ALCESTIS
1. Fates: according to other authors, Apollo extracted the promise by getting the Fates drunk; perhaps Euripides thought that this would detract from Apollo’s dignity in this scene.
2. pollution: the gods are immortal, and should not be contaminated with the ugliness of death. Similarly, Artemis leaves Hippolytus before he expires (1437–41).
3. I see Death: Death is not one of the regular Olympian gods, though he figures in the Iliad. In this scene he is treated like a bogeyman, an almost grotesque stage villain. This is one feature which makes the Alcestis an untypical tragedy.
4. …wintry regions: the arrival of Heracles is anticipated without naming him; the audience would know who was meant when they heard the name of his task-master Eurystheus.
5. be it Lycia…Ammon has his shrine: Lycia is in southern Turkey; the oracle of Ammon lay in the Libyan desert. The exotic names suggest vast remoteness.
6. Phoebus’ son: Asclepius, the great healer, mentioned by Apollo in the prologue. He was slain by Zeus for transgressing the limits of his craft by recalling the dead to life.
7. Hestia’s altar: Hestia, a rather shadowy figure, was the personification of the hearth and presided over the inner household.
8. Lord Healer: Apollo.
9. Admetus, you see…: to modern readers it seems peculiar that Alcestis not only spends so long dying (a technique paralleled in opera) but also rallies here and makes a much more coherent speech after a phase of delirium and violent emotion. This is a common device in Greek tragedy: what is first treated in lyric is then presented anew, from a different perspective, in rational dialogue. There is a similar sequence when Phaedra first appears in the Hippolytus
10. I will put an end to them: Admetus’ prohibition here is to be reversed when Heracles appears, determined to enjoy himself.
11. a statue in your image: this bizarre idea seems to be a re-use by Euripides of a motif found in Thessalian legend, which he had presented in his own Protesilaus. In that play the widowed Laodamia kept an image of her husband in her chamber. Admetus goes further in proposing to embrace the statue in his bed.
12. Orpheus: the mythical singer Orpheus descended to the underworld and enchanted even the powers of Hades with his song in an effort to recover his dead wife. The later versions emphasized his failure, but it is possible that Euripides means that he succeeded.
13. ONE OF THE CHILDREN: as far as the extant plays show, only Euripides gave children speaking parts. This is part of the ‘democratizing’ of tragedy which is referred to in Aristophanes’ Frogs as Euripides’ special achievement (see General Introduction III).
14. death’s debtors: here and often later in the play the chorus give Admetus consolatory advice, in an effort to soothe his grief and make him see his loss as part of the human lot. These sombre counsels may seem heartless to modern readers, but the point is to contrast the extreme grief of the sufferer with the more measured response of the onlooker.
15. bequeathed to bards: it is possible, but not certain, that these lines are aetiological’ (concerned with origins): that is, like some of the speeches made at the end of Euripides’ plays, they foretell religious practice which continued in the poet’s own time. The Carneia, a festival of Apollo at Sparta, may well have involved songs about his achievements, including his kindness to Admetus’ house. The reference to Athens could even be a glancing allusion to Euripides’ own play.
16. Eurystheus of Tiryns: Eurystheus, king of Tiryns, was the tyrant who set Heracles the twelve labours. He figures as a character in The Children of Heracles.
17. She is both alive and dead: Admetus’ response, unlike the servant’s earlier (141), is artificial: either he means that Alcestis is not yet buried, or that she is still vividly alive in his thoughts. In either case it is inevitable that Heracles will be misled. The audience can relish the deeper irony, that she is dead but will soon return to life.
18. A woman…: typical ambiguity: Heracles assumes that they were ‘just talking about’ the woman before he arrived, but Admetus actually means Alcestis, of whom the two of them were talking a moment ago.
19. …the havenless shore: all the place-names in this stanza refer to parts of the kingdom of Admetus in Thessaly.
20. Lydia…or Phrygia: this suits fifth-century BC Athens, where slaves were often imported from overseas, better than mythical Thessaly. Minor anachronisms of this kind are quite common in Greek tragedy.
21. garlanded and drunk: Heracles, the strongest of the heroes, was regularly presented in comedy as a lover of food, drink and other physical pleasures, sometimes also as rather slow on the uptake. In tragedy he is usually a more formidable and serious figure, but here, no doubt partly because of the ‘satyric’ role of the Alcestis (see Introduction), he plays the buffoon and offers the servant a plain man’s doctrine of hedonism.
22. Cypris: Aphrodite, goddess of love. Wine and love-making go together in Heracles’ mind.
23. the Maid and her lord: Persephone and Hades, who preside over the world of the dead. There was some tendency to avoid using Persephone’s name, hence ‘the Maid’.
