. So high was this wave that I couldn’t look past it to see the shores of Skiron, nor the Isthmus and not even the rock of Asclepius! 1200

And then this wave just surged up and swelled and splashed about and spewed out a whole lot of foam which came out onto the shore where we and the chariot with the four horses were. And then this huge wave, suddenly swelled up even more and became a ghastly bull. A vicious bull whose ferocious bellow filled the whole land. The roar echoed everywhere around us. 1210

It terrified us all.

Our eyes couldn’t bear to look at it. It was a dreadful sight to behold.

The horses panicked immediately but my master, who knew everything there is to know about horses, tugged at the reins tightly and pulled them towards him like a sailor pulls his oars, dropping the weight of his body back against the pull of the straps. 1220

The steeds, though, took the iron-forged bit between their jaws and charged violently away, as if their master’s hand or the reins or the beautiful chariot did not exist!

Then, whenever he tried to steer the four horses towards a softer ground, the huge bull would appear right in front of them and frighten them towards the opposite direction.

Or, if the horses, in their frenzy, turned towards the rocks, the bull came right up close to them and guided them towards those rocks. It did this until the chariot was toppled and thrown up against those rocks, the rims of its wheels smashing against them. 1230

It was a horrible mess. Every bit of the chariot spun wildly into the air. Wheel naves and axel rods, every part of it flew up in all directions and the poor man got himself all tangled up with the mess of straps and dragged along until he fell against a rock, smashing his head and his flesh torn to bits.

Ah, the things the poor man yelled to those horses! Things that were painful to hear.

“Stop,” he called out to them. “Stop, don’t kill me! You were raised in my stables!” And then he yelled, “Father, what a miserable curse you’ve made against me!” 1240

And then, in utter desperation, he called out, “Will no one come to rescue the most virtuous of men?”

Of course, many of us wanted to do that but we couldn’t. Our feet weren’t fast enough.

And then, I don’t know how, but he was cut loose from the straps and fell on the ground, barely enough breath in him to stay alive.

Then all the horses as well as that monstrous bull somehow vanished! I don’t know where they disappeared in that mountainous country.

My lord, I know I am only a slave in your house and I shouldn’t speak out of turn but, my lord, I can never believe that your son is guilty of committing any evil deeds. I wouldn’t believe that even if the whole female race hanged itself and if they had covered all the wood of Mount Ida with writing, accusing him! 1249

I know for certain, that Hippolytus is a virtuous man!

Chorus Ah! New misfortunes have come!

Chorus What must happen will happen.There is no escape from Fate.

Theseus At first, your words have pleased me because I hate the man but now, because he is my son and because I have respect for the gods, now, hearing about these misfortunes of his, gives me neither pleasure nor concern.

Messenger Well, then, my lord, what would you have us do to please you? Should we bring the poor boy here? Tell me what you think but I suggest that you should not act too harshly towards your unfortunate son. 1261

Theseus Bring him here.

I want him here, to look at him in the face and see him try to deny that he has polluted my wedding bed, eye-to-eye!

I shall give him proof of his guilt with my words and with the deeds of the gods!

Exit Messenger

The chorus gathers around the statue of Aphrodite

Chorus Oh, Aphrodite!

You can lead the direction of the unbending minds of both gods and mortals!

Chorus And Eros, is with you, Aphrodite. 1270

All around you, goddess, darting about with his swift wings and his plumes, rich in colour!

Chorus He flies over the brine of the roaring seas and over the earth and enchants those whose love-frenzied hearts burn with desire.

Chorus The god with the golden wings enchants the very hearts of all the wild beasts that live in the mountains and in the oceans and all those that the earth nurtures and the sun’s rays burn!

Chorus Beasts and men! 1280

But you, Aphrodite, you alone, rule!

You alone are their Queen!

Enter Artemis dressed as a huntress, with a bow and a quiver of arrows.

Artemis Theseus! Son of king Aegeas!

I command you to listen!

I am Artemis, Leto’s daughter.

Miserable man! How is it you enjoy such things? You have killed your own son in a most sinful way!

You have heeded your wife’s false words about things that you have not seen with your own eyes. But your sin is obvious.

How is it that you have not yet hidden yourself with the deepest shame, in the darkest recesses of the earth?

Or you could turn into a flying beast and fly far away from this crime. 1290

There is no place for you in a life lived by good men.

Listen to the nature of your misfortunes, Theseus! They will cause you great pain to hear but will give me no pleasure to tell them.

