To what extent do you agree that Phaedra and Hippolytus are in control of there own destiny in the 'Hippolytus'?

The first 200 words of this essay...

Matthew Belcher

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Word Count: 1400

To what extent do you agree that Phaedra and Hippolytus are in control of there own destiny in the 'Hippolytus'?

Hippolytus is an ancient Greek tragedy written by the playwright Euripides and was first produced for the City Dionysia around 428BC. What is somewhat unusual about this play is that it is in fact the second time Euripides has covered the myth of Hippolytus in one of his tragedies with the first play (known as the Hippolytus veiled) being an earlier work of his which is now lost. Although the play is simply called the Hippolytus the play fallows the paths of both he and Phaedra, his step-mother, whose storyline takes up most of the first half of the play and whose fate has been entwined with that of Hippolytus. This 'fate' of theirs is revealed right at the beginning of the play by Aphrodite during her opening speech were it is revealed that Hippolytus, our tragic figure, must die due to his refusal to worship her and as a result of this, Phaedra must also die in order to fulfil Aphrodite's' plan for revenge on Hippolytus. This then