24. ADMETUS: the following passage down to 934 (‘the strong arms of death’)isinlyrics; thereafter Admetus addresses the chorus in spoken metre (another example of the convention described above in note 9). On the printed page this prolonged lamentation may seem stilted and repetitive, but in performance it would be one of the most powerful scenes in the drama. Ritualized mourning is central to Greek tragedy.
25. Necessity: this term, here treated as more or less equivalent to ‘Destiny’, has a slightly modern, philosophical flavour, which suits the notion of the chorus exploring different religious doctrines.
26. Orpheus: here the idea of Orpheus as a religious authority is paramount. Since he had descended to the underworld in search of his wife, he was thought to have possessed special insight into life and death. In Euripides’ own time ‘Orphic’ books of religious teaching were popular.
27. sons of Asclepius: the medical profession claimed Apollo’s son Asclepius as their ancestor or patron.
28. HERACLES: Heracles plays a trick on Admetus, paying him back for his equally well-intentioned deception. Admetus had pretended Alcestis still lived, Heracles conceals the fact that she is alive again. He also tests both Admetus’ hospitality and his determination to stick by his vows that no other woman will dwell in the house. Admetus passes one test but fails the other. How we should judge him remains one of the most difficult issues the play raises.
29. Gorgon: the monstrous Gorgon Medusa was so ugly that any creature who looked ather turned to stone. The hero Perseus succeeded in chopping her head off by looking not at her but at her reflection in his shield.
30. Why is this?: Heracles answers by describing a religious prohibition, analogous to the rules connected with Greek burial: on the third day food could be offered again at the grave. There are also good dramatic reasons: to allow Alcestis to speak again would almost certainly be anti-climactic. Also, the play can otherwise be performed with two actors, and the player who had been Alcestis is now acting the part of Heracles!
31. royal son of Sthenelus: Eurystheus.
32.Many are the forms…today: this choral tail-piece is repeated at the end of several Euripidean plays, and there is controversy as to whether it belongs in all these places. It suits the plot of the Alcestis best of all.
MEDEA
1. NURSE: as often in Greek tragedy, recapitulation of the preceding actions also involves exploration of the causes leading to present disaster. The Nurse refers to the following events: Jason was sent on a seemingly hopeless quest for the golden fleece by his usurper uncle Pelias. In the ship Argo he journeyed through dangerous waters to Colchis on the Black Sea, where Medea, daughter of the king, fell in love with him and aided him in winning the fleece. He returned successfully to Greece with Medea, who then tricked Pelias’ daughters into killing their father in the vain hope that Medea’s spells would rejuvenate him. As a result of this atrocity both Jason and Medea had to live in exile in Corinth; at this point the play’s story begins.
2. O Father dear…: Medea does not refer to her brother Apsyrtos, whom she slaughtered on leaving Colchis to delay pursuit. This is referred to later in the play (166–7; 1333), but would not suit the initial sympathetic treatment of the heroine.
3. She hates her children…: already Euripides begins to drop hints of the horrific deed to come (as later in this scene, when the Nurse addresses the children). The deliberate killing of the children by Medea may well be his own contribution to the story.
4. measured tones: the long speech that follows is remarkable in both tone and content. Medea, previously heard ranting and screaming within, now speaks coherently and argues her case. We see that she is able to control and mask her feelings (as later with Creon and in the second encounter with Jason). The speech also includes general comment on the misfortunes of the female sex which has a remarkably modern flavour, and would no doubt have seemed still more startling to the male-dominated audience of Euripides. Medea shows her intelligence and expresses the woman’s viewpoint with memorable force.
5. your silence: the presence of the chorus on stage often makes promises of this kind necessary (this happens also in Hippolytus 714). The sympathy of the women for Medea makes it natural for them to agree, but they will later be appalled at the lengths to which her anger takes her.
6. Sisyphean wedding: the adjective means ‘Corinthian’, as Sisyphus was an earlier king there. But as he was also a notorious sinner (already subject to eternal punishment in Homer’s Odyssey), the implication is that Jason’s remarriage is a criminal act.
7. …of men’s: the chorus declare that men have imposed their viewpoint on posterity because they have in general composed the songs which preserve memory of the past. Now, they think, Medea’s daring revenge will strike a blow for women, and overturn the reputation women have for infidelity. Gilbert Murray’s translation of the ode was used by suffragettes early in the twentieth century.
8. the field of death: this refers to the tasks Aeetes, Medea’s father, insisted that Jason must perform before taking the fleece. He had to harness fire-breathing bulls and use them to plough a field in which he must sow seeds which grew up as armed warriors. Only Medea’s potions guaranteed him invulnerability.
9. content with them: the stress Jason lays on offspring in the rest of his speech shows how decisive Medea’s counter-stroke will be.
