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Euripides, the youngest of the trio of great Greek tragedians was born at Salamis in 480 B.C., on the day when the Greeks won their momentous naval victory there over the fleet of the Persians. The precise social status of his parents is not clear but he received a good education, was early distinguished as an athlete, and showed talent in painting and oratory. He was a fellow student of Pericles, and his dramas show the influence of the philosophical ideas of Anaxagoras and of Socrates, with whom he was personally intimate. Like Socrates, he was accused of impiety, and this, along with domestic infelicity, has been supposed to afford a motive for his withdrawal from Athens, first to Magnesia and later to the court of Archelaues in Macedonia where he died in 406 B.C.Euripides's "Hippolytus" is the story of its title character, the son of Theseus and Hippolyta, who has scorn love and devoted himself to hunting and the Goddess of the hunt, Artemis. For this, Aphrodite, the Goddess of love has sought to destroy Hippolytus.
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First published January 1, 429
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Euripides
2,697books1,830followersEuripides (Greek: Ευιπίδης) (ca. 480 BC�406 BC) was a tragedian of classical Athens. Along with Aeschylus and Sophocles, he is one of the three ancient Greek tragedians for whom any plays have survived in full. Some ancient scholars attributed ninety-five plays to him, but the Suda says it was ninety-two at most. Of these, eighteen or nineteen have survived more or less complete (Rhesus is suspect). There are many fragments (some substantial) of most of his other plays. More of his plays have survived intact than those of Aeschylus and Sophocles together, partly because his popularity grew as theirs declined—he became, in the Hellenistic Age, a cornerstone of ancient literary education, along with Homer, Demosthenes, and Menander.
Euripides is identified with theatrical innovations that have profoundly influenced drama down to modern times, especially in the representation of traditional, mythical heroes as ordinary people in extraordinary circumstances. This new approach led him to pioneer developments that later writers adapted to comedy, some of which are characteristic of romance. He also became "the most tragic of poets", focusing on the inner lives and motives of his characters in a way previously unknown. He was "the creator of ... that cage which is the theatre of William Shakespeare's Othello, Jean Racine's Phèdre, of Henrik Ibsen and August Strindberg," in which "imprisoned men and women destroy each other by the intensity of their loves and hates". But he was also the literary ancestor of comic dramatists as diverse as Menander and George Bernard Shaw.
His contemporaries associated him with Socrates as a leader of a decadent intellectualism. Both were frequently lampooned by comic poets such as Aristophanes. Socrates was eventually put on trial and executed as a corrupting influence. Ancient biographies hold that Euripides chose a voluntary exile in old age, dying in Macedonia, but recent scholarship casts doubt on these sources.
Euripides is identified with theatrical innovations that have profoundly influenced drama down to modern times, especially in the representation of traditional, mythical heroes as ordinary people in extraordinary circumstances. This new approach led him to pioneer developments that later writers adapted to comedy, some of which are characteristic of romance. He also became "the most tragic of poets", focusing on the inner lives and motives of his characters in a way previously unknown. He was "the creator of ... that cage which is the theatre of William Shakespeare's Othello, Jean Racine's Phèdre, of Henrik Ibsen and August Strindberg," in which "imprisoned men and women destroy each other by the intensity of their loves and hates". But he was also the literary ancestor of comic dramatists as diverse as Menander and George Bernard Shaw.
His contemporaries associated him with Socrates as a leader of a decadent intellectualism. Both were frequently lampooned by comic poets such as Aristophanes. Socrates was eventually put on trial and executed as a corrupting influence. Ancient biographies hold that Euripides chose a voluntary exile in old age, dying in Macedonia, but recent scholarship casts doubt on these sources.
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October 5, 2019
I went to a performance of Phaidra and Hippolytos this week, and it left me confused.
Being familiar with Euripides' and Racine's plays, I can't stop thinking about the idea behind the changes that were put on stage in this modern adaptation. The main dramatic problem in the original myth is that Hippolytos rejects Phaedra, and her later actions all derive from the fact that her burning love is unrequited. However, in the performance this week, they clearly and visibly had quite brutal on-stage sexual intercourse. Why? What does it do to the Greek myth to interpret it in this new (opposite) light? If the "guilt" is shared, the situation must be entirely different.
In Christa Wolf's brilliant take on , the question of guilt is moved from the traditional revenge to more complex power structures, including a deliberate destruction of Medea's reputation in order to justify her brutal removal from her position. Is that what happens to Phaedra too if she shares a sexual experience with Hippolytos. Is she more or less guilty for having completed the act? Hippolytos, in any case, does not remain chaste and innocent, even though he clearly is Phaedra's victim. Is this a #metoo take on myth? With a male victim who gives in to power play against his will and then carries the burden without daring to speak?
I am still not sure whether I liked the performance or not, but I am entirely sure that Greek plays, and their eternal reinterpretations by generations of storytellers, are the stuff that humans are made of, and remade of, over and over again.
We live and breathe Greek tragedy!
Being familiar with Euripides' and Racine's plays, I can't stop thinking about the idea behind the changes that were put on stage in this modern adaptation. The main dramatic problem in the original myth is that Hippolytos rejects Phaedra, and her later actions all derive from the fact that her burning love is unrequited. However, in the performance this week, they clearly and visibly had quite brutal on-stage sexual intercourse. Why? What does it do to the Greek myth to interpret it in this new (opposite) light? If the "guilt" is shared, the situation must be entirely different.
In Christa Wolf's brilliant take on , the question of guilt is moved from the traditional revenge to more complex power structures, including a deliberate destruction of Medea's reputation in order to justify her brutal removal from her position. Is that what happens to Phaedra too if she shares a sexual experience with Hippolytos. Is she more or less guilty for having completed the act? Hippolytos, in any case, does not remain chaste and innocent, even though he clearly is Phaedra's victim. Is this a #metoo take on myth? With a male victim who gives in to power play against his will and then carries the burden without daring to speak?
I am still not sure whether I liked the performance or not, but I am entirely sure that Greek plays, and their eternal reinterpretations by generations of storytellers, are the stuff that humans are made of, and remade of, over and over again.
We live and breathe Greek tragedy!
February 6, 2018
Μοναδικός.
Ουδέν περαιτέρω σχόλιο.
Ουδέν περαιτέρω σχόλιο.
May 10, 2018
For Euripides, Hippolytus is an intentional and accordingly annoying celibate, whose chastity offends Aphrodite ("All those that live and see the light of the sun / from Atlas' Pillars to the tide of Pontus / are mine to rule" (ll.3-5)). Apparently one is subject to nemesis if one lives out the hubris of this no-fuckin' eidos zoe.
Nemesis in this case comes in the form of unlawful desire created in H's stepmom, Phaedra, who has married H's father, Theseus, who at the opening of this text had been off with his potentially heteronormative proverbial friendly friend Pirithous to kidnap Helen and Persephone; no one can accuse them of lacking ambition, I suppose. This kidnapping mission went cock-eyed in Tartarus, where they were trapped for years. One may accordingly not blame Phaedra if she needed to depend upon the kindness of xenos insofar as attentive lovers were in short supply in mythical Hellas. Because of this dearth, Phaedra is "afire with longing" (232), and her "body / is wracked and wasted" (274)--a "secret sickness" (293) to be disclosed to purported women only ("But if your troubles may be told to men, / speak, that a doctor may pronounce on it" (295-96)).
Luckily for her, H can hardly be thought of as xenos, so no big deal, right? H after all litters his speech with seductive ironies such as how he is "the seed of / Chastity" (ll. 80-81), which suggests his plausible skill as a practitioner of the erotic arts. Either way, the chorus regards it as "Pan's frenzy" or "Hecate's madness" (ll. 141-42), which perhaps suggests that it may in fact be a big deal after all. (I may be dead wrong about Hippolytus not being xenos, incidentally, to the extent that Phaedra is referring to him (an irresolvable ambiguity at the foundation of this text) when she says "Destruction light / upon the wife who herself plays the tempter / and stains her loyalty to her husband's bed / by dalliance with strangers" (407-410).)
P is instructed that there is "no remedy in silence" (298), which is the advice that triggers the tragedy here--P does not want to disclose her desire, as it is a "stain" (317) to be concealed (is it the desire, or the dalliance, supra, that is the stain, however? another irresolvable ambiguity)--but her interlocutors try to "force confession" (325). When asked "are you in love, my child? And who is he?" (350), P replies, non-responsively, "There is a man, ...his mother was an Amazon..." (351). Answered: "You mean Hippolytus?" (352); countered: "You have spoken it, not I" (353), which does not change the entire play--her silence is maintained and the action sets forth in the style of Three's Company thereafter--except in this case the salacious inferences of Mr. Roper just happen to be correct.
The chorus is too stupid to see that they have Mr. Ropered this thing, stating "you yourself / have dragged your ruin to the light" (366-67), which is emphatically false (unless the nurse is a slave, whose body acts out the will of the despot and is imputed to same--cf. Agamben on Aristotle here)--though it indicates that the underlying desire is less the problem than the disclosure of it. P understands the problem of disclosure (which comes across in agambenian terms almost) :
Anyway, after promising P that H won't be told, the nurse tells H and that leads inexorably to everyone being dead. Misogynist H, whose "tongue swore, but my mind was still unpledged" (l. 612), endorsing thereby a mind/body dichotomy worthy of Epictetus, also regards the disclosure as the problem: "I'll go to a running stream and pour its waters / into my ear to purge away the filth" (l. 653-54). Charming! P's counterstroke is to accuse H of crime in her dying declaration. Artemis appears post-catastrophe to explain to the survivors just how dumb they are (if she had hurried up before everyone died, there wouldn't be a tragedy here). Good times for all.
When Seneca takes up this narrative, he strips it of the theophanic prologue and epilogue, and thereby allows the human persons to expose and conclude the premises of the conflict. The characters incessantly refer to the deities--right away Hippolytus praises his 'diva virago' (l. 54).
We note the connection to the setting developed in Seneca's Medea, to the extent that Phaedra here refers to her home as "the vast sea's mistress, whose countless vessels along every coast have held the deep, yea, whatever lands, e'en to Assyria" (ll. 85-87)--the insistence upon a free and open maritime zone, the basis of Roman military logistics.
Also noted is the connection to Seneca's Hercules Furens, insofar as Phaedra's critical self-assessment (i.e., anagnorisis, but very early) leads her to "Why this mad love of forest glades? [quid furens saltus amas] I recognize my wretched mother's fatal curse; her love and mine know how to sin in forest depths" (ll. 112-14). But of course the furens of Heracles leads to him to murder his kids, rather than try to seduce them.
Phaedra's nurse in this version is upfront about the "monstrous passion" (l. 142) and "impious intercourse" (l. 160)--it is a "deed which no barbaric land has ever done, neither the Getae, wandering on their plains, nor the inhospitable Taurians [i.e., where Iphigenia went post-sacrifice], nor the scattered Scythians" (ll. 166-68). By contrast with Euripides, Seneca has Phaedra ratify this recitation: "I know, nurse, that what thou sayest is true" (ll. 178-79). (The nurse chides Phaedra with the spectre of "strange prodigies" (l. 175), asking "Why do monsters cease? [cur monstra cessant] (l. 174), which can also mean "why do the warnings stop?"--but the answer in either event is that Heracles killed all the chthonic monsters already.) Nurse otherwise is standard stoic: "Control thy passion" (l. 255)--until she agrees to assist Phaedra to "ensnare his mind" (l. 416), which includes encouraging young Hippolytus to "let Bacchus unburden thy weighty cares" (l. 445).