I have come here to tell you in clear terms, Theseus, that your son’s heart is free of any guilt and that you must bury him with his reputation intact; and to tell you of your wife’s madness –or, perhaps, nobleness.

She was stung by this goddesses’ prick, a thing most hated by us who delight in virginity, and so she fell in love with your son, Hippolytus. 1301

Then, when with her own will, the poor woman tried to conquer Aphrodite, she was destroyed quite by accident, by her nurse’s plan who revealed the truth about her illness to your son, after she had made him swear an oath to secrecy.

Hippolytus, however, quite rightly did not heed the nurse’s words but nor, being a virtuous man, did he break his oath to her, though he had to endure your anger against him.

Your wife, however, afraid that she’d be questioned on the matter, wrote that letter of lies and so, by that deceit, destroyed your son by convincing you with her lies.

Theseus Oh, no! 1313

Artemis Do the facts hurt you, Theseus?

Wait then and here the rest of them. They will hurt you even more.

Your father has given you a gift of three curses, Theseus. Curses whose results are guaranteed. You do know that, don’t you?

Well, being the evil man that you are, Theseus, you’ve decided to use one of these curses against your own son, instead of some enemy of yours. Your father, then, Poseidon, the god of the sea, has done what he had to do, since he loves you and since has made the promise.

But, to his view and mine, you acted badly. You’ve not examined the matter at all, nor asked for the opinion of the prophets, not even let time judge it but rushed quickly to apply the deadly curses upon your son. 1320

Theseus Oh, goddess! May I be destroyed also!

Artemis Theseus, though you’ve committed dreadful sins, there’s still hope for you to gain pardon.

It was Aphrodite who, wanting to vend her rage, has caused all this to happen.

Now, the rule among us gods is this: None of us will go against the will of another.

Instead, we will stand aside. 

And understand this well, Theseus: Had I not been afraid of Zeus, I would have never fallen to the shame of allowing the mortal I loved the most to die. 1331

You are acquitted of the charge of being evil because you were ignorant and because, by her death, your wife has erased all hope for you of testing the truth of her words and so she has convinced you.

Well, then. These sorrows fall mainly upon you, Theseus but I, too, feel the grief because we, gods, find no joy in the death of the pious. But as for the sinners, we destroy them, along with their offspring and their houses.

Enter Hippolytus, gravely hurt and supported by his servants.

Chorus Ah! 1342

Here’s the poor boy!

Chorus Look how bruised and beaten his young flesh is!

Chorus And his blond head!

Chorus Oh, the mountain of sorrows that have fallen upon these houses!

Chorus The heavens have sent a double misery upon these palaces!

Hippolytus Ah! Miserable Fate!

Unjust curses delivered unjustly by an unjust father! I am utterly destroyed!

Oh, how my smashed body aches! 1350

Pains spin through my head! Shudders dash across my brain!

Stop, friends!

Let me rest my body! I am exhausted!

Ah! What wretched pain is this!

Ah those horrible horses! Horrible chariot beasts! I have fed them with my own hands! They have destroyed me! They have killed me!

Gently, friends, gently! By the gods, I beg you, friends, careful of my wounds!

Who’s here? Who’s by my right side? Slowly, gently, men. Lift me gently. Evenly across my whole mangled body, friends! 1360

Miserable man! A man mistakenly cursed by his own father.

Do you see all this, Zeus? Do you this man, Zeus? Do you see how this god-fearing man, this most chaste of men is dying?

I am destroyed!

In vain, I have spent my whole life working hard at respecting all men.

Ah! What pain is this! It spreads throughout my whole body! 1370

Ah! Miserable man!

Pain leave this miserable man and let Death come to heal him!

Kill this miserable man!

How I wish a sharp sword would cut me asunder and put my life to an endless rest!

Oh, miserable curse! My father’s curse!

The curse and some blood-spilling evil, committed by my ancestors, long dead, family, could wait no longer and has erupted upon me! 1380

But why Zeus?

Why upon me? Why upon an innocent man?

What is there for me to say to free my life from this pain, this gruesome disaster?

Oh, how I wish!

How I wish that Hades’ dark night, Death’s Fate, came to take me. To put this miserable wretch to sleep!

Artemis You poor man!

How dire the disaster to which you are yoked!

But it was the nobility of your mind that has brought this destruction upon you!

Hippolytus Suddenly noticing Artemis 1391

Ah! A heavenly fragrance!