10. behaving unjustly: it is unusual for a chorus to side so emphatically with one speaker in a debate-scene of this type; this clearly indicates the weakness of Jason’s case.
11. EnterAEGEUS: Aristotle in his Poetics (ch. 25) complained that the arrival of Aegeus was inartistic, being a convenient coincidence unmotivated by anything earlier in the play. Opinions may differ as to the effectiveness of the scene, but it is important that Aegeus’ childlessness further stimulates Medea in conceiving a plan which will give the maximum pain to her husband. It is in any case likely that the subsequent career of Medea in Athens was already established as part of the legend (see note 15 below).
12. prophetic navel: the Greeks thought of Apollo’s shrine at Delphi as being at the centre of the habitable world.
13. the wineskin’s jutting neck: the meaning is that Aegeus should not make love to a woman before reaching his home. Oracles were proverbially obscure.
14. Oh, I appeal to you…: the process of ‘supplication’, a kind of self-abasement before a potential benefactor, is found frequently in Greek literature. It has a strong religious element (Zeus was thought to protect the rights of suppliants). An entreaty of this kind is hard to resist.
15. father sons: this looks forward to events outside the play: in one version, already current in Euripides’ time, Medea lived with Aegeus and bore him a son, Medus. Later, when Theseus, Aegeus’ true heir, arrived in Athens after being reared elsewhere, Medea failed in an attempt to murder him and had to flee into exile once more. See the account in Plutarch, Theseus (in Plutarch, Rise and Fall of Athens, tr. I. Scott-Kilvert, London 1960).
16. The fate…against the gods: according to legend, oath-breakers were tormented in the underworld by the Furies.
17. kill my own children: this is the first time Medea has explicitly declared her intention, and the chorus’s reaction shows that this moment marks a major change in their attitude (and ours) to her revenge.
18. CHORUS: the ode praises the beauty and culture of Athens, and expresses dismay at the prospect of Medea finding refuge there after her crimes. The effect on the Athenian audience can be easily imagined. Many of them will also have known the stories of Medea’s further crimes when resident there (see note 15 above).
19. the stock of Erechtheus: the Athenians.
20. I shall not weaken my hand: partly in order to impose greater consistency of character on Medea, partly because of curious features of style and language, several scholars have questioned whether all the remaining part of this speech is by Euripides (see Note on the Text). But the changes of mind and some of the other problems can be overlooked in performance, and it seems best to give the whole speech here, given its central importance in criticism of the play.
21. a tale of strange suffering to tell: most of Euripides’ plays include at least one long messenger-speech. Since the Greek theatre was limited in the type of action it could present before the audience’s eyes, descriptions of battles, chases, miraculous events and so on were regularly described in this way. Often, as here, the messenger-speech is rich in gruesome detail, vividly conveying the offstage horror to the mind’s eye.
22. Pan: attacks of delirium and other unexplained illnesses are commonly explained by appeal to the supernatural. Pan (and other deities) was thought to send a kind of frenzy; hence ‘panic’.
23. Come, my heart …: this briefer speech is a kind of reprise of the long soliloquy. Here self-address is carried further, with the heart personified; the language seemed strange enough to be parodied by Aristophanes a few years later.
24. O Earth…Fury: the invocation of Earth is forgotten, and ‘your golden race’, ‘brightness born of Zeus’, pick up the reference to the Sun-god. Since the Sun sees all things, he should intervene to prevent the slaughter. The chorus are to be disappointed: in fact, the Sun will act to protect Medea, sending her means of escape (1321).
25..Should I enter the house?: it is conventional for the chorus, observers rather than agents in the drama, to consider intervening but then to refrain: a famous case is the scene in Aeschylus’ Agamemnon, where they hear the king’s death-cries from inside. This scene, like Phaedra’s death-scene in the Hippolytus, imitates Aeschylus’ classic play.
26. Ino: in the Theban legends, Ino and her husband both suffered from Hera’s persecution; in a fit of madness she jumped into the sea with her child. Euripides wrote a play about her, now lost. But in contrast Medea, though passionate, is all too clearly in her right mind.
27. I fear for my children: Euripides seems here to be alluding to the version in which the Corinthians killed the children. The hint at a more familiar legend highlights his own innovation and the more terrible outcome in this play.
28. undo the fastenings: one of the conventions of the Greek theatre was that internal scenes could be presented on the open-air stage by means of a trolley on which a tableau representing the scene indoors could be wheeled out from within the theatre-building. This device, known as the ekkuklema (‘rolling-out machine’), was already used by Aeschylus. Here the convention is exploited: we expect the device to be used, but Medea instead appears above the stage-building.