Hippolytus is too rustic for all that, preferring the "free and innocent" life of the country (l. 482), the "ancient ways." It is a political point for him: "no slave is he of kings" (490), but he also fears ochlocracy ("no shouting populace, no mob, faithless to good men" (ll. 485-86)). He is a true conservative insofar as he is nostalgic for "the primal age," "no blind love of gold," "not yet did rash vessels plough the sea: each man knew only his native waters" (ll. 525 et seq.). He is sufficiently obnoxious to be anti-agriculture (l. 538), preferring a pastoral or even hunter-gatherer economy. "Unholy passion [furens] for gain broke up this peaceful life" (l. 540).
Moreover, the nasty conservatism comes out as a regular misogyny, as he highlights that "alone, Medea, will prove that women are an accursed race" (ll. 563-64): "I abominate them all [detestor omnes]" (l. 566). So, yeah, totally setting up a meet-cute, wherein she offers to be his slave (l. 612), endorsing a nasty fungibility of persons doctrine because "Theseus' features I love" (l. 647), which she detects on Theseus' son. H responds with the promising flirtation of "O thou, who have outsinned the whole race of women, who hast dared a greater evil than thy monster-bearing mother" (ll. 687-88). At that point, P can't handle it any longer and threatens suicide, and H runs away into the forest. The Nurse here reverses Euripides by reporting to everyone that H tried to ravish P (l. 725) (just as Seneca also reversed the role of who reported her desire to Hippolytus, NB). Phaedra, for her part, ratifies the lie (l. 900 et seq.), and Theseus concludes that "The breed reverts to its progenitors and debased blood reproduces the primal stock" (ll. 906-08), referring to his son's alleged racial 'furens.'
Thence it all shakes out as we know, but with Senecan gore mixed with stoic moralisms. Gotta love that. On to Racine.
Nemesis in this case comes in the form of unlawful desire created in H's stepmom, Phaedra, who has married H's father, Theseus, who at the opening of this text had been off with his potentially heteronormative proverbial friendly friend Pirithous to kidnap Helen and Persephone; no one can accuse them of lacking ambition, I suppose. This kidnapping mission went cock-eyed in Tartarus, where they were trapped for years. One may accordingly not blame Phaedra if she needed to depend upon the kindness of xenos insofar as attentive lovers were in short supply in mythical Hellas. Because of this dearth, Phaedra is "afire with longing" (232), and her "body / is wracked and wasted" (274)--a "secret sickness" (293) to be disclosed to purported women only ("But if your troubles may be told to men, / speak, that a doctor may pronounce on it" (295-96)).
Luckily for her, H can hardly be thought of as xenos, so no big deal, right? H after all litters his speech with seductive ironies such as how he is "the seed of / Chastity" (ll. 80-81), which suggests his plausible skill as a practitioner of the erotic arts. Either way, the chorus regards it as "Pan's frenzy" or "Hecate's madness" (ll. 141-42), which perhaps suggests that it may in fact be a big deal after all. (I may be dead wrong about Hippolytus not being xenos, incidentally, to the extent that Phaedra is referring to him (an irresolvable ambiguity at the foundation of this text) when she says "Destruction light / upon the wife who herself plays the tempter / and stains her loyalty to her husband's bed / by dalliance with strangers" (407-410).)
P is instructed that there is "no remedy in silence" (298), which is the advice that triggers the tragedy here--P does not want to disclose her desire, as it is a "stain" (317) to be concealed (is it the desire, or the dalliance, supra, that is the stain, however? another irresolvable ambiguity)--but her interlocutors try to "force confession" (325). When asked "are you in love, my child? And who is he?" (350), P replies, non-responsively, "There is a man, ...his mother was an Amazon..." (351). Answered: "You mean Hippolytus?" (352); countered: "You have spoken it, not I" (353), which does not change the entire play--her silence is maintained and the action sets forth in the style of Three's Company thereafter--except in this case the salacious inferences of Mr. Roper just happen to be correct.
The chorus is too stupid to see that they have Mr. Ropered this thing, stating "you yourself / have dragged your ruin to the light" (366-67), which is emphatically false (unless the nurse is a slave, whose body acts out the will of the despot and is imputed to same--cf. Agamben on Aristotle here)--though it indicates that the underlying desire is less the problem than the disclosure of it. P understands the problem of disclosure (which comes across in agambenian terms almost) :
This is the deadly thing which devastatesThe transaction here is doubly stupid insofar as everyone recognizes the inferred underlying desire as alien: "Your case is not so extraordinary, / beyond thought or reason. The Goddess in her anger / has smitten you, and you are in love" (ll. 437-39).
well-ordered cities and the homes of men--
that's it, this art of oversubtle words.
It's not the words ringing delight in the ear
that one should speak, but those that have the power
to save their hearer's honorable name. (ll 486-91)
Anyway, after promising P that H won't be told, the nurse tells H and that leads inexorably to everyone being dead. Misogynist H, whose "tongue swore, but my mind was still unpledged" (l. 612), endorsing thereby a mind/body dichotomy worthy of Epictetus, also regards the disclosure as the problem: "I'll go to a running stream and pour its waters / into my ear to purge away the filth" (l. 653-54). Charming! P's counterstroke is to accuse H of crime in her dying declaration. Artemis appears post-catastrophe to explain to the survivors just how dumb they are (if she had hurried up before everyone died, there wouldn't be a tragedy here). Good times for all.
When Seneca takes up this narrative, he strips it of the theophanic prologue and epilogue, and thereby allows the human persons to expose and conclude the premises of the conflict. The characters incessantly refer to the deities--right away Hippolytus praises his 'diva virago' (l. 54).
We note the connection to the setting developed in Seneca's Medea, to the extent that Phaedra here refers to her home as "the vast sea's mistress, whose countless vessels along every coast have held the deep, yea, whatever lands, e'en to Assyria" (ll. 85-87)--the insistence upon a free and open maritime zone, the basis of Roman military logistics.
Also noted is the connection to Seneca's Hercules Furens, insofar as Phaedra's critical self-assessment (i.e., anagnorisis, but very early) leads her to "Why this mad love of forest glades? [quid furens saltus amas] I recognize my wretched mother's fatal curse; her love and mine know how to sin in forest depths" (ll. 112-14). But of course the furens of Heracles leads to him to murder his kids, rather than try to seduce them.
Phaedra's nurse in this version is upfront about the "monstrous passion" (l. 142) and "impious intercourse" (l. 160)--it is a "deed which no barbaric land has ever done, neither the Getae, wandering on their plains, nor the inhospitable Taurians [i.e., where Iphigenia went post-sacrifice], nor the scattered Scythians" (ll. 166-68). By contrast with Euripides, Seneca has Phaedra ratify this recitation: "I know, nurse, that what thou sayest is true" (ll. 178-79). (The nurse chides Phaedra with the spectre of "strange prodigies" (l. 175), asking "Why do monsters cease? [cur monstra cessant] (l. 174), which can also mean "why do the warnings stop?"--but the answer in either event is that Heracles killed all the chthonic monsters already.) Nurse otherwise is standard stoic: "Control thy passion" (l. 255)--until she agrees to assist Phaedra to "ensnare his mind" (l. 416), which includes encouraging young Hippolytus to "let Bacchus unburden thy weighty cares" (l. 445).
Hippolytus is too rustic for all that, preferring the "free and innocent" life of the country (l. 482), the "ancient ways." It is a political point for him: "no slave is he of kings" (490), but he also fears ochlocracy ("no shouting populace, no mob, faithless to good men" (ll. 485-86)). He is a true conservative insofar as he is nostalgic for "the primal age," "no blind love of gold," "not yet did rash vessels plough the sea: each man knew only his native waters" (ll. 525 et seq.). He is sufficiently obnoxious to be anti-agriculture (l. 538), preferring a pastoral or even hunter-gatherer economy. "Unholy passion [furens] for gain broke up this peaceful life" (l. 540).
Moreover, the nasty conservatism comes out as a regular misogyny, as he highlights that "alone, Medea, will prove that women are an accursed race" (ll. 563-64): "I abominate them all [detestor omnes]" (l. 566). So, yeah, totally setting up a meet-cute, wherein she offers to be his slave (l. 612), endorsing a nasty fungibility of persons doctrine because "Theseus' features I love" (l. 647), which she detects on Theseus' son. H responds with the promising flirtation of "O thou, who have outsinned the whole race of women, who hast dared a greater evil than thy monster-bearing mother" (ll. 687-88). At that point, P can't handle it any longer and threatens suicide, and H runs away into the forest. The Nurse here reverses Euripides by reporting to everyone that H tried to ravish P (l. 725) (just as Seneca also reversed the role of who reported her desire to Hippolytus, NB). Phaedra, for her part, ratifies the lie (l. 900 et seq.), and Theseus concludes that "The breed reverts to its progenitors and debased blood reproduces the primal stock" (ll. 906-08), referring to his son's alleged racial 'furens.'
Thence it all shakes out as we know, but with Senecan gore mixed with stoic moralisms. Gotta love that. On to Racine.
March 19, 2019
Greek gods and their pettiness.
Laughing because during Trachean Women I made an off-hand comment about Greek literature being a twisty maze of tales and before I came to an end that I'd run into a minotaur. Ha. Phaedra is the half-sister of the Minotaur. Phaedra, wife of of Thesus is beset upon by the bored and distempered Aphrodite when Theseus' bastard son Hippolytus rejects and ignores her statue in favor of Artemis.
While I personally agree with Hippolytus' choice, it's never a good a idea to slight a Greek god. They have fragile egos and tend to overact at the simplest infractions let alone outright mutiny of their due. Divine retribution. Greek tragedy ensues. Again, it's a bit of overreach, miscommunication, pride, and rashness that leads to the innocents' demise.
Frankly, Hippolytus was too good of a son for Theseus, whom didn't deserve him.
Words of wisdom: Don't try too hard to square life's paradoxes.
Laughing because during Trachean Women I made an off-hand comment about Greek literature being a twisty maze of tales and before I came to an end that I'd run into a minotaur. Ha. Phaedra is the half-sister of the Minotaur. Phaedra, wife of of Thesus is beset upon by the bored and distempered Aphrodite when Theseus' bastard son Hippolytus rejects and ignores her statue in favor of Artemis.
While I personally agree with Hippolytus' choice, it's never a good a idea to slight a Greek god. They have fragile egos and tend to overact at the simplest infractions let alone outright mutiny of their due. Divine retribution. Greek tragedy ensues. Again, it's a bit of overreach, miscommunication, pride, and rashness that leads to the innocents' demise.
Frankly, Hippolytus was too good of a son for Theseus, whom didn't deserve him.
Words of wisdom: Don't try too hard to square life's paradoxes.
