Olympians
AphroditeApolloAresArtemisAthenaHadesHephaestusHeraHermesHestiaPoseidonZeusAll Olympians
Titans
AsteriaAstraeusAtlasClymeneCriusCronusDioneEosEpimetheusEurybiaEurynomeHyperionAll Titans
Greek Gods
AeolusAetherAmphitriteAnemoiApateAsclepiusAuraBiaChaosCirceDeimosDemeterAll Greek Gods
Myths
CreaturesElementsFiguresGigantesGreek MythsHeroesMonstersMortalsMoviesNorsePlacesPlanetsAll Myths
Plays
AeschylusAristophanesEuripidesSophoclesAll Plays
Ancient Sources
ApollodorusHomerHesiodAeschylusSophoclesEuripidesAristophanesApolloniusOvidPausaniasPindarAll Ancient Sources
Olympians
Olympians
AphroditeApolloAresArtemisAthenaHadesHephaestusHeraHermesHestiaPoseidonZeusAll Olympians
Titans
Titans
AsteriaAstraeusAtlasClymeneCriusCronusDioneEosEpimetheusEurybiaEurynomeHyperionAll Titans
Greek Gods
Greek Gods
AeolusAetherAmphitriteAnemoiApateAsclepiusAuraBiaChaosCirceDeimosDemeterAll Greek Gods
Myths
Myths
CreaturesElementsFiguresGigantesGreek MythsHeroesMonstersMortalsMoviesNorsePlacesPlanetsAll Myths
Plays
Plays
AeschylusAristophanesEuripidesSophoclesAll Plays
Ancient Sources
Ancient Sources
ApollodorusHomerHesiodAeschylusSophoclesEuripidesAristophanesApolloniusOvidPausaniasPindarAll Ancient Sources

Euripides · Hippolytus Ἱππόλυτος

Euripides, Hippolytus 581–615: Third episode: Hippolytus learns of Phaedra's love

Ancient Sources / Euripides / Hippolytus / 581–615

Phaedra hears the voice of Hippolytus, the son of the Amazon, who is cursing the Nurse for having brought him such a proposal, and she knows that she is lost. The Nurse begs him to keep silent about what he has heard, and he says that his tongue swore but not his mind, and that he will tell his father.

Lines 581–615 · 287 words · click a number to copy its link

Phaedra

581–582
581ὁ τῆς φιλίππου παῖς Ἀμαζόνος βοᾷ Ἱππόλυτος, αὐδῶν δεινὰ πρόσπολον κακά.

’Tis the son of the horse-loving Amazon who calls, Hippolytus, uttering foul curses on my servant.

Chorus

585–587
585ἀχὰν μὲν κλύω, σαφὲς δ’ οὐκ ἔχω· γεγωνεῖ δ’ ὅπᾳ διὰ πύλας ἔμολεν ἔμολε σοὶ βοά.

I hear a noise, but cannot clearly tell which way it comes. Ah! ’tis through the door the sound reached thee.

Phaedra

589–590
589καὶ μὴν σαφῶς γε τὴν κακῶν προμνήστριαν, 590τὴν δεσπότου προδοῦσαν ἐξαυδᾷ λέχος.

Yes, yes, he is calling her plainly enough a go-between in vice, traitress to her master’s honour.

591–595
Χορός 591ὤμοι ἐγὼ κακῶν· προδέδοσαι, φίλα. τί σοι μήσομαι; τὰ κρυπτὰ γὰρ πέφηνε, διὰ δ’ ὄλλυσαι — Φαίδρα αἰαῖ, ἒ ἔ. Χορός 595πρόδοτος ἐκ φίλων.

Chorus Woe, woe is me! thou art betrayed, dear mistress! What counsel shall I give thee? thy secret is out; thou art utterly undone.

Phaedra Ah me! ah me!

Chorus Betrayed by friends!

596–600
Φαίδρα 596ἀπώλεσέν μ’ εἰποῦσα συμφορὰς ἐμάς, φίλως, καλῶς δ’ οὐ τήνδ’ ἰωμένη νόσον. Χορός πῶς οὖν; τί δράσεις, ὦ παθοῦσ’ ἀμήχανα; Φαίδρα οὐκ οἶδα πλὴν ἕν· κατθανεῖν ὅσον τάχος, 600τῶν νῦν παρόντων πημάτων ἄκος μόνον.