29. punish me: the idea is that Medea is still polluted by her crimes, and that disaster will strike those close to her; the pollution itself is given invisible substance as a ‘spirit of vengeance’.
30. dared such a thing: Jason’s easy division of the world into virtuous Greeks and villainous barbarians is inadequate; the chorus have already mentioned the infanticide of Ino, and there are plenty of grim crimes by Greeks elsewhere in myth. In the earlier part of the play Medea had spoken with the Corinthian women like one of themselves. Euripides often explores the supposed gap and actual resemblances between Greek and ‘barbarian’.
31. Hera of the Cape: here Medea adopts a tone appropriate to a god; Euripides often ends his plays with a divine prophecy of future events and particularly with the inauguration of a cult commemorating the events of the play. (Compare Artemis in theHippolytus1423–30, and note 54; and The Children of Heracles 1030, and note 43.) Her superhuman status is also shown by the magical chariot.
32. [Chorus]: these lines occur in very similar form in the Alcestis and in other plays by Euripides. They fit less well here, but a choral comment ends most Greek tragedies, and although Jason has been made more sympathetic at the end, it is unlikely that Euripides would have allowed him the last word.
THE CHILDREN OF HERACLES
1. as suppliants: the concept of supplication is essential to this play, and generally important in Greek tragedy (compare Medea, note 14 above). Suppliants throw themselves on the mercy of those who can help them; since the gods are thought to protect the weak, supplication imposes an obligation on others to do the same. Moreover, Iolaus and the others have taken refuge in a sacred place, and it would be sacrilegious to remove them by force, as the herald attempts to do.
2. carry them off: violence is unusual on the Greek stage, but it is clear in this scene that the herald manhandles Iolaus and knocks him down. Brutal in any case, these actions are impious within a religious sanctuary.
3. O men of Athens: the call summoning help from any member of the community within earshot is an old custom suited to small societies. In Greek tragedy it has almost a ritual quality. Compare Theseus’ summons to the men of Trozen (Hippolytus 884).
4. from earliest days: the Athenians claimed to have lived in Attica throughout their history; this claim of ‘autochthony’ gave them a special status in contrast with migrating or invading peoples such as the Dorians.
5. the Agora: the meeting-place or market, where citizens mixed and engaged in debate.
6. Mycenae: although the older settlement of Mycenae and the city of Argos, more prominent in historical times, are distinct, they belong to the same part of the Peloponnese and are often treated as almost synonymous.
7. when offered: some scholars think that a few lines have dropped out of the text after this speech.
8. grounds for hope: the hope is for the future: the sons of Heracles may prove powerful allies for Athens when they grow up.
9. yours for the choosing: these lines, like several other passages in the play, reflect the Athenians’ conception of themselves. Athens, like many great powers, prided herself on intervening where injustice was done to the weak, and the idea is also found in oratory. Naturally not all states regarded this as unselfish altruism.
10. …close to yours: the argument from family history, and the interest in genealogy, are typical of Greek political discussion. Claims of this kind, based on family connections, might be overruled by other arguments, but no Greek would have thought them irrelevant.
11. …to this world: these lines refer to two episodes of earlier myth which involved Heracles in danger on Theseus’ behalf: the expedition to win the girdle of the Amazon Hippolyta, and the descent to the underworld, where Theseus was imprisoned for a time after attempting with Pirithous to abduct Persephone. It is not clear why Theseus needs Heracles’ help in the first case; some scholars think that a further explanatory line or lines are lost.
12. suppliant boughs: suppliants carried branches of olive or myrtle, with wool entwined around them, which were laid down on the god’s altar; they would remain there until the supplication was granted.
13. justice: the reference to legal proceedings may seem surprising in a scene which clearly anticipates war, but the Athenians were proud of their courts and fond of litigation (compare, from very different angles, Aeschylus’ Eumenides and Aristophanes’Wasps).
14. outwit a god: the Herald’s proposal is that the Athenians should make Heracles’ family depart, and the Argives will only lay hands on them after they have left Attic territory. Demophon protests that this is mere casuistry, and would not satisfy the all-seeing gods.
15. Ares: the god of war.
16. land where Alcathous ruled: Megara, to the south of Attica.
17. a match for those of Argos: the idea of different gods backing opposing sides in war goes back to the Iliad. Athena naturally supports Athens, her favourite city. Later, at 892ff., the chorus sing of both Athena and Zeus as their supporters.
18. where the Graces have their happy home: Athens’ reputation for culture and civilized pursuits is projected back into mythical times, as in the well-known chorus of the Medea (410ff.).
19. sacrifices made by priests: the description of religious rituals accompanying the preparations for war corresponds exactly to practice in historical times. The announcement of the need for a human sacrifice, of course, carries us on to a different plane.