October 7, 2019
Ah! Zeus! Por que impões ao homem o flagelo
de mau caráter chamado mulher e o mostras
à luz do sol? Se desejavas propagar
a raça dos mortais, não seria às mulheres
que deverias dar os meios para isso.
Em troca de ouro ou ferro ou do pesado bronze
depositado em teus altares, deverias
ter concedido aos homens meios de comprar,
segundo as suas oferendas, o direito
de ter os próprios filhos e poder viver
livres da raça feminina em suas casas.
Eis a prova de que a mulher é um grande mal:
o pai, que lhe deu vida e a criou, concede-lhe,
para livrar-se desse mal, um dote e pode,
assim, mandá-la um dia para outro lugar.
Por sua vez, aquele que recebe em casa
essa raça fatal, esmera-se em cobrir
com adornos belos o ídolo indesejável,
mas para ornamentá-la com lindos vestidos,
aos poucos o infeliz vê os seus bens sumirem.
Não há muitas alternativas; se ele teve
a sorte de aliar-se a uma família boa,
em atenção a seus parentes é forçado
a conviver com uma mulher desagradável.
Se, para conseguir uma boa mulher,
o pretendente aceita seus sogros inúteis,
para ter o seu bem ele suporta um mal.
A sorte menos má é receber em casa
alguma nulidade que, de tão obtusa,
nem é notada. Detesto a mulher pensante
e faço votos para que em meu lar futuro,
jamais haja mulher com mais inteligência
que a meramente necessária ao próprio sexo!
O fato é que Cípris faz a perversidade
nascer principalmente na mulher pensante;
as ignorantes não chegam a ser perversas
pelas limitações de sua inteligência.
Não deveriam as criadas acercar-se
de suas donas. Teriam de restringir-se
ao convívio silente dos irracionais;
assim não falariam a nenhuma delas
nem delas jamais ouviriam a palavra.
De fato, vêem-se mulheres pervertidas
tecendo na intimidade planos pérfidos
que são levados para fora por criadas.
de mau caráter chamado mulher e o mostras
à luz do sol? Se desejavas propagar
a raça dos mortais, não seria às mulheres
que deverias dar os meios para isso.
Em troca de ouro ou ferro ou do pesado bronze
depositado em teus altares, deverias
ter concedido aos homens meios de comprar,
segundo as suas oferendas, o direito
de ter os próprios filhos e poder viver
livres da raça feminina em suas casas.
Eis a prova de que a mulher é um grande mal:
o pai, que lhe deu vida e a criou, concede-lhe,
para livrar-se desse mal, um dote e pode,
assim, mandá-la um dia para outro lugar.
Por sua vez, aquele que recebe em casa
essa raça fatal, esmera-se em cobrir
com adornos belos o ídolo indesejável,
mas para ornamentá-la com lindos vestidos,
aos poucos o infeliz vê os seus bens sumirem.
Não há muitas alternativas; se ele teve
a sorte de aliar-se a uma família boa,
em atenção a seus parentes é forçado
a conviver com uma mulher desagradável.
Se, para conseguir uma boa mulher,
o pretendente aceita seus sogros inúteis,
para ter o seu bem ele suporta um mal.
A sorte menos má é receber em casa
alguma nulidade que, de tão obtusa,
nem é notada. Detesto a mulher pensante
e faço votos para que em meu lar futuro,
jamais haja mulher com mais inteligência
que a meramente necessária ao próprio sexo!
O fato é que Cípris faz a perversidade
nascer principalmente na mulher pensante;
as ignorantes não chegam a ser perversas
pelas limitações de sua inteligência.
Não deveriam as criadas acercar-se
de suas donas. Teriam de restringir-se
ao convívio silente dos irracionais;
assim não falariam a nenhuma delas
nem delas jamais ouviriam a palavra.
De fato, vêem-se mulheres pervertidas
tecendo na intimidade planos pérfidos
que são levados para fora por criadas.
November 1, 2022
این نمایش از جمله نمایشها� اوریپید است که یک خدا مقصر بدبختیها� تراژدیک وارده است و به این دلیل هم سخت ملامت میشو�. تم دیگر نمایش، ضدیت جامعه با تجرد است. تجرد هیپولیتوس شاید به خاطر زنستیز� او باشد؛ او نهایتا به شکل کنایهآمیز� قربانی مکر زنان نیز میشو�. شاید او یکی از اولین ایسکشوالها� تاریخ باشد؛ در واقع او از سر زهد نیست که به خدای عشق بیاحترام� میکند� بلکه صرفا شکار را به تختخواب ترجیح میده�.
September 12, 2015
Hippolytus
Never take hasty decisions
Never judge too fast
For the consequences may be
Greater than you can bear.
Tarnished by pride, Hippolytus dares to defy Aphrodite. He refuses to show due respect to her, so she obtains revenge. She uses his father’s wife to bring him to his doom, and in this ordeal, many a person meets their death.
Phaedra and Hippolytus fight in a game of gods and both die because of Aphrodite's and Artemis's caprices. The proud gods take revenge on others through playing with the lives of pious servants. Once again, Euripides mocks the gods. They do not hesitate to use humans as pawns in their wars, so do they really value the lives of their servants?
I can neither side with Hippolytus nor with Phaedra. I don’t see the issue from a gender perspective as much as from a religious one. In here, both humans act according to the paths that the gods set to them. Phaedra is manipulated into falling for Hippolytus, while Hippolytus is destroyed by the excessive faith? In Artemis (who does not do anything to save him. she just appears in the end, when he was dying, when it was too late to do anything, to clarify that he did not violate Phaedra).
Hippolytus and Phaedra find themselves carried by events they cannot control. And mistake after mistake leads them to their death.
Never take hasty decisions
Never judge too fast
For the consequences may be
Greater than you can bear.
Tarnished by pride, Hippolytus dares to defy Aphrodite. He refuses to show due respect to her, so she obtains revenge. She uses his father’s wife to bring him to his doom, and in this ordeal, many a person meets their death.
Phaedra and Hippolytus fight in a game of gods and both die because of Aphrodite's and Artemis's caprices. The proud gods take revenge on others through playing with the lives of pious servants. Once again, Euripides mocks the gods. They do not hesitate to use humans as pawns in their wars, so do they really value the lives of their servants?
I can neither side with Hippolytus nor with Phaedra. I don’t see the issue from a gender perspective as much as from a religious one. In here, both humans act according to the paths that the gods set to them. Phaedra is manipulated into falling for Hippolytus, while Hippolytus is destroyed by the excessive faith? In Artemis (who does not do anything to save him. she just appears in the end, when he was dying, when it was too late to do anything, to clarify that he did not violate Phaedra).
Hippolytus and Phaedra find themselves carried by events they cannot control. And mistake after mistake leads them to their death.
July 22, 2015
Sexuality & Celibacy
17 April 2012
I should mention that technically this play should come under 'I' as opposed to 'H' (and I almost put it under 'I' without thinking) namely because Greek does not actually have an 'H'. What they have are rough and smooth breathings, which is a little symbol that appears at the front of a word that begins with a vowel. If the word has a smooth breathing it is pronounced without an H while if it has a rough breathing it is pronounced with an H. You have probably worked out that Hippolytus has a rough breathing, however in the Greek Lexicons it will be found under 'Iota' which is the Greek I.
This play is a tragedy however it is not strictly a tragedy in the true sense of the word namely because the main character, Hippolytus, does not have a fatal flaw. However, this whole concept of a fatal flaw was something that Aristotle explores in 'Poetics' and it is something that Shakespeare used in a lot of his tragedies, though I will still argue that the central characters in his tragedies do not strictly have fatal flaws. The Greek tragedies don't really seem to use it either, so I am not sure what Aristotle is getting at when he was writing his poetics. Mind you, I don't think Aristotle was around during the period when the great playwrights were writing their plays, and while one could consider that drama as an artform was still developing, it seemed that by the time Sophocles and Euripides were writing their plays and competing against each other drama had reached a reasonably mature form.
One could consider that Phaedra and Theseus are the tragic heroes in this play and that Hippolytus has just an innocent victim. It is not the only play where the tragic hero is not the title character, the same is the case of Julius Ceaser: the tragic hero in Julius Ceaser is Marcus Brutus. Now, the issue with Phaedra is that she is madly in love with Hippolytus however Hippolytus is Theseus' son (not by Phaedra) and Phaedra is married to Theseus, so there is a problem. The second problem is that Hippolytus has devoted himself to the goddess Artemis, the Goddess of nature and the wilds. In keeping with Artemis' character, Hippolytus has chosen a life of celibacy. Despite that Phaedra is still his step mother and I am very doubtful that Hippolytus would betray his father by sleeping with his stepmother. Strangely enough it is this type of relationship that Paul goes ballistic at the Corinthians for in the New Testament. Seriously, it is not a comforting idea, even though Phaedra is not his mother by birth. Remember, it is this sin that drives Oedipus to gouge out his eyes and exile himself (though Jocasta is his mother by birth).
Now, the play opens with a very upset Aphrodite and the reason that she is upset is because Hippolytus is celibate. It confuses me somewhat as to why a god would get so uptight over a single celibate man, but I have a feeling that it goes quite deeper than that. I guess we need to consider the Greek Gods in a more ancient and pagan sense where they personify ideas and concepts, and in Aphrodite's case that concept is sexual love (though I suspect that is where Eros comes in, the Greek Gods can be quite confusing, though I know that Aphrodite is a major god while Eros is not). Anyway, the play demonstrates the fickleness of the gods, where by devoting himself to Artemis Hippolytus earns the enmity of Aphrodite. In a way it is a lose lose situation, and I suspect something that Hippolytus is confronting. I also suspect that Euripides is not a very big fan of this.
Now, Hippolytus is not actually living with his father, he is old enough to go out on his own, however because Theseus is purging some sin (which remains unnamed in the play) he has taken his wife Phaedra to Trozen to become pure. Now, there were issues between Phaedra and Hippolytus back in Athens, and Hippolytus left, probably for his own sanity, however Phaedra's yearning for him has not gone away. We should note that this is a part of Aphrodite's curse on Hippolytus. There is an interesting thing that I have picked up from the Greek dramas because in our society we would simply call it love sickness, and personally, we really don't know how it comes about. I doubt the Greeks did either, which is why they blamed the gods. We see a similar thing with madness cursing Herakles in his self-named play, and a similar thing with Ajax in his self-named play.
Now, Phaedra, who cannot handle Hippolytus' rejection, and cannot imagine living without a sexual liason with him, decides to kill herself and to leave a note blaming Hippolytus for her death. This indicates hints of depression, however it does seem to be a very extreme case in killing herself because she cannot have Hippolytus. However I suspect that such suicides are not unheard of in our own society, though I must admit that I haven't explored this concept deeply. We should note that psychologists have turned to this play in relation to some mental health issues. Anyway, Thesus pretty much prejudges Hippolytus and it is only after he has called curses down on him that he realises that he has acted too rashly. I guess it is not surprising. In fact it is a very human grief reaction to act and blame before rationally thinking about what has been occurring. We actually saw the grief cycle at a seminar today, though I must admit that I can't remember the specific. I suspect, though, that if we look at Theseus' reaction to Phaedra's death then we will see the grief cycle (and one aspect is denial followed by blame and then later on comes acceptance).
