Hippolytus

Not to be confused with Euripides’ tragedy Hippolytus.

Hippolytus was the son of Theseus and an Amazon, a young hunter devoted to Artemis who refused the love of Aphrodite. His stepmother Phaedra fell in love with him, and when he rejected her, Theseus believed her false accusation and cursed him. Poseidon sent a bull from the sea and Hippolytus was dragged to death by his own horses. He is the hero of Euripides’ tragedy Hippolytus.

Parentage

Hippolytus was the son of Theseus by an Amazon. Euripides calls him “the son of Theseus, born of the Amazon” and says that he was brought up by the pure Pittheus at Troezen (Euripides, Hippolytus 10–12). The ancient sources do not agree on her name. Apollodorus says that Theseus carried off Antiope, or, as some say, Melanippe, while Simonides called her Hippolyte (Apollodorus, Epitome 1.16). When Theseus married Phaedra, daughter of Minos, the Amazon came with her warriors to the wedding feast and threatened the guests; she was killed, some say by Theseus himself in battle (Epitome 1.16–17). Phaedra bore Theseus two sons, Acamas and Demophon (Epitome 1.18).

Devotee of Artemis

In Euripides, Hippolytus alone of the citizens of Troezen says that Aphrodite is the worst of the gods; he avoids marriage and honours Artemis, the sister of Phoebus, as the greatest of the gods, spending his time in the green woods with the virgin goddess and hunting animals with his swift hounds (Euripides, Hippolytus 10–19). Aphrodite, angry at being slighted, plans to destroy him through Phaedra (Euripides, Hippolytus 1–57).

Phaedra and the Curse

In Euripides, Phaedra, wife of Theseus, falls in love with her stepson through the will of Aphrodite, but resists the passion and tries to die rather than to confess it. Her nurse reveals her secret to Hippolytus, who answers with horror. Phaedra then hangs herself and leaves a tablet in which she accuses Hippolytus of violating her (Euripides, Hippolytus 856–886). In Apollodorus, Phaedra herself asks Hippolytus to lie with her; he refuses, because he hated all women, and Phaedra, afraid that he would denounce her to his father, breaks open the doors of her chamber, tears her garments and falsely accuses him of an attack. When her passion became public, she hanged herself (Apollodorus, Epitome 1.18–19).

Theseus believed the accusation. In Euripides he prays to his father Poseidon to use one of the three curses the god once promised him; he declares that Hippolytus will either be sent to the house of Hades by Poseidon or be driven out of the land to wander and to lead a miserable life in a foreign country (Euripides, Hippolytus 887–898). In Apollodorus, Theseus prayed to Poseidon that Hippolytus might perish (Epitome 1.19).

Death

As Hippolytus drove his chariot along the shore of the Saronic Gulf, a roar like thunder came from the earth and a huge wave rose from the sea, which brought forth a bull; the horses took fright, the chariot was smashed and Hippolytus was dragged by the reins (Euripides, Hippolytus 1198–1248; Apollodorus, Epitome 1.19). Artemis appeared to the dying Hippolytus and told Theseus the truth; Artemis promised to avenge him on the mortal most dear to Aphrodite, and father and son were reconciled before Hippolytus died, freeing Theseus from the guilt of his death (Euripides, Hippolytus 1283–1466). She also promised that the unmarried girls of Troezen would cut their hair for him and that songs would be sung to him for ever (Euripides, Hippolytus 1423–1430).

After Death

Several traditions continue the story. At Troezen, Pausanias saw a famous precinct of Hippolytus with a temple, a priest who held office for life, and the custom by which every maiden before marriage cuts off a lock of hair and dedicates it to him. The Troezenians would not admit that he was dragged to death by his horses and identified him with the constellation of the Charioteer. The grave of Phaedra lay near the myrtle whose leaves she had pierced, and there was a temple of Aphrodite the Spy from which she watched him exercise (Pausanias 2.32.1–4). At Athens there was a mound of Hippolytus on the road to the Acropolis (Pausanias 1.22.1).

In another tradition Asclepius raised Hippolytus from the dead (Apollodorus, Library 3.10.3). The people of Aricia in Italy said that Hippolytus, brought back to life, refused to forgive his father and went to Italy, where he became king and devoted a precinct to Artemis (Pausanias 2.27.4). In Ovid, Hippolytus himself tells that Diana hid him in a cloud, made him older and hardly recognizable, and gave him the name Virbius, to be one of the lesser gods in her grove (Ovid, Metamorphoses 15.497–546).

Other Figures Named Hippolytus

Another Hippolytus was one of the Giants, killed by Hermes in the Gigantomachy (Apollodorus, Library 1.6.2).

Hippolytus Sources

Ancient sources: Euripides, Hippolytus 1–57, 856–898, 1198–1248, 1283–1466; Apollodorus, Epitome 1.16–19 and Library 3.10.3; Ovid, Metamorphoses 15.497–546; Pausanias 1.22.1, 2.27.4, 2.32.1–4.

See Also: Theseus, Phaedra, Artemis, Phaedra and Hippolytus, Aphrodite, Poseidon, Asclepius, Amazons