20. one of Heracles’ daughters: the daughter of Heracles who appears so unexpectedly here is not named in the text, but is called Macaria (‘Blessed One’) in other sources. The theme of one person (usually a virgin) being sacrificed to save many others, or the whole city, is one which Euripides used frequently. Her initial remarks about a woman’s role, though alien to modern taste, underline her maidenly modesty.
21. Goodbye, old friend, goodbye: this speech may seem stilted and lacking in intimacy to modern ears; but dignified formality is what the Greek audience would expect in these circumstances, especially since the daughter is not developed as an independent character: she has been introduced only to die in this way. The claim that she has earned her glory would not give offence in a society so concerned with honour and prestige.
22. below the earth: the note of agnosticism is typical of Greek thought: although the myths described Hades in some detail, this was not a fixed picture or laid down in any form of creed. See K. J. Dover, Greek Popular Morality (Oxford 1974), pp. 261–8.
23. support me: Iolaus’ despair and prostration here mark the lowest point of his morale. The subsequent scene will lighten his spirits and pave the way for his rejuvenation on the battlefield.
24. no longer concerns us: the point seems to be that old people can have no influence on the events of the battlefield. Iolaus is to prove this false.
25..taken in battle: armour captured from enemies was often dedicated in temples; and veterans who had finished their military career might also offer their armour and weapons as a thanks-offering.
26. The servant comes out of the temple with armour: the scene which follows is hard to interpret. It seems impossible to deny that there is some comedy, with Iolaus’ aged enthusiasm contrasted with the cynical reaction of the servant. But the miracle to follow shows that Iolaus is in the right; the god is on their side, and his prayers are answered. Perhaps, after the self-sacrifice of Heracles’ daughter, Euripides wanted to reduce the tension before the climax of victory. There are other humorous scenes in his dramas, but this one is unusual in being connected with divine intervention.
27. I must not stumble…good luck’s sake: the meaning is obviously that for him to trip would portend some larger mishap affecting the whole army; but the idea of stumbling as a bad omen, though common in Latin, seems unparalleled in Greek literature.
28. how well I remember: after the comedy, there is pathos here, as in the various scenes in the Iliad in which Nestor recalls his lost youth.
29. CHORUS: this song combines many of the themes of the play (reverence for the gods, respect for suppliants, divine favour for the righteous, Athenian patriotism), and also alludes to the worship of Athena in historical Athens. In particular, the second antistrophe hints at the rituals of the Athenian festival known as the Panathenaea.
30. our sovereign lord: Zeus, as the following stanzas show.
31. Lady divine: Athena.
32. man to man: single combat, the standard form of confrontation in Homer, is well attested in historical times, though it may have acquired an archaic or aristocratic flavour.
33. miracle: even in historical times, strange and supernatural events have been reported after battles. The Athenians, for instance, claimed that an apparition of Theseus led them to victory at the battle of Marathon.
34. that he does: Heracles as son of Zeus by a mortal woman was a demi-god, not necessarily assured of immortality after death. Different versions are found in the ancient authors: already in the Odyssey we can detect one view which placed him in the underworld, another which held him to be divine and married to Hebe.
35. A pleasant thing to me is dancing: the structure of the first strophe follows a conventional pattern: ‘A is good, B is good, but especially so is C’, where C is the main subject of concern. Sappho uses this device to open one of her loveliest poems.
36. of the fire: like Alcmene, the chorus now declare their confidence that Heracles is indeed a god. See note 34 above.
37. Hymenaeus: a god who presided over marriage.
38. true pleasure: it was commonplace for Greeks to say that one should do good to one’s friends and harm to one’s enemies. Although moralists such as Plato found fault with the second principle, it was not as controversial as it might seem today. Nevertheless, there were limits, and tragedy (like the Iliad) often explores particularly extreme or problematic cases.
39. alive in battle: the Greeks had no written code of war like the Geneva Convention; but it was widely recognized that some things (such as mutilation of the dead, or denying burial to the defeated) went beyond acceptable limits. Massacre of prisoners after victory does seem to be rare. In any case, the fact that so much is made of Alcmene’s desire to kill Eurystheus makes clear that it is meant to be disturbing.
40. coward: the portrayal of Eurystheus is very surprising. Instead of a conventional tyrant we see a more dignified figure whose case has some force, even if his excuses do not satisfy us (it is not usually acceptable for mortals to slough off responsibility simply by ascribing their actions to a god’s will). Moreover, it emerges that, if slain, he is to become a ‘hero’, that is, a supernatural being between god and man, who will protect Athens in future. The simple good-versus-evil plot which seemed to be reaching its conclusion becomes more enigmatic. Just as Eurystheus is no ordinary ‘villain’, so Alcmene becomes less attractive in her new position of strength.