Once again, I am not convinced Hippolytus did anything wrong, and it appears that he is simply being persecuted for his way of life. I was going to say morality, but my feeling is that celibacy is not actually a question of morality because there is actually nothing wrong with sex. It is like many of the other good things on this Earth, namely that it is good but it can be quite destructive if not respected.
So what we seem to see here is the struggle between sexuality and celibacy. It is once again something that is all too common in our society. It is unacceptable to be celibate, as seems to be the case here. Our society believes that we are fools if we chose a path of celibacy, where as in this play, celibacy angers Aphrodite. However, the catch is that celibacy is accepted by Artemis and I also suspect that Athena is celibate as well. I guess that the one reason that celibacy is looked down upon has nothing to do with sexual pleasure and everything to do with the failure to procreate. This is something that does come out in the Bible, especially when we have one of Judah's children in the book of Genesis spilling his seed on the ground and then God punishing him when he does so. Remember that twice in Genesis God commands humanity to be fruitful and multiply and to fill the earth with progeny.
I wish to finish off on the nature of death. When Hippolytus dies Artemis comes to comfort him in his final hours. It is not a quick death - it is a long, slow, and painful one, namely because he was trampled by his horses. Anyway the tragedy of the situation is that despite his lifelong devotion to Artemis it is clear that he is not going to be spending his afterlife with her. In fact this is clearly spelt out in the text. I suspect that that was not originally a Greek concept, and was probably inherited from the Middle East. Islam, Judaism, and Christianity all have the concept of spending the afterlife with the deity. With the Greeks, and I suspect the Romans, this is not the case. Mind you, the Greeks did believe in reincarnation, but I suspect that this was not going to happen to Hippolytus (though we do know that Achilles did go to the Elysian Fields, which is the closest one can come the Greek concept of Heaven).
17 April 2012
I should mention that technically this play should come under 'I' as opposed to 'H' (and I almost put it under 'I' without thinking) namely because Greek does not actually have an 'H'. What they have are rough and smooth breathings, which is a little symbol that appears at the front of a word that begins with a vowel. If the word has a smooth breathing it is pronounced without an H while if it has a rough breathing it is pronounced with an H. You have probably worked out that Hippolytus has a rough breathing, however in the Greek Lexicons it will be found under 'Iota' which is the Greek I.
This play is a tragedy however it is not strictly a tragedy in the true sense of the word namely because the main character, Hippolytus, does not have a fatal flaw. However, this whole concept of a fatal flaw was something that Aristotle explores in 'Poetics' and it is something that Shakespeare used in a lot of his tragedies, though I will still argue that the central characters in his tragedies do not strictly have fatal flaws. The Greek tragedies don't really seem to use it either, so I am not sure what Aristotle is getting at when he was writing his poetics. Mind you, I don't think Aristotle was around during the period when the great playwrights were writing their plays, and while one could consider that drama as an artform was still developing, it seemed that by the time Sophocles and Euripides were writing their plays and competing against each other drama had reached a reasonably mature form.
One could consider that Phaedra and Theseus are the tragic heroes in this play and that Hippolytus has just an innocent victim. It is not the only play where the tragic hero is not the title character, the same is the case of Julius Ceaser: the tragic hero in Julius Ceaser is Marcus Brutus. Now, the issue with Phaedra is that she is madly in love with Hippolytus however Hippolytus is Theseus' son (not by Phaedra) and Phaedra is married to Theseus, so there is a problem. The second problem is that Hippolytus has devoted himself to the goddess Artemis, the Goddess of nature and the wilds. In keeping with Artemis' character, Hippolytus has chosen a life of celibacy. Despite that Phaedra is still his step mother and I am very doubtful that Hippolytus would betray his father by sleeping with his stepmother. Strangely enough it is this type of relationship that Paul goes ballistic at the Corinthians for in the New Testament. Seriously, it is not a comforting idea, even though Phaedra is not his mother by birth. Remember, it is this sin that drives Oedipus to gouge out his eyes and exile himself (though Jocasta is his mother by birth).
Now, the play opens with a very upset Aphrodite and the reason that she is upset is because Hippolytus is celibate. It confuses me somewhat as to why a god would get so uptight over a single celibate man, but I have a feeling that it goes quite deeper than that. I guess we need to consider the Greek Gods in a more ancient and pagan sense where they personify ideas and concepts, and in Aphrodite's case that concept is sexual love (though I suspect that is where Eros comes in, the Greek Gods can be quite confusing, though I know that Aphrodite is a major god while Eros is not). Anyway, the play demonstrates the fickleness of the gods, where by devoting himself to Artemis Hippolytus earns the enmity of Aphrodite. In a way it is a lose lose situation, and I suspect something that Hippolytus is confronting. I also suspect that Euripides is not a very big fan of this.
Now, Hippolytus is not actually living with his father, he is old enough to go out on his own, however because Theseus is purging some sin (which remains unnamed in the play) he has taken his wife Phaedra to Trozen to become pure. Now, there were issues between Phaedra and Hippolytus back in Athens, and Hippolytus left, probably for his own sanity, however Phaedra's yearning for him has not gone away. We should note that this is a part of Aphrodite's curse on Hippolytus. There is an interesting thing that I have picked up from the Greek dramas because in our society we would simply call it love sickness, and personally, we really don't know how it comes about. I doubt the Greeks did either, which is why they blamed the gods. We see a similar thing with madness cursing Herakles in his self-named play, and a similar thing with Ajax in his self-named play.
Now, Phaedra, who cannot handle Hippolytus' rejection, and cannot imagine living without a sexual liason with him, decides to kill herself and to leave a note blaming Hippolytus for her death. This indicates hints of depression, however it does seem to be a very extreme case in killing herself because she cannot have Hippolytus. However I suspect that such suicides are not unheard of in our own society, though I must admit that I haven't explored this concept deeply. We should note that psychologists have turned to this play in relation to some mental health issues. Anyway, Thesus pretty much prejudges Hippolytus and it is only after he has called curses down on him that he realises that he has acted too rashly. I guess it is not surprising. In fact it is a very human grief reaction to act and blame before rationally thinking about what has been occurring. We actually saw the grief cycle at a seminar today, though I must admit that I can't remember the specific. I suspect, though, that if we look at Theseus' reaction to Phaedra's death then we will see the grief cycle (and one aspect is denial followed by blame and then later on comes acceptance).
Once again, I am not convinced Hippolytus did anything wrong, and it appears that he is simply being persecuted for his way of life. I was going to say morality, but my feeling is that celibacy is not actually a question of morality because there is actually nothing wrong with sex. It is like many of the other good things on this Earth, namely that it is good but it can be quite destructive if not respected.
So what we seem to see here is the struggle between sexuality and celibacy. It is once again something that is all too common in our society. It is unacceptable to be celibate, as seems to be the case here. Our society believes that we are fools if we chose a path of celibacy, where as in this play, celibacy angers Aphrodite. However, the catch is that celibacy is accepted by Artemis and I also suspect that Athena is celibate as well. I guess that the one reason that celibacy is looked down upon has nothing to do with sexual pleasure and everything to do with the failure to procreate. This is something that does come out in the Bible, especially when we have one of Judah's children in the book of Genesis spilling his seed on the ground and then God punishing him when he does so. Remember that twice in Genesis God commands humanity to be fruitful and multiply and to fill the earth with progeny.
I wish to finish off on the nature of death. When Hippolytus dies Artemis comes to comfort him in his final hours. It is not a quick death - it is a long, slow, and painful one, namely because he was trampled by his horses. Anyway the tragedy of the situation is that despite his lifelong devotion to Artemis it is clear that he is not going to be spending his afterlife with her. In fact this is clearly spelt out in the text. I suspect that that was not originally a Greek concept, and was probably inherited from the Middle East. Islam, Judaism, and Christianity all have the concept of spending the afterlife with the deity. With the Greeks, and I suspect the Romans, this is not the case. Mind you, the Greeks did believe in reincarnation, but I suspect that this was not going to happen to Hippolytus (though we do know that Achilles did go to the Elysian Fields, which is the closest one can come the Greek concept of Heaven).
December 24, 2022
از اونجایی که خود اوریپید هم از زنها متنفر بود و در تجرد زندگی میکرد، میشه دیالوگ های ضد زن و تند هیپولیت رو حرف دل اوریپید تلقی کرد؟
March 29, 2020
Nonostante tutto, non sono mai riuscita a empatizzare con Ippolito, con il suo modo di comportarsi fastidiosamente pio e retto. Mentre Fedra, innocente, subisce la punizione che Afrodite doveva riservare al solo Ippolito, rimanendo vittima della solita infantilità tipica degli dei.
Il suo essere donna la rende una perfetta candidata per divenire il soggetto delle follie dell'Amore: ancora una volta, i capricci delle divinità vengono collegati alle caratteristiche negative delle creature femminili. Ed è quindi facile mettersi nei suoi panni, nella sua scelta di porre fine alla sua vita e di farlo, in un qualche modo, tentando di mantenere quel poco di onore che tutti sembrano volerle strappare.
Il suo essere donna la rende una perfetta candidata per divenire il soggetto delle follie dell'Amore: ancora una volta, i capricci delle divinità vengono collegati alle caratteristiche negative delle creature femminili. Ed è quindi facile mettersi nei suoi panni, nella sua scelta di porre fine alla sua vita e di farlo, in un qualche modo, tentando di mantenere quel poco di onore che tutti sembrano volerle strappare.
October 2, 2017
این نمایشنامه داستان آشنای عشق ممنوع زن پدر به پسر است. مثل یوسف و زلیخا، سیاوش و سودابه.
خدایانی که هر یک نماینده ی نیرویی در طبیعت اند در وجود ایپولیتوس به تاخت و تاز و جنگ می پردازند. ایپولیتوس سرسپرده ی ارتمیس خدای شکار و حیوانات وحشی است. آفرودیت که از زن ستیزی و تقبیح عشق او خشمگین است برایش دامی گریزناپذیر پهن می کند. تقدیر نابودی ایپولیتوس و زن پدرش را می خواهد. حتی خدایان را توانایی دخالت در آن نیست.
خدایانی که هر یک نماینده ی نیرویی در طبیعت اند در وجود ایپولیتوس به تاخت و تاز و جنگ می پردازند. ایپولیتوس سرسپرده ی ارتمیس خدای شکار و حیوانات وحشی است. آفرودیت که از زن ستیزی و تقبیح عشق او خشمگین است برایش دامی گریزناپذیر پهن می کند. تقدیر نابودی ایپولیتوس و زن پدرش را می خواهد. حتی خدایان را توانایی دخالت در آن نیست.
June 26, 2021
“Dizem que nesta vida os exageros de uma virtude integra, imutável, causam mais decepções do que prazeres e impedem uma existência sadia.
Por isso sempre achei mais sábia a máxima “nada em excesso� que “nunca é demais�.