Phaedra She hath ruined me by speaking of my misfortune; ’twas kindly meant, but an ill way to cure my malady.

Chorus O what wilt thou do now in thy cruel dilemma?

Phaedra I only know one way, one cure for these my woes and that is instant death.

601–615
Ἱππόλυτος 601ὦ γαῖα μῆτερ ἡλίου τ’ ἀναπτυχαί, οἵων λόγων ἄρρητον εἰσήκουσ’ ὄπα. Τροφός σίγησον, ὦ παῖ, πρίν τιν’ αἰσθέσθαι βοῆς. Ἱππόλυτος οὐκ ἔστ’ ἀκούσας δείν’ ὅπως σιγήσομαι. Τροφός 605ναὶ πρός σε τῆς σῆς δεξιᾶς εὐωλένου. Ἱππόλυτος οὐ μὴ προσοίσεις χεῖρα μηδ’ ἅψῃ πέπλων. Τροφός ὦ πρός σε γονάτων, μηδαμῶς μ’ ἐξεργάσῃ. Ἱππόλυτος τί δ’, εἴπερ, ὡς φῄς, μηδὲν εἴρηκας κακόν; Τροφός ὁ μῦθος, ὦ παῖ, κοινὸς οὐδαμῶς ὅδε. Ἱππόλυτος 610τά τοι κάλ’ ἐν πολλοῖσι κάλλιον λέγειν. Τροφός ὦ τέκνον, ὅρκους μηδαμῶς ἀτιμάσῃς. Ἱππόλυτος ἡ γλῶσσ’ ὀμώμοχ’, ἡ δὲ φρὴν ἀνώμοτος. Τροφός ὦ παῖ, τί δράσεις; σοὺς φίλους διεργάσῃ; Ἱππόλυτος ἀπέπτυσ’· οὐδεὶς ἄδικός ἐστί μοι φίλος. Τροφός 615σύγγνωθ’· ἁμαρτεῖν εἰκὸς ἀνθρώπους, τέκνον.

Hippolytus O mother earth! O sun’s unclouded orb! What words, unfit for any lips, have reached my ears!

Nurse Peace, my son, lest some one hear thy outcry.

Hippolytus I cannot hear such awful words and hold my peace.

Nurse I do implore thee by thy fair right hand.

Hippolytus Let go my hand, touch not my robe.

Nurse O by thy knees I pray, destroy me not utterly.

Hippolytus Why say this, if, as thou pretendest, thy lips are free from blame?

Nurse My son, this is no story to be noised abroad.

Hippolytus A virtuous tale grows fairer told to many.

Nurse Never dishonour thy oath, thy son.

Hippolytus My tongue an oath did take, but not my heart.

Nurse My son, what wilt thou do? destroy thy friends?

Hippolytus Friends indeed! the wicked are no friends of mine.

Nurse O pardon me; to err is only human, child.

People and places in this passage

Passages in other works that tell of the same people and places, oldest and closest first.

  1. Pausanias, Description of Greece 2.32.1–10Troezen: Hippolytus’ precinct, the acropolis and the roads from the city
  2. Apollodorus, The Library (Bibliotheca), with the Epitome E.1.1–24Theseus and the Minotaur; Daedalus, Phaedra and Pirithous
  3. Diodorus Siculus, Library of History, Books 4 to 6 (the Greek myths) 4.59.1–4.63.5Theseus
  4. Pausanias, Description of Greece 1.22.1–8Athens: Propylaea, Wingless Victory and the picture gallery of the Acropolis

English translation by Edward P. Coleridge (1891). Original text: Greek text: Gilbert Murray (ed.), Euripidis Fabulae, Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1902, as digitised by Perseus. English: Edward P. Coleridge, The Plays of Euripides, London: George Bell and Sons, first published 1891 (Bohn's Classical Library; the Perseus header records a later printing).

Greek text and translation from the Perseus Digital Library, Tufts University, CC BY-SA 4.0 (Perseus Digital Library); translation public domain. Introductions, summaries and notes © GreekMythology.com.