41. the victim…hero of noble heart: this line sums up Eurystheus’ ambiguous role. The idea of an invader or foreigner being buried and worshipped in the land of his former foes can be paralleled in Herodotus and elsewhere. See generally E. Kearns, The Heroes of Attica (London 1989), ch. 3.
42. Loxias: another name for Apollo.
43. where fate prescribes: although the tomb and commemoration of Eurystheus are not otherwise attested, it seems likely that this scene establishes an authentic cult, as generally happens at the end of Euripides’ plays. (Compare Medea 1379, and note 31; andHippolytus 1423–30, and note 54.)
44. Pallene’s holy Maid: Athena.
45. against your land: it ispossible that this alludes to the contemporary invasions of Attica by the Spartans and their Peloponnesian allies in the war which had begun in 431 BC. (The Peloponnesian kings, including those of Sparta, claimed descent from the Heraclidae.) But the reference may be vaguer and more general.
46. CHORUS: it seems certain that some lines have dropped out of the text before this final comment by the chorus. After their earlier misgivings, they cannot simply assent to Alcmene’s vicious words. But we cannot be sure how much is lost, and reconstruction of the missing lines can only be speculative.
HIPPOLYTUS
1. Trozen: in the NE Peloponnese, and not part of Athens’ domain in historical times, but closely associated with her in legend. It was there that Theseus grew to manhood and from there that he set out to Athens to find his human father.
2. the Great Sea: the Black Sea, which represents the eastern extremity of the world, as ‘the boundaries of Atlas’ (the Straits of Gibraltar) define the western limit for Mediterranean man.
3. Amazon: Hippolyta (occasionally called by another name, Antiope), whom Theseus won as a captive in war. Theseus has other, legitimate sons by Phaedra, though these do not appear in the play. Hippolytus’ bastard status is important in relation to his self-esteem and his uneasy relations with Phaedra.
4. Pittheus: Theseus’ maternal grandfather, former king of Trozen. His grandson seems to have succeeded him in that role.
5. the foulest of divinities: it seems important that Hippolytus insults and derides Aphrodite (as he does in the scene with the servant which follows). His crime does not consist of chastity alone, which occupies second place in her complaints.
6. Pandion: like Cecrops, mentioned a few lines on, a mythical king of Athens, belonging to remoter legend than Theseus.
7. she founded a temple to Cypris: this is an aetiological myth, i.e. one which explains the origins of an existing historical ritual or institution. The playwright often creates or emphasizes these religious links between the mythical past and his own time.
8. Pallantid blood: in Athenian legend, Theseus disputed his claims to kingship with his cousins, grandsons of Pandion. The exile forms a kind of penance in which the slayer can be purified of bloodshed. It also enables Euripides to place the action at Trozen, in accordance with tradition, as Theseus is obliged to be away from Athens.
9. I will reveal the affair to Theseus: as elsewhere (e.g. in the Ion), the poet misleads or allows his audience to anticipate a different development from what actually ensues. Theseus does not in fact learn of his wife’s passion until the very end; his curse on Hippolytus is because he believes him guilty of rape. This keeps the audience on their mettle, allowing for an element of surprise.
10. Reverence: the word used conveys also a sense of purity and modesty, which fits Hippolytus’ self-conscious yet admirable virtue. See the reference to ‘shame’ by Phaedra (385ff.), who is thinking at least partly of how things appear. The contrast between Hippolytus’ and Phaedra’s conceptions of what is shameful and honourable is central to the play.
11. would you listen?: the scene with the servant is important in guiding our response to Hippolytus’ behaviour. If such a loyal retainer feels such misgivings at the young man’s conduct, we must assume that it is indeed abnormal and excessive.
12. Are you possessed, sweet lady?: madness or delusion was commonly attributed to the influence of some god, often a deity associated with wild nature or ecstatic celebrations (e.g. Bacchus, Cybele or Pan).
13. NURSE: the following exchanges between the Nurse and Phaedra are in lyrics; only when the chorus-leader questions the Nurse (267ff.) do we resume spoken dialogue. This means that the language is freer, the emotional tone more intense. The Nurse is distraught with anxiety, Phaedra (despite her physical weakness) is in a near-hysterical state.
14. How horrible life is with…: the Nurse’s moralizing (compare 253ff.) is rather banal and self-pitying but provides an example of Euripides’ tendency to make characters of lower rank more articulate and interesting than in early tragedy. (Compare the criticisms in Aristophanes: see Introduction, p. xxvi–xxvii.)
15. Ah, if only…: Phaedra’s wild and vivid fantasies involve the places where Hippolytus would often be found; she longs to escape from the palace to a freer existence with him. The audience, who understand her condition, recognize this, but the Nurse is baffled.