E me dará razão quem for sensato.�
ᾱóٴ filho de Teseu se distinguia por sua beleza e virtude. Ele irritou a deusa Afrodite por seu excesso de pureza e por desdenhar do amor e da deusa (ele era devoto de Artemis a deusa da caça e da castidade)
Afrodite decidida a destruir ᾱóٴ, fez a esposa de seu pai Fedra se apaixonar perdidamente pelo enteado, a ama de Fedra conta sobre os sentimentos dela a ᾱóٴ que a rejeita. Fedra se enforca mas deixa um bilhete acusando ᾱóٴ de atentar contra sua honra, Teseu amaldiçoa o filho que também morre. Artemis revela a trama de Afrodite.
Por isso sempre achei mais sábia a máxima “nada em excesso� que “nunca é demais�.
E me dará razão quem for sensato.�
ᾱóٴ filho de Teseu se distinguia por sua beleza e virtude. Ele irritou a deusa Afrodite por seu excesso de pureza e por desdenhar do amor e da deusa (ele era devoto de Artemis a deusa da caça e da castidade)
Afrodite decidida a destruir ᾱóٴ, fez a esposa de seu pai Fedra se apaixonar perdidamente pelo enteado, a ama de Fedra conta sobre os sentimentos dela a ᾱóٴ que a rejeita. Fedra se enforca mas deixa um bilhete acusando ᾱóٴ de atentar contra sua honra, Teseu amaldiçoa o filho que também morre. Artemis revela a trama de Afrodite.
December 12, 2016
Βραβείο πιο ξιπασμένου χαρακτήρα ελληνικής τραγωδίας στον Ιππόλυτο,ο οποίος σε όλη τη διάρκεια του έργου εξυμνεί τη σοφία, την αρετή και την τελειότητά του. Έχει κι έναν εξαιρετικό μονόλογο, στον οποίο βρίζει τις γυναίκες κι εύχεται να μπορούσαν να τεκνοποιούν με διαφορετικό τρόπο οι άνδρες, ώστε να μη χρειάζονται αυτά τα φίδια μέσα στα σπίτια τους.
Με τούτα και με κείνα, στο τέλος ευχήθηκα "Στα τσακίδια και να μην μας γράφεις!",παρά την αθωώτητά του.
Και για να μη νομίζετε ότι υπερβάλλω..
Από τα σχόλια 121 και 123 (σελ. 176):
-"[...] Δεν είναι όμως αυτός ο σκοπός του Ευριπίδη. Αντίθετα θέλει να παρουσιάσει την πτώση του Ιππόλυτου ως αποτέλεσμα του ελαττώματος που είναι η αντίστροφη πλευρά της απόλυτης αγνότητάς του: η αφοσίωσή του στην αγνότητα συνδέεται με ολική απόρριψη ενός σημαντικού μέρους της ανθρώπινης φύσης και ζωής."
-"Ακόμα και ετοιμοθάνατος ο Ιππόλυτος δεν αμφισβητεί την τελειότητά του. Ο στενόμυαλος πουριτανισμός του τον ακολουθεί ως το τέλος της ζωής του. Δεν αναγνωρίζει το σφάλμα, την έλλειψη στον χαρακτήρα του και πεθαίνει θεωρώντας τον εαυτό του θύμα αδικίας και παραλογισμού."
Σε επίπεδο διαλόγων και χαρακτήρων το βρήκα κατώτερο από άλλα έργα του Ευριπίδη, γι'αυτό και 3 αστερακια.
Με τούτα και με κείνα, στο τέλος ευχήθηκα "Στα τσακίδια και να μην μας γράφεις!",παρά την αθωώτητά του.
Και για να μη νομίζετε ότι υπερβάλλω..
Από τα σχόλια 121 και 123 (σελ. 176):
-"[...] Δεν είναι όμως αυτός ο σκοπός του Ευριπίδη. Αντίθετα θέλει να παρουσιάσει την πτώση του Ιππόλυτου ως αποτέλεσμα του ελαττώματος που είναι η αντίστροφη πλευρά της απόλυτης αγνότητάς του: η αφοσίωσή του στην αγνότητα συνδέεται με ολική απόρριψη ενός σημαντικού μέρους της ανθρώπινης φύσης και ζωής."
-"Ακόμα και ετοιμοθάνατος ο Ιππόλυτος δεν αμφισβητεί την τελειότητά του. Ο στενόμυαλος πουριτανισμός του τον ακολουθεί ως το τέλος της ζωής του. Δεν αναγνωρίζει το σφάλμα, την έλλειψη στον χαρακτήρα του και πεθαίνει θεωρώντας τον εαυτό του θύμα αδικίας και παραλογισμού."
Σε επίπεδο διαλόγων και χαρακτήρων το βρήκα κατώτερο από άλλα έργα του Ευριπίδη, γι'αυτό και 3 αστερακια.
September 17, 2021
'Voli Artemidu više od mene,' pita se Afrodita. 'Platiće mi to!' Baca magiju na Fedru (maćehu), da se zaljubi u Hipolita. Fedra mu to otkriva, a ovaj čistunac je zgranut! Ovo je sam početak, otprilike se na tom početku i spojluje cela tragedija, ali ne moram i ja to da radim ovde. Očekivano (grčka tragedija, šta ćemo) dolazi do niza tragičnih događaja, na kraju je svima kao žao Hipolita, ali zapravo i ne. Niko ga ne voli.
A i teško ga je voleti, nije nimalo simpatičan. Potpuno je anti-erotičan. I anti-poetičan. Sve što radi je nekako bezveze. Dosadan je čak i dok jede. Mrzi žene, ali ne zato što je imao loše iskustvo s njima - zapravo i nije imao nikakvo iskustvo. Zevsu se žali:
"Što, Zeuse, zlo podmuklo - žensku čovjeku
ti stvori i na svijetlo svijeta iznese?
[...] u svom domu mogo je
bez žene smrtnik mirno živjet slobodan.
Al 'vako nam je pod krov vodit bijedu tu,
a doma svoga srećom mi to plaćamo.
Bjelodano je, žena da je silno zlo."
Ovo je tragedija o erotskoj ljubavi, ali i o jednoj od vrlina koju su Grci najviše hvalili: umerenosti. A umerenost kao takva je zapravo dosta problematična. Praktično je nevidljiva, nema je - umeren si kad nešto NE uradiš. Kako znaš da je neko umeren? Trebalo bi da ima neki poriv, strast, koja je izražena, pa se onda svom snagom bori protiv tih sila. Onda na osnovu toga možemo da kažemo, evo stvarno se potrudio... umeren je.
Festival grčke tragedije
1. (Sofokle)
2. (Euripid)
3. (Eshil)
4. (Sofokle)
5. (Eshil)
6. (Euripid)
7. (Euripid)
8. (Pokajnice - Eshil)
9. (Eshil)
10. (Euripid)
11. (Sofokle)
A i teško ga je voleti, nije nimalo simpatičan. Potpuno je anti-erotičan. I anti-poetičan. Sve što radi je nekako bezveze. Dosadan je čak i dok jede. Mrzi žene, ali ne zato što je imao loše iskustvo s njima - zapravo i nije imao nikakvo iskustvo. Zevsu se žali:
"Što, Zeuse, zlo podmuklo - žensku čovjeku
ti stvori i na svijetlo svijeta iznese?
[...] u svom domu mogo je
bez žene smrtnik mirno živjet slobodan.
Al 'vako nam je pod krov vodit bijedu tu,
a doma svoga srećom mi to plaćamo.
Bjelodano je, žena da je silno zlo."
Ovo je tragedija o erotskoj ljubavi, ali i o jednoj od vrlina koju su Grci najviše hvalili: umerenosti. A umerenost kao takva je zapravo dosta problematična. Praktično je nevidljiva, nema je - umeren si kad nešto NE uradiš. Kako znaš da je neko umeren? Trebalo bi da ima neki poriv, strast, koja je izražena, pa se onda svom snagom bori protiv tih sila. Onda na osnovu toga možemo da kažemo, evo stvarno se potrudio... umeren je.
Festival grčke tragedije
1. (Sofokle)
2. (Euripid)
3. (Eshil)
4. (Sofokle)
5. (Eshil)
6. (Euripid)
7. (Euripid)
8. (Pokajnice - Eshil)
9. (Eshil)
10. (Euripid)
11. (Sofokle)
July 3, 2024
Parece que en vida de Eurípides y aun después era muy corriente decir que era un misógino de mucho cuidado, por culpa principalmente de dos malos matrimonios que hizo. Parece, también, que los contemporáneos de Eurípides tenían muy mala leche (Aristófanes, te miro a ti) y que no dejaban que nada, y mucho menos la realidad, les arruinara un buen chisme. Los helenistas que han revisado lo poquito que se sabe sobre Eurípides coinciden en decir que lo de la misoginia no tenía por qué ser cierto, y que de hecho da la sensación de que era una persona bastante sensible hacia la situación de los oprimidos: las mujeres, los prisioneros de guerra, etc. ¿A quién hacer caso?
No creo que se pueda resolver esa cuestión fácilmente. Solo sé que Eurípides a veces parece tan moderno que te sobresalta. ¿Es posible que este hombre escribiera esas cosas en el siglo V antes de nuestra era? Todas esas historias de pasión devoradora, con unos dioses que eran mostrados sin recato en toda su psicopatía, esas gentecillas del coro tan compasivas, esos comentarios que te los podría hacer un amigo o incluso un conocido con muchas ganas de desahogarse. El alma saliéndose a chorros por la boca, vaya. En mi arrogancia adolescente y de letras puras podía emperrarme en pensar que ԳíDzԲ de Sófocles hablaba del enfrentamiento entre lo personal y lo institucional, ya fuese la institución la religión o el estado (y no entre los mandatos religiosos y los civiles, como realmente así era). Con Eurípides puedo estar plenamente convencida: en sus obras lo que importa son las personas, no los dioses, no la polis. Las Personas.
Me gusta ᾱóٴ aunque no sea de mis favoritas. A lo mejor lo habría sido en esa primera versión que no se conserva, en la que Fedra no se avergonzaba del amor que sentía por su hijastro. No lo sabré nunca como tampoco sabré si Eurípides odiaba realmente a las mujeres. Pero puedo hacerme mi propia idea a partir de los personajes femeninos tan fantásticos que creó y de las palabras que puso en sus bocas. ᾱóٴ contiene un parlamento que condensa todo el machismo de la sociedad griega clásica, pero en las tragedias de Eurípides, aquí y allá, las mujeres dicen cosas que evidencian la otra versión: el hartazgo, el resentimiento, el sarcasmo femenino ante la enorme importancia de las empresas masculinas. Para ser un misógino, Eurípides mostraba una enorme empatía hacia las mujeres y sus deseos de rebelarse, como si en lugar de tener una idea preconcebida sobre el sexo opuesto (como hacen tantos otros escritores de toda época) realmente las escuchara y deseara entenderlas. Puede que mi opinión, como la de los especialistas, esté demasiado influida por la perspectiva moderna. O puede que la modernidad no esté tanto en la perspectiva, y que Eurípides fuese realmente una de esas personas que, en cualquier época, se saltan todos los convencionalismos. Me inclino por esto último.