Though my misery is great, I feel your presence, goddess and the pain of my body has softened.

The goddess Artemis is here!

Artemis Yes, my poor man. The goddess dearest to your heart is here!

Hippolytus Oh, my lady!

Do you see the wretched state I am in?

Artemis I do, Hippolytus but divine law forbids me to shed tears.

Hippolytus Ah, my goddess!

You no longer have your fellow huntsman and servant.

Artemis No, Hippolytus but even though you will die, you will still have my love.

Hippolytus There is no one to care for your horses and your statue, my lady!

Artemis No, Hippolytus because this was the will of Aphrodite. 1400

Now I know what power has killed me!

Artemis Her honour was attacked and she hated your chastity, Hippolytus.

Hippolytus I can understand it now. One power has destroyed all three of us!

Artemis Yes, you, your father and then your father’s wife, was the third.

Hippolytus And so I moan for my father’s fate as well!

Artemis Theseus was deceived by a god.

Hippolytus Poor father!

How terrible is your misfortune!

Theseus This is the end for me, my son!

I have no joy left in life.

Hippolytus You have made a mistake father and I grieve more for you than I do for me.

Theseus If only I could die in your place my son! 1410

Hippolytus Oh, what bitterness your father’s gifts have brought upon us!

Theseus If only they had never reached my lips!

Hippolytus But what then? Your anger was so great father, that you would have still killed me.

Theseus Yes, son. The gods have twisted my reason.

If only mortals could curse the gods -

Artemis Interrupts Hippolytus

Leave it at that, Hippolytus.Because even in the darkness of the earth where you are buried, Aphrodite’s anger which has broken over you, your chastity and virtue will be rewarded by many and great honours.

I, personally, will see that justice will be granted to you with these unerring arrows of mine, by shooting them at another mortal, whoever is the dearest to her. 1420

And to you, you poor, suffering man, for these pains you have endured, I shall grant you the highest honours in the city of Troezen.

Unmarried girls will cut their hair before their wedding and through the passage of many years, you will harvest an abundance of tears of their grief, for you.

Virgins will cherish you for ever and they will sing about you and keep the memory of Phaedra’s love for you alive.

Turning to Theseus 1430

But you, son of old Aegeas, take now your son, Hippolytus, in your arms and hold him close to you. You were not responsible for his death because it is only to be expected that men will make dire mistakes when the gods declare it so.

Back to Hippolytus

And you, Hippolytus. I urge you not to hate your father because you know well Fate by which you were destroyed.

And now I must leave because it is unlawful for me to look upon the dead, or to pollute my sights with the final breaths of the dying and I can see, poor man, you are already near that calamity.

Farewell, Hippolytus!

Exit Artemis

Hippolytus Farewell to you, too, blessed virgin! May you quickly forget our days together and, since you ask this of me, I shall hold no animosity towards my father. I have always done as you have asked of me. 1440

Father, take my body and lay it straight. The darkness is coming over my eyes!

Theseus My, son, my poor son! What are you doing to me?

Hippolytus Father, I am gone. I see the gates of Hades!

Theseus Will you leave me like this, my son, with my soul polluted after spilling your blood?

Hippolytus No, father. I set you free of any guilt for this murder.

Theseus What did you say son? Do you set me free of murder? 1450

Hippolytus Let the huntress Artemis be my witness!

Theseus Oh, my darling son! How magnanimous you are to your father!

Hippolytus Father, farewell to you, too and may your life be filled with joy!

Theseus Oh, what a virtuous and brave soul!

Hippolytus Then pray father that you have legitimate sons like me.

Theseus Courage, my son. Don’t abandon me!

Hippolytus My courage has left me, father. I am finished.

Quickly, now, cover my face with my cloak!

Hippolytus dies.

Theseus covers his son’s face and after a few moments of contemplation rises and addresses the chorus

Theseus Glorious land of Erechtheus and Pallas Athena! 1459

You have lost a great man!

And I, Aphrodite! In my misery, I shall remember well all the pains you have delivered us!

Exit Theseus

Chorus This unexpected grief has fallen upon all the citizens.

The tears will fall in floods for a long time because the grief of the famous is mightier.

End of Euripides’ “HIPPOLYTUS”

Note: The French playwright Racine was inspired by this play to write “Phaedra.” You may wish to read Tony Kline’s translation of this play into English  here and Seneca’s “Phaedra” Translated by F.J. Miller  here