16. seizing hold of my hand?: this, like touching the knees (next line), is a gesture of supplication. The Nurse desperately throws herself at Phaedra’s feet and begs her to reveal the truth. The religious quality of such an appeal imposes a heavy burden on Phaedra.
17. seized you: Phaedra’s mother, Pasiphae, was filled with a terrible desire for a bull. Eventually she succeeded in coupling with the beast, and their offspring was the monstrous Minotaur, half man, half bull.
18. Dionysus: Phaedra’s sister was Ariadne, but it is not clear what myth Euripides meant his audience to recall. Clearly, this passion, like Pasiphae’s and Phaedra’s, is to be regarded as disastrous. In these lines, Phaedra implies that her passion is the result of a taint in her blood: all the women of her family are doomed to unholy desires. In fact, the cause of her passion is external, but it may be that Phaedra’s own nature does make her an easier victim.
19. Ladies of Trozen…: this important speech shows Phaedra more rational and articulate than she was in the preceding scene. Although it is common in tragedy to handle the same material in lyric and then in dialogue (see Alcestis 280, and note 9), here the sequence is also psychologically plausible: having unburdened her secret, Phaedra can speak more freely and with more self-control.
20. the same name: Phaedra’s remarks on shame are mysterious, and have been much discussed. There will never be agreement on all points, but it seems likely that she is distinguishing between virtuous modesty, which is good, and an excessive respect for other people’s opinions and feelings, which is bad (Phaedra’s own concern for her good name will further illustrate this bad shame later in the play).
21. the path my mind took: the following lines are particularly important in showing how different Phaedra in this play is from the conventional lustful woman, as portrayed in the earlier Hippolytus (see p. 129).
22. glorious Athens: the Athenians prided themselves on the freedom of speech and thought in their society.
23. to join the gods: the Nurse’s speech in general is full of weak arguments, and at least the first of these examples does not suit her case. Semele was beloved by Zeus, but died when she rashly asked him to appear in his full glory before her; a mortal could not survive this. In any case, the practice of the gods is not necessarily exemplary for mortals.
24. I don't know: this admission by the Nurse gives the game away: she has no potion, but only wants a chance for a word with Hippolytus.
25. The girl of Oechalia: the reference is to Iole, daughter of King Eurytus. Heracles, son of Alcmene, sacked the city because of his passion for the girl, and carried her off as his concubine.
26. for bridegroom: Semele, princess of Thebes, who was pregnant with Bacchus, was burnt up when Zeus reluctantly fulfilled her wish and appeared to her in his immortal glory. Zeus rescued the unborn child and sewed him in his own side until the time was up; hence Bacchus is ‘twice-born’.
27. You're at the door: choral intervention in the action is almost unknown in later tragedy, and there seems to have been something of a convention that they did not join the actors on the stage proper (though exceptions can be found). Phaedra is isolated, and must suffer alone.
28. I clasp your knees and beg you: again the Nurse has recourse to supplication, but here with limited success.
29. not my heart: this line became notorious (compare Aristophanes, Frogs 101, 1471); it seems to have been taken up as an example of Euripides teaching immorality, quite unfairly, since Hippolytus does in fact stick by his oath.
30. O Zeus …: this speech is so violently misogynistic that it can easily turn an audience completely against Hippolytus; the quick temper shown in the earlier exchange with the servant becomes furious indignation here. It is important to remember that Hippolytus thinks Phaedra has actually sent the Nurse as a go-between. Anger, over-whelming any thought of further enquiry, proves his undoing: we should compare Theseus’ mistake later on.
31. without women: this kind of ‘utopian’ wish for a differently arranged world is almost a mannerism in Euripides: compare Theseus later (916ff. and note 42), and Medea 573ff. It should be obvious, however, that Hippolytus’ outburst tells us nothing about Euripides’ own attitude to women (cf. Preface).
32. and your mistress: Phaedra is present on stage, but Hippolytus seems to ignore her throughout. Without the author’s stage directions it is hard to choose between two scenarios: he sees her but ignores her out of revulsion, or she cowers to one side and watches him directing his whole attack on the Nurse. He later says he has just left her (907), which suggests that the former reading is correct, but Greek drama is not always perfectly consistent in these small details.
33. no longer shall I die with honour: Phaedra’s concern for her own good name re-surfaces. This leads her to leave behind the untrue accusation of Hippolytus.
34. to the daylight: for the chorus’s oath of silence, see note 5 on Medea 263. This explains their guarded and misleading responses to Theseus in the following scene.