No creo que se pueda resolver esa cuestión fácilmente. Solo sé que Eurípides a veces parece tan moderno que te sobresalta. ¿Es posible que este hombre escribiera esas cosas en el siglo V antes de nuestra era? Todas esas historias de pasión devoradora, con unos dioses que eran mostrados sin recato en toda su psicopatía, esas gentecillas del coro tan compasivas, esos comentarios que te los podría hacer un amigo o incluso un conocido con muchas ganas de desahogarse. El alma saliéndose a chorros por la boca, vaya. En mi arrogancia adolescente y de letras puras podía emperrarme en pensar que ԳíDzԲ de Sófocles hablaba del enfrentamiento entre lo personal y lo institucional, ya fuese la institución la religión o el estado (y no entre los mandatos religiosos y los civiles, como realmente así era). Con Eurípides puedo estar plenamente convencida: en sus obras lo que importa son las personas, no los dioses, no la polis. Las Personas.
Me gusta ᾱóٴ aunque no sea de mis favoritas. A lo mejor lo habría sido en esa primera versión que no se conserva, en la que Fedra no se avergonzaba del amor que sentía por su hijastro. No lo sabré nunca como tampoco sabré si Eurípides odiaba realmente a las mujeres. Pero puedo hacerme mi propia idea a partir de los personajes femeninos tan fantásticos que creó y de las palabras que puso en sus bocas. ᾱóٴ contiene un parlamento que condensa todo el machismo de la sociedad griega clásica, pero en las tragedias de Eurípides, aquí y allá, las mujeres dicen cosas que evidencian la otra versión: el hartazgo, el resentimiento, el sarcasmo femenino ante la enorme importancia de las empresas masculinas. Para ser un misógino, Eurípides mostraba una enorme empatía hacia las mujeres y sus deseos de rebelarse, como si en lugar de tener una idea preconcebida sobre el sexo opuesto (como hacen tantos otros escritores de toda época) realmente las escuchara y deseara entenderlas. Puede que mi opinión, como la de los especialistas, esté demasiado influida por la perspectiva moderna. O puede que la modernidad no esté tanto en la perspectiva, y que Eurípides fuese realmente una de esas personas que, en cualquier época, se saltan todos los convencionalismos. Me inclino por esto último.
March 26, 2025
هیپولیت، یا: اولین سخنرانی اینسل تاریخ
:)))
هیپولیت: ای پروردگار عالم، ای زئوس، تو چرا جهان را گرفتار شر و آفت موجود خبیث و نالایقی که نامش زن است کردهای� اگر میل و اراده تو این بود ه نسل انسان فانی برقرار بماند، چرا زن را مامور تجدید نسل بشر کردهای� آیا بهتر نبود که مردم به معابد تو بیایند و هرکدام به قدر استطاعت خود بدرها� از سیم یا زر به درگاه تو نیاز کنند و در مقابل آن جنینی متناسب یا ارزش پول خود خریداری نمایند و با خود به خانه برند و از آن پس در سرای خویش به آسایش و راحت زیست کنند و از شر وجود زنان در امان باشند؟ اگر بخواهی دانست که زن در جهان چه بلای مبرمی است، همین بس که چون پدری صاحب دختر شود، او را بزرگ میکن� و به مرحله رشد میرسان� و آنگاه جهیزی بدو میده� و او را از خانه بیرون میکن� و از شر او راحت میشو�. آنکس هم که این افعی را به خانه میبر� و در آغوش خویش میپرورد� بر تن او جامه رنگارنگ میپوشان� و او را چنان بتان با زر و زیور میآرای� و بینوای مسکین آنچه به میراث برده است در این راه تلف میکن� و دلخوشی او در آنست که آنهمه زشتی و کراهت را با نقش و نگار میپوشان�. تازه اگر بخواهد جز این کند چه میتوا� کرد؟ هرگاه زنی از تیره بزرگان بستاند باید ناگزیر با ستیزهخوی� او بسازد و دم نزند، اگر هم زنی از خانواده پست و فرومایه بگیرد، باید به همین دلخوش باشد که آن زن روی خوش بدو مینماین� و با او به مدارا زیست میکن�. هرکه بخواهد زندگی آسوده و راحت داشته باشد، باید زنی بینامونشا� بستاند و او را چون مجسمه بر پایها� بنشاند و مواظب باشد که به همان حال جهل و بیخبر� باقی بماند و پای از حدود خویش فراتر ننهد. من از زن هوشمند و زیرک که بدانچه از حد زنان فراتر است میاندیش� بیزارم و محال است که او را در سرای خویش راه دهم! دلیل آن هم اینست که زنان هوشمند زودتر اسیر دست هوی و هوس خود میشون� و به راه تباهی و فساد میروند� ولی زنان سادهلو� به واسطه آنکه فاقد شعورند از انحراف مصون میمانن�. هرگز نگذارید غلامی یا کنیزی با همسر شما محشور شود و او را پیوسته با جانوران بیزبا� و وحشی دمخور سازید تا نه آنها معنی سخنان او را درک کنند و نه خود بتوانند با او سخن بگویند. اگر جز این باشند، زنان بیتقو� در خانه مینشینن� و طرح بدکاری هرزگی میریزن� و ملازمان آنان نیز آن هرزگیه� را به خارج خانه میرسانن�. تو خود یکی از این نابکاران هستی که چون عفریتی به نزد من آمده مرا اغوا میکن� که با همسر پدرم همخوابه شوم! من این سخنان پلید تو را به آب دریا از گوش خود خواهم شست و تو ای نابکار چگونه میتوان� مرا به گناه و معصیت واداری، در حالی که حتی از شنیدن سخنان تو خود را آلوده و پلید میپندارم�
گوش کن، من این بار به دام سوگندی که خوردها� میافت� و خاموشی میگزینم� زیرا از خدایان بیم دارم و همین نکته جان تو را رهایی میبخش� و الا بیدرن� همه این داستان را به پدرم بازمیگفت�. اینک من از کاخ بیرون میرو� تا پدرم باز آید و از این مقوله نیز سخنی با وی نخواهم گفت. پس از آن به همراه او میآی� و به دقت مینگر� که تو و بانوی شوخچشم� با چه رو به دیدگان او خواهید نگریست. تو یکی بیگما� با کمال بیحیای� به صورت وی نظاره خواهی کرد من میدان� که امثال تو از چه قماشی ساخته شدهای�! لعنت بر همه نژاد و نسل شما! هرقدر از شما منزجر و بیزار باشم باز کم است. آری، همه به من میگوین� که من پیوسته همان سخنان را تکرار میکنم� آخر مگر نه آنست که جنس زنان نیز همیشه همان است که بوده است؟ اگر کسی یافت شد که توانست به زنان عفت و تقوا بیاموزد، آن وقت من از پایمال کردن نام آنان خودداری خواهم کرد!
:)))
هیپولیت: ای پروردگار عالم، ای زئوس، تو چرا جهان را گرفتار شر و آفت موجود خبیث و نالایقی که نامش زن است کردهای� اگر میل و اراده تو این بود ه نسل انسان فانی برقرار بماند، چرا زن را مامور تجدید نسل بشر کردهای� آیا بهتر نبود که مردم به معابد تو بیایند و هرکدام به قدر استطاعت خود بدرها� از سیم یا زر به درگاه تو نیاز کنند و در مقابل آن جنینی متناسب یا ارزش پول خود خریداری نمایند و با خود به خانه برند و از آن پس در سرای خویش به آسایش و راحت زیست کنند و از شر وجود زنان در امان باشند؟ اگر بخواهی دانست که زن در جهان چه بلای مبرمی است، همین بس که چون پدری صاحب دختر شود، او را بزرگ میکن� و به مرحله رشد میرسان� و آنگاه جهیزی بدو میده� و او را از خانه بیرون میکن� و از شر او راحت میشو�. آنکس هم که این افعی را به خانه میبر� و در آغوش خویش میپرورد� بر تن او جامه رنگارنگ میپوشان� و او را چنان بتان با زر و زیور میآرای� و بینوای مسکین آنچه به میراث برده است در این راه تلف میکن� و دلخوشی او در آنست که آنهمه زشتی و کراهت را با نقش و نگار میپوشان�. تازه اگر بخواهد جز این کند چه میتوا� کرد؟ هرگاه زنی از تیره بزرگان بستاند باید ناگزیر با ستیزهخوی� او بسازد و دم نزند، اگر هم زنی از خانواده پست و فرومایه بگیرد، باید به همین دلخوش باشد که آن زن روی خوش بدو مینماین� و با او به مدارا زیست میکن�. هرکه بخواهد زندگی آسوده و راحت داشته باشد، باید زنی بینامونشا� بستاند و او را چون مجسمه بر پایها� بنشاند و مواظب باشد که به همان حال جهل و بیخبر� باقی بماند و پای از حدود خویش فراتر ننهد. من از زن هوشمند و زیرک که بدانچه از حد زنان فراتر است میاندیش� بیزارم و محال است که او را در سرای خویش راه دهم! دلیل آن هم اینست که زنان هوشمند زودتر اسیر دست هوی و هوس خود میشون� و به راه تباهی و فساد میروند� ولی زنان سادهلو� به واسطه آنکه فاقد شعورند از انحراف مصون میمانن�. هرگز نگذارید غلامی یا کنیزی با همسر شما محشور شود و او را پیوسته با جانوران بیزبا� و وحشی دمخور سازید تا نه آنها معنی سخنان او را درک کنند و نه خود بتوانند با او سخن بگویند. اگر جز این باشند، زنان بیتقو� در خانه مینشینن� و طرح بدکاری هرزگی میریزن� و ملازمان آنان نیز آن هرزگیه� را به خارج خانه میرسانن�. تو خود یکی از این نابکاران هستی که چون عفریتی به نزد من آمده مرا اغوا میکن� که با همسر پدرم همخوابه شوم! من این سخنان پلید تو را به آب دریا از گوش خود خواهم شست و تو ای نابکار چگونه میتوان� مرا به گناه و معصیت واداری، در حالی که حتی از شنیدن سخنان تو خود را آلوده و پلید میپندارم�
گوش کن، من این بار به دام سوگندی که خوردها� میافت� و خاموشی میگزینم� زیرا از خدایان بیم دارم و همین نکته جان تو را رهایی میبخش� و الا بیدرن� همه این داستان را به پدرم بازمیگفت�. اینک من از کاخ بیرون میرو� تا پدرم باز آید و از این مقوله نیز سخنی با وی نخواهم گفت. پس از آن به همراه او میآی� و به دقت مینگر� که تو و بانوی شوخچشم� با چه رو به دیدگان او خواهید نگریست. تو یکی بیگما� با کمال بیحیای� به صورت وی نظاره خواهی کرد من میدان� که امثال تو از چه قماشی ساخته شدهای�! لعنت بر همه نژاد و نسل شما! هرقدر از شما منزجر و بیزار باشم باز کم است. آری، همه به من میگوین� که من پیوسته همان سخنان را تکرار میکنم� آخر مگر نه آنست که جنس زنان نیز همیشه همان است که بوده است؟ اگر کسی یافت شد که توانست به زنان عفت و تقوا بیاموزد، آن وقت من از پایمال کردن نام آنان خودداری خواهم کرد!
