Essay Sample on Greek Tragedy

Introduction

Greek tragedy refers to stage plays that were carried out in Ancient Greece as a form of entertainment. The practice was at its peak at around 5th Century B.C. Actors performed stories on ancient Greek myths to a group of spectators who would gather at theatres to watch these plays. The idea for these performances was obtained from Roman stage plays. Among one of the most prominent plays in the Greek tragedy is Hippolytus. Some controversies surround this myth. Officially there are two versions of the play. One version named, "Hippolytus veiled," displayed a more treacherous Phaedra who directly betrayed Hippolytus. The other one is Hippolytus the wrath bearer that features Phaedra struggling against her sexual desires.

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This is a story about Hippolytus who is the son of King Theseus. King Theseus, is on a coastal town of Troezen in voluntary exile for the murder of a local King and his sons. King Theseus illegitimate son has been groomed to lead the coastal town of Troezen. Aphrodite, the goddess of love is attracted to Hippolytus who is sworn to chastity. Because of his oath, Hippolytus refuses to yield to her demands and Aphrodite decides to take revenge upon Hippolytus (Halloran, 24).She chooses Phaedra as a tool for revenge. Aphrodite manipulates, Phaedra, who is the stepmother to Hippolytus to fall in love with him.

Phaedra refuses to eat or sleep. While on her dying bed she reveals the reason for her condition to her nurses. She has preferred this method to keep her honor intact. The nurse quickly comes up with a plan that will cure Phaedra. The nurse informs Phaedra of her magical cure but goes behind her back and hatches a different plan. The nurse goes to Hippolytus makes him swear to keep the secret before revealing to him the reason behind his stepmother condition.

On hearing that, Hippolytus vehemently rejects despite the persuasion from the nurse (Hutchinson, 15-28). He even dedicates himself to relay this information to his father as soon as he arrives. Phaedra soon realizes that the truth is out and it will only be a matter of time before Theseus finds out. To preserve her honor she hangs herself after making the chorus swear to secrecy.

On arrival, Theseus discovers a letter beside his wife's body. The letter indicates that Hippolytus raped her. The chorus is sworn to secrecy and cannot tell the truth. Hippolytus tries to protest his innocence but is unable to because he had been made to swear to secrecy by the nurse. Theseus calls upon his father, Poseidon who had granted him three wishes, to curse Hippolytus to either death or exile. Using his wife's letter as proof, Theseus exiles his son. A messenger arrives and tries to explain the actual events to Theseus. Theseus does not believe him.

As Hippolytus gets into his chariot, a raging bull emerges out of the sea and scares Hippolytus chariots. Hippolytus falls over and gets dragged between the rocks. Theseus is pleased by Hippolytus suffering. Artemis appears and scolds Theseus for killing his son because of Phaedra's deception. Artemis was one of the reasons Aphrodite decided to carry out revenge on Hippolytus because he was honoring Artemis, goddess of the hunt and not her (Atsma, 18).

Theseus is hurt by this new revelation and goes to his son rescue. Hippolytus is severely injured and hardly clings on to life. On the last moments, Artemis reconciles Hippolytus and Theseus. Artemis asks Hippolytus to forgive his father because just like him, Theseus is a victim of Aphrodite's treachery. Theseus apologizes to Hippolytus. Hippolytus forgives him before he dies.

From the play, there are two ways in which Phaedra has managed to convince Theseus to take revenge against Hippolytus. The first method is the letter. Phaedra letter indicated that Hippolytus was the one that had defiled her. The message was the only piece of evidence that linked Hippolytus to the crime. Phaedra had made the chorus to swear to secrecy. Through her nurse, she had also made Hippolytus swear to secrecy. This meant that Hippolytus not only lacked witnesses who could defend him, but he also could not even defend himself. This lack of countering statements that would have contested for Hippolytus innocence leads Theseus to conclude that Hippolytus was guilty.

Phaedra also used her own life as the last final shield. For her to commit suicide, she had to have undergone a terrible thing. By committing suicide, she had managed to draw sympathy from Theseus. By taking her own life, Theseus got the urge to revenge her death. He did not see Hippolytus as his son. Instead, he viewed him as a murderer and rapist who had defiled and killed his wife. It was challenging to convince Theseus otherwise because Hippolytus was his illegitimate child. This meant he did not have that strong a connection with him as with his other sons.

It was easy for Theseus to be deceived by Phaedra because Phaedra was the stepmother of Hippolytus. Phaedra was much younger and more suitable for Hippolytus than Theseus. This age factor meant that Theseus had always had always been insecure regarding Hippolytus and his wife. More so during his absence, he had reason to worry. In his absentia, it was easy for Hippolytus to take advantage of his wife who would be craving for a man. Also, his position as the son of the King placed him in an excellent position to take over everything from Theseus including his wife, Phaedra.

Conclusion

The silence of the chorus could have been easily mistaken for fear of backlash by Hippolytus. As the son of the King, it would be normal for the house workers to be afraid of Hippolytus (Strauss, 34). Theseus could not understand the reason the chorus would keep quiet if they saw or knew about such a thing. Neither could he comprehend why they would keep quiet about such a serious matter as a rape that could lead to death. The silence of Hippolytus could also be taken as an admission of guilt. Therefore Theseus acted as he would have when someone else defiled his wife. Even Phaedra herself was part of a bigger plot, first by the Aphrodite and secondly by the nurse. Phaedra had tried to fight her sexual desires. She was determined to die with honor without implicating anyone. The nurse's actions were the cause of her death because she chose to hang herself to avoid the wrath of Theseus after Hippolyte told him the truth. The letter was one last attempt by Phaedra to prevent being dishonored and she pinned the blame on Hippolytus.

Work Cited

Evans, Cheryl, and Anne Millard. Greek Myths & Legends. Usborne Pub Limited, 2003.

Halleran, Michael R. Hippolytus. Hackett Publishing, 2014.

Hutchinson, G. O. "Euripides' Other" Hippolytus." Zeitschrift fur Papyrologie und Epigraphik (2004): 15-28.

Strauss, Barry. Fathers and sons in Athens: ideology and society in the era of the Peloponnesian War. Routledge, 2002.

Atsma, Aaron J. "Artemis Goddess." Theoi Project (2011).