35. CHORUS: the ode begins by expressing the chorus’s longing to escape from these disastrous events; but the romantic images of far-off places also remind the audience of the gods’ power and the limits that are set to mankind (Phaethon’s attempt to drive the chariot of the sun led to his death; mortal sailors cannot journey beyond the Pillars of Heracles, where Atlas stands). The second half of the ode, recalling Phaedra’s past and anticipating her imminent death, sums up her tragic story. It also vividly describes the actual hanging, which cannot be represented on stage.
36. What shall we do, friends?: the chorus of a tragedy is regularly shown as indecisive and inadequate in a crisis: compare Medea 1275, and note 25. Often, as in this play, they are ordinary people, who witness but cannot influence the behaviour of their superiors or masters.
37. PHAEDRA’s corpse is revealed: this is done by means of the so-called ekkuklema (‘rolling-out machine’), a device which the dramatists used to display events indoors. A wheeled trolley was used to bring the interior scene outside; often, as here, those slain within are exposed to view. Compare Medea 1315, and note 28.
38. sent upon me by the gods: the idea here is that of inherited guilt; Theseus supposes that he suffers for the crimes of an ancestor. This theme is commoner in earlier tragedy, especially that of Aeschylus. In the late fifth century BC it may have seemed a little old-fashioned; in any case, Theseus is wrong in this case (as is Hippolytus later, 1379–83).
39. a noble wife: the chorus, as in the Alcestis, offer advice which can be little more than cold comfort.
40. eye of Zeus: the gods are thought to see all things, and hence to witness all crimes.
41. one of the three curses: as this is the first time Theseus has used one of these curses, he does not know whether they will work; hence much more is at first made of the sentence of exile.
42. prone to error: Theseus’ generalizations keep the action in suspense and Hippolytus remains baffled. Some of them also take the favourite form of ‘utopian wishes’: compare Hippolytus at 616ff., and note 31.
43. let your father see you face to face: at this point Hippolytus covers his head with his cloak, fearing that the very mention of such a crime may bring him misfortune, or pollute him. Theseus angrily takes this to be a gesture of shame. In the first Hippolytus, the young man seems to have done the same thing when brazenly approached by Phaedra, and it has been suggested that this passage is a kind of allusion to that scene in the earlier play: Euripides shows how he can put the same device to quite different use.
44. scribblings: Orpheus, the mythical poet, was also regarded in classical times as a sage and mystical teacher. So-called ‘Orphic’ writings were circulating in Euripides’ time, and some of these probably advocated vegetarianism, as the Pythagoreans did. But Hippolytus is a hunter and meat-eater; Theseus is simply deriding him for his alleged purity, and piles on whatever other insults he can think of.
45. Sinis of the Isthmus…Sciron: these were bandits slain by Theseus in his youth.
46. no alternative but to speak out: Theseus’ speech, like his character, is passionate and emotional. Hippolytus’ is couched in much more rational and argumentative terms, and has several features which recall the language of the Athenian law-courts. This seems deliberate: the young man’s priggish and pedantic manner serves to fuel his father’s anger.
47. what the prophets say?: in historical as in mythical times, where evidence is inadequate men might turn to the gods for guidance (as is constantly done, for example, in Xenophon’s Anabasis). Asking an expert to interpret the movements of birds in flight was one form of divination. These us is at fault for not pursuing such acourse, asArtemis later comments.
48. Aphaea: a title of Artemis.
49. curse of my father: the curse was not mentioned in the dialogue between Theseus and Hippolytus, but it is easy enough to suppose that one of the latter’s companions told him about it. Euripides does not want to waste time on explanations after the event.
50. The goddessARTEMIS…THESEUS: after the chorus’s prayer to Aphrodite we might perhaps expect that goddess to reappear. The epiphany of Artemis, her enemy and opposite, makes for a greater symmetry in the play: the two goddesses frame and comment on the human action.
51. tears: the gulf between divine serenity and human suffering is powerfully stressed.
52. curse the gods: a murdered man would leave a curse on his human murderer; but what happens when the murderer is divine? This daring line is typical of Euripides: he extends traditional religious beliefs in unconventional ways. But the authority of the gods is reasserted with Artemis’ rebuke.
53. on earth: Artemis takes revenge by bringing about the death of Aphrodite’s beloved, the beautiful Adonis.
54. nameless silence: as in the Medea and The Children of Heracles, the events of the play will be commemorated in cult. This kind of ‘aetiology’ is found in most of Euripides’ closing scenes. The ritual in memory of Hippolytus is also mentioned by the geographer Pausanias (2. 32).
55. near to you now: the gods are immortal, and must not be present when men and women perish. Birth or death within a temple is sacrilege.
56. so many hunts: resignation, reproach, or simple statement of fact? Each actor will give his own interpretation, and audiences will respond in different ways. The fact remains that the final lines of the play are given up to the intimate parting of father and son.