August 8, 2018
ᾱóٴ (428 AC)
de Euripides - Grécia (480AC- 406AC)
Vénus, deusa do amor, invejosa do culto prestado a Ártemis pelo casto ᾱóٴ, enfeitiça Fedra para que esta se apaixone pelo enteado. Rejeitada por ᾱóٴ, Fedra suicida-se depois de escrever um papel onde acusa o enteado de a ter violado. Teseu expulsa o filho e apela a Neptuno que o castigue. Ao passar perto do mar, uma onda gigante, de onde sai um touro, assusta os cavalos de ᾱóٴ e este é trucidado.
(Peter Paul Rubens - The Death of Hippolytus)
Texto comum às peças ᾱóٴ de Euripides, Fedra de Seneca e Fedra de Racine:
Se há obras que dão reviravoltas na nossa vida de leitores, na minha, Metamorfoses de Ovídio foi uma delas. Desde que o li fiquei tomada de desmedida paixão por Mitologia e nunca me canso de ler sobre este mundo de deuses e mortais.
Em Ovídio li, pela primeira vez, sobre o amor fatal, e não correspondido, de Fedra pelo enteado ᾱóٴ. Agora, li de seguida as versões de Euripides, Seneca, Jean Racine e Sarah Kane.
As cinco versões, com ligeiras diferenças, têm todas a mesma base.
Uma história onde todos são simultaneamente culpados e inocentes, vítimas e carrascos; excepto ᾱóٴ pois o seu coração não se deixa tocar pelos desejos e paixões humanas. No final todos são destroçados porque sucumbiram ao amor, o sentimento mais nobre e mais feroz que domina e gera outros: o ciúme, o orgulho, a injustiça, a raiva, a vingança...
Pequeno resumo para enquadramento das personagens, comuns às quatro peças:
Teseu é filho de Egeu, rei de Atenas, e enteado de Medeia (a mulher de Jasão que matou os filhos). Teve um romance com Hipólita, uma rainha das Amazonas, de quem tem um filho: ᾱóٴ.
Em Creta reina Minos, filho de Zeus, casado com Pasífae de quem tem vários filhos, entre os quais Ariadne e Fedra. Tem também um enteado, filho duma paixoneta de Pasífae por um touro. Este mocinho, que dá pelo nome de Minotauro, vive preso no labirinto criado por Dédalo, e é morto por Teseu com a ajuda de Ariadne (a do fio). Teseu abandona a ajudante na ilha de Naxos, a qual acaba a casar com o fofinho Baco.
Teseu regressa a Creta e casa com Fedra. Tudo podia acabar bem se a tonta da Fedra não se embeiça-se pelo ᾱóٴ. É a história da paixão trágica de Fedra que inspirou as peças de Euripides, Seneca, Racine e Kane.
de Euripides - Grécia (480AC- 406AC)
Vénus, deusa do amor, invejosa do culto prestado a Ártemis pelo casto ᾱóٴ, enfeitiça Fedra para que esta se apaixone pelo enteado. Rejeitada por ᾱóٴ, Fedra suicida-se depois de escrever um papel onde acusa o enteado de a ter violado. Teseu expulsa o filho e apela a Neptuno que o castigue. Ao passar perto do mar, uma onda gigante, de onde sai um touro, assusta os cavalos de ᾱóٴ e este é trucidado.
(Peter Paul Rubens - The Death of Hippolytus)
Texto comum às peças ᾱóٴ de Euripides, Fedra de Seneca e Fedra de Racine:
Se há obras que dão reviravoltas na nossa vida de leitores, na minha, Metamorfoses de Ovídio foi uma delas. Desde que o li fiquei tomada de desmedida paixão por Mitologia e nunca me canso de ler sobre este mundo de deuses e mortais.
Em Ovídio li, pela primeira vez, sobre o amor fatal, e não correspondido, de Fedra pelo enteado ᾱóٴ. Agora, li de seguida as versões de Euripides, Seneca, Jean Racine e Sarah Kane.
As cinco versões, com ligeiras diferenças, têm todas a mesma base.
Uma história onde todos são simultaneamente culpados e inocentes, vítimas e carrascos; excepto ᾱóٴ pois o seu coração não se deixa tocar pelos desejos e paixões humanas. No final todos são destroçados porque sucumbiram ao amor, o sentimento mais nobre e mais feroz que domina e gera outros: o ciúme, o orgulho, a injustiça, a raiva, a vingança...
Pequeno resumo para enquadramento das personagens, comuns às quatro peças:
Teseu é filho de Egeu, rei de Atenas, e enteado de Medeia (a mulher de Jasão que matou os filhos). Teve um romance com Hipólita, uma rainha das Amazonas, de quem tem um filho: ᾱóٴ.
Em Creta reina Minos, filho de Zeus, casado com Pasífae de quem tem vários filhos, entre os quais Ariadne e Fedra. Tem também um enteado, filho duma paixoneta de Pasífae por um touro. Este mocinho, que dá pelo nome de Minotauro, vive preso no labirinto criado por Dédalo, e é morto por Teseu com a ajuda de Ariadne (a do fio). Teseu abandona a ajudante na ilha de Naxos, a qual acaba a casar com o fofinho Baco.
Teseu regressa a Creta e casa com Fedra. Tudo podia acabar bem se a tonta da Fedra não se embeiça-se pelo ᾱóٴ. É a história da paixão trágica de Fedra que inspirou as peças de Euripides, Seneca, Racine e Kane.
September 30, 2017
Hippolytus
By Euripides
First presented in 428 BC
I have reread this tragedy shortly after I had read the play of ‘Phaedra� by Racine.
Euripides work is an extremely beautiful reading pleasure and provides a very colorfully painted picture of events.
Especially the chorus and coryphe give the reader a feeling of participation.
The distribution of the drama is quite different from Racine’s play.
The actors are Theseus, the great Athenian hero, Phaedra his second wife, Hippolytus, her stepson, son of Ariane, the previous wife.
The weight of the tragedy is placed on Hippolytus, rather than on Phaedra.
The influence of the deities is in a more apparent presence.
Hippolytus worships the goddess of chastity, Artemis, while Phaedra gives her offerings to the goddess of love, Cypris.
Both humans are victims of the secret plans of their gods, who are jealous of each other, as goddesses would be.
Unlike in Racine’s play, Phaedra does not meet Hippolytus and declare her love to him.
Instead, under strict promise to never reveal her secret, Phaedra relenting to pressure, informs her maid of her sufferings.
The maid now on her own initiative gives the information to Hippolytus hoping that he may share the passion.
Hippolytus is horrified and offended and turns away in disgust.
As Phaedra hears of it and fearing the consequences commits suicide, but with a wicked plan of vengeance for her rejected love.
When Theseus finds the body of his wife, she clasps a written tablet in her hands, accusing Hippolytus of a forced adultery.
Theseus, outraged by this apparent treachery by his son, appeals to Poseidon, his own intimate god, to destroy Hippolytus.
And so it happened that poor Hippolytus got dragged along the seashore, thrown from his horse chariot and killed on the rocks.
However, while still able to mutter some words, he again swears of his innocence and forgives his father for the deadly spell he had cast on him.
So it came that Theseus, in his haste, had destroyed his child and his own life.
So, even with some differences, Euripides play is just as powerful and expressive as is Racine’s French version.
By Euripides
First presented in 428 BC
I have reread this tragedy shortly after I had read the play of ‘Phaedra� by Racine.
Euripides work is an extremely beautiful reading pleasure and provides a very colorfully painted picture of events.
Especially the chorus and coryphe give the reader a feeling of participation.
The distribution of the drama is quite different from Racine’s play.
The actors are Theseus, the great Athenian hero, Phaedra his second wife, Hippolytus, her stepson, son of Ariane, the previous wife.
The weight of the tragedy is placed on Hippolytus, rather than on Phaedra.
The influence of the deities is in a more apparent presence.
Hippolytus worships the goddess of chastity, Artemis, while Phaedra gives her offerings to the goddess of love, Cypris.
Both humans are victims of the secret plans of their gods, who are jealous of each other, as goddesses would be.
Unlike in Racine’s play, Phaedra does not meet Hippolytus and declare her love to him.
Instead, under strict promise to never reveal her secret, Phaedra relenting to pressure, informs her maid of her sufferings.
The maid now on her own initiative gives the information to Hippolytus hoping that he may share the passion.
Hippolytus is horrified and offended and turns away in disgust.
As Phaedra hears of it and fearing the consequences commits suicide, but with a wicked plan of vengeance for her rejected love.
When Theseus finds the body of his wife, she clasps a written tablet in her hands, accusing Hippolytus of a forced adultery.
Theseus, outraged by this apparent treachery by his son, appeals to Poseidon, his own intimate god, to destroy Hippolytus.
And so it happened that poor Hippolytus got dragged along the seashore, thrown from his horse chariot and killed on the rocks.
However, while still able to mutter some words, he again swears of his innocence and forgives his father for the deadly spell he had cast on him.
So it came that Theseus, in his haste, had destroyed his child and his own life.
So, even with some differences, Euripides play is just as powerful and expressive as is Racine’s French version.
April 27, 2021
A tragic love story drawing from the Potipharian archetype? A treatise against the death penalty? A refutation of post-Revolution Soviet thought? A prescient-by-2500-years allegory of American involement in Vietnam? The world shall never know.
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January 30, 2025john mulaney voice i think hippolytus is aroace
January 9, 2018
"Besides I knew
too well I was a woman, and must be
abhorred by all."
Euripides never lets me down.
The full title of the edition I read is "Hippolytus in Drama and Myth." It's translated by Donald Sutherland and includes an essay by Hazel E. Barnes.
The base myth of the eponymous Hippolytus portrays him as a shining exemplar of virtuousness and chastity, a kind of saint. The story goes like this: his stepmother Phaedra falls in love with him but he rejects her advances, and in revenge, she accuses him (falsely) of rape. His infuriated father Theseus believes Phaedra, and so exiles Hippolytus and curses him, whereby he meets his end tragically, pure and true to the very last. Hippolytus is someone virgin girls can look up to on festival days and proffer offerings to at temples, a role model of goodness.
But Euripides doesn't let the story rest at that. Instead, in his play he forges Phaedra into a sympathetic character, noble in her own way. Hippolytus becomes self-righteous and unbearable. And the conflict between the two-- between desire and abstinence, impulse and restraint, connection and isolation -- becomes the heart of the tale. Phaedra (and through her, Aphrodite) represents one end of the spectrum, and Hippolytus (and through him, Artemis) the other. Once again the Greeks are powerless to shape their destinies, and become mere pawns in the games of the gods. These same deities who -- by the very nature of their divine characteristics-- are necessarily forever in opposition, elemental forces pulling humans first that way, then the other.
Instead of Phaedra being the villain, it's really Aphrodite, who "breathes a deadly honeyed breath" over everything, that's at fault in Euripides' retelling. Hippolytus would rather worship Artemis than her. In order to “glut her anger" over this slight, she curses Phaedra with a forbidden and burning love of him.
Poor Phaedra. She's powerless to subdue this desire, and she's driven to suicide "in abhorrence of" the potential loss of honor, the shame of it all. Phaedra's honor being such an essential part of herself and identity reminded me of how a knight's or samurai's honor is so important that they also would die in its name. I feel like I've encountered a lot of narratives about a man's honor but not as much about a woman's honor (unless we're talking chastity). It's a perhaps small distinction, but I found it interesting seeing her, rather than someone else, take on sole responsibility for the protection of her honor, even if it ended in suicide.
Hippolytus I found insufferable. His cruel speech to Phaedra really proves that his arrogant belief that he is a perfect, infallible man is completely deluded. I agree with Theseus, who says to him: “You kill me with your sanctimoniousness!� and accuses him of “rapt worship" of himself. In fact, I can't imagine anyone reading this play and not being totally put off by Hippolytus. For one thing, he's an unrepentant misogynist. His hatred of women is unfettered and passionate, to the point of religion. This is the guy who says:
"O Zeus, why have you sent this counterfeit
this vileness, Woman, to inhabit the world?"
His other choice descriptions of women include: “noxious growth� and “monster�; he rants about � how great an evil a wife is"; declares “I loathe a clever woman� and that he'll "never have enough of hating women." And his mania for chastity takes on the hue of rigidity, of an unbending, horrifying obsession. He says: “Either let someone show me they are chaste or let me trample on these creatures still."
So it's with great satisfaction, and no sympathy or anger at Theseus, that you read his cursed end, as he's dragged into the "loud salt sea" :
"Up in the air flew bolts and spokes of the wheels
and axle-pins. And poor Hippolytus
wound in the reins, was dragged along, being tied
by bonds that would not loosen, in the dust
dashing his head against the rocks, tearing
his flesh, and howling dreadful cries to hear
“Stop! Stop! You mares fed at my cribs! Do not
annihilate me! Oh my father’s curse!"
In her essay, Barnes writes of Euripides:
"Rather he seems to be stressing the idea that each of these forces in man calls for an absolute commitment which will brook no compromise, that once the individual yields to either of these needs of his nature, his will is no longer free to balance and moderate.�
Hippolytus' unyielding chastity and virtuousness, his attempt at (and belief he's achieved) a perfection and purity not seem in humans, is his downfall. Paradoxically, it's his strict orthodoxy to virtue that leads him to cruelty (against Phaedra); a kind of sterile emotionless treatment of those around him; and eventually to Theseus disowning him and casting a bitter death curse on him. The sea takes him, a wild force that at long last, will succeed in submerging his self-importance.
April 14, 2022
Making my way through the Greek tragedies and you can't help but think that the invention of the gods was man's biggest self-own.
January 13, 2022
Hipolitas buvo žiauriai nubaustas dievų už tai, kad buvo pernelyg� doras ir skaistus. Ir koks turėtų būti tokios pjesės moralas? Gal, kad net dorybės reikalauja saiko, ir jeigu esi labai perspaustai teisuoliškas, gali tuo užrūstinti dievus? Arba gal, kad dievai ne visada yra teisingi, ir todėl žmonės gali gauti visai ne tai, ko nusipelno? Nežinau, bet toks pagrindinės minties neaiškumas įgalina įvairias interpretacijas, o man tai yra vienas iš gero kūrinio požymių.
March 31, 2025
3.5 ⭐️ Another great play by Euripides. Tragic, heartbreaking, sad. Wonderful insights into the human psyche & love.
February 16, 2017
Once again, the gods ruin everyone's lives and also cause their tragic death by execution or suicide. Sucks being an ancient Greek.
Hippolytus worships Artemis, the Virgin goddess and out of devotion remains chaste. Aphrodite considers this as a personal affront and decides to avenge herself against him by causing his stepmother, Phaedra, to fall in love with him.
While his father, Theseus is away, Phaedra, after spending pages lamenting her lot and helpless desire confides to her nurse, who then tells Hippolytus. Hippolytus then embarks on his own lengthy soliloquy, railing against the wretched nature of women and their inferiority. He's so ugly about it that I almost didn't care what was about to happen to him, the jerk.
But it isn't fair what happens. Theseus comes home to find his wife has hanged herself. She has left a tablet on which she has written that Hippolytus has raped her. Theseus is enraged and exiles his son, then calls upon his father, Poseidon to avenge him, which he obligingly does, proving that the Greek gods are not omniscient or Poseidon would have known Hippolytus was innocent. Then again, considering how he treated Odysseus, maybe he's just a sorry sapsucker.
Naturally Artemis comes to inform Theseus of the truth of the matter after its too late. Theseus rushes to his dying son, who forgives him.
It's interesting to me how often mankind is shown to have greater honor and virtue than the gods in many of these plays and sagas.
The chorus plays a small role in this play, only occasionally inserting a third person narrative, usually a lament.
All of the Greek plays I have read so far seem to implicitly describe a great force that draws mankind like an inexorable twine of steel along a predestined path. Plays are mostly dialogue, but through the words one can hear the cry of one being forced to travel a line of destiny through a travesty of events that cause their doom.
I wonder how they arrived at this conclusion? Could it be the result of ancient peoples turning from their authentic Creator and worshiping false gods and ultimately becoming enslaved by their own falsehood?
Hippolytus worships Artemis, the Virgin goddess and out of devotion remains chaste. Aphrodite considers this as a personal affront and decides to avenge herself against him by causing his stepmother, Phaedra, to fall in love with him.
While his father, Theseus is away, Phaedra, after spending pages lamenting her lot and helpless desire confides to her nurse, who then tells Hippolytus. Hippolytus then embarks on his own lengthy soliloquy, railing against the wretched nature of women and their inferiority. He's so ugly about it that I almost didn't care what was about to happen to him, the jerk.
But it isn't fair what happens. Theseus comes home to find his wife has hanged herself. She has left a tablet on which she has written that Hippolytus has raped her. Theseus is enraged and exiles his son, then calls upon his father, Poseidon to avenge him, which he obligingly does, proving that the Greek gods are not omniscient or Poseidon would have known Hippolytus was innocent. Then again, considering how he treated Odysseus, maybe he's just a sorry sapsucker.
Naturally Artemis comes to inform Theseus of the truth of the matter after its too late. Theseus rushes to his dying son, who forgives him.
It's interesting to me how often mankind is shown to have greater honor and virtue than the gods in many of these plays and sagas.
The chorus plays a small role in this play, only occasionally inserting a third person narrative, usually a lament.
All of the Greek plays I have read so far seem to implicitly describe a great force that draws mankind like an inexorable twine of steel along a predestined path. Plays are mostly dialogue, but through the words one can hear the cry of one being forced to travel a line of destiny through a travesty of events that cause their doom.
I wonder how they arrived at this conclusion? Could it be the result of ancient peoples turning from their authentic Creator and worshiping false gods and ultimately becoming enslaved by their own falsehood?
August 13, 2013
A beautiful play with a simple plot but too many meanings & intertwined themes! It is a play about human emotions & feelings (e.g. jealousy, passion, anger, shame) and characteristics (e.g. impulsiveness), as well as it is a play about the human condition (subject to the will of deity). Moreover, it is about relationships, the relationship between people, between man and gods, and the relationships between the gods themselves. Human are subject to gods� rules, decisions, and orders, and cannot escape their own dictated fates. Euripides shows that there gods share emotions similar to humans; for instance Aphrodite feels jealous of Artemis, who was devotedly worshiped by Hippolytus who choose to remain virgin. Moreover, these two goddesses may represent both erotic love (Aphrodite) and continence and chastity or virginal love (Artemis), and the conflict between these two types of love. On the other hand, although the reactions of the characters� can be excused somehow as they were a kind of victims to the goddesses� wills, but they show some flaw that also contributed to their tragic ending; for instance, Theseus� reaction to Phaedra’s letter, coupled with his anger and impulsiveness led him to bring curses on his son, who died as a result; he did not even want to hear his son’s defense (blinded by his anger). One important issue is the breaking of trust and betrayal, which can be seen between Phaedra and her husband, and Phaedra toward Hippolytus (the letter), the nurse and Phaedra (she broke her promise of confidentiality). I feel that this play can bring more and more meanings after many readings and can be read more than once in order to reach its different meanings.
May 21, 2018
"Many a time in night's long empty spacesHippolytus tells the story of Theseus' wife Phaedra, who is put under a love-spell by the vengeful Aphrodite after the latter is spurned by Phaedra's stepson Hyppolytus. Sick with love for her stepson, Phaedra is at her wits' end and finally shares her shameful secret with her nurse, who proceeds to tell Hyppolytus about it, albeit under oath. Phaedra, devastated by this turn of events, proceeds to take her own life, leaving a suicide note that accuses Hyppolytus of having raped her. Theseus, coming home to all this and refusing to believe Hyppolytus over his dead wife, curses Hyppolytus with (it turns out) one of the three wishes granted to him by Poseidon. He banishes Hyppolytus, but alas, having been cursed, he quickly dies. Artemis, another god whom Hyppolytus favored over Aphrodite, finally reveals the twisted machinations of Aphrodite to Theseus while Hyppolytus lies dying.
I have pondered on the causes of a life's shipwreck.
I think that our lives are worse than the mind's quality
would warrant. There are many who know good sense.
But look. We know the good, we see it clear.
But we can't bring it to achievement."
September 18, 2017
kısaca kişiler, konu;
-Atina'nın efsanevi kralı Theseus, koca,
-Theseus eşi, Kraliçe Phaidra-Phaedra-Faedra, burada üvey ana, üvey oğlu Hippolytosa aşık olur. acıdan kendini asar.
-Hippolytos, oğulları. talihsiz adam, habersiz aşktan suçlanır, babası buna kıza sürgüne gönderir. fakat zeus bir boğası sebbiyle babasının kollarında ölür.
konu, islam tarihinde Züleyha’nın Yusuf’a olan yasak aşkına benzer.
-Atina'nın efsanevi kralı Theseus, koca,
-Theseus eşi, Kraliçe Phaidra-Phaedra-Faedra, burada üvey ana, üvey oğlu Hippolytosa aşık olur. acıdan kendini asar.
-Hippolytos, oğulları. talihsiz adam, habersiz aşktan suçlanır, babası buna kıza sürgüne gönderir. fakat zeus bir boğası sebbiyle babasının kollarında ölür.
konu, islam tarihinde Züleyha’nın Yusuf’a olan yasak aşkına benzer.
June 13, 2017
ثم أليس العاشقون في أشدّ حاجة إلى الأصدقاء عندما يكون الموت على البابِ قريب؟ إنّ أفروديت لا ترحم عندما تكون غَضوب، إنّها تلاحق الوديع في سكينة، ثم إنّ
.وجدت قنصها عنيدًا وله خيال خصب، أنشبت فيه أظفارها وسحقته، لا تَخيب، تذهب في الجو عَصفًا وفي خضم البحار، كلٌ لها مستجيب
.احتمل الحب فهو إرداة من ربة لا تُذمّ
.وجدت قنصها عنيدًا وله خيال خصب، أنشبت فيه أظفارها وسحقته، لا تَخيب، تذهب في الجو عَصفًا وفي خضم البحار، كلٌ لها مستجيب
.احتمل الحب فهو إرداة من ربة لا تُذمّ
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