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Diodorus Siculus · Bibliotheca Historica §4.62.1-4.62.4

Tragedy of Phaedra and Hippolytus and Death of Theseus

Passage 298 of 406 · Greek

Summary

Deucalion marries his sister Phaedra to Theseus, but she falls in love with her stepson Hippolytus and, upon rejection, falsely accuses him and commits suicide, leading to his tragic death. Theseus also dies in exile, but both are posthumously honored by the Athenians.

§4.62.1Δευκαλίων ὁ πρεσβύτατος τῶν Μίνωος παίδων, δυναστεύων τῆς Κρήτης καὶ ποιησάμενος πρὸς Ἀθηναίους συμμαχίαν, συνῴκισε τὴν ἰδίαν ἀδελφὴν Φαίδραν Θησεῖ.
Deucalion, the eldest of the children of Minos, ruling over Crete and having made an alliance with the Athenians, gave his own sister Phaedra in marriage to Theseus.
μετὰ δὲ τὸν γάμον Ἱππόλυτον μὲν τὸν ἐκ τῆς Ἀμαζονίδος γενόμενον υἱὸν ἔπεμψεν εἰς Τροιζῆνα τρέφεσθαι παρὰ τοῖς Αἴθρας ἀδελφοῖς, ἐκ δὲ Φαίδρας Ἀκάμαντα καὶ Δημοφῶντα ἐγέννησε.
After the marriage, Theseus sent Hippolytus, his son born of the Amazon, to Troezen to be brought up by the brothers of Aethra, and by Phaedra he begot Acamas and Demophon.
§4.62.2μικρὸν δʼ ὕστερον Ἱππολύτου ἐπανελθόντος εἰς τὰς Ἀθήνας πρὸς τὰ μυστήρια, Φαίδρα διὰ τὸ κάλλος ἐρασθεῖσα αὐτοῦ τότε μὲν ἀπελθόντος εἰς Τροιζῆνα ἱδρύσατο ἱερὸν Ἀφροδίτης παρὰ τὴν ἀκρόπολιν, ὅθεν ἦν καθορᾶν τὴν Τροιζῆνα, ὕστερον δὲ παρὰ τῷ Πιτθεῖ μετὰ τοῦ Θησέως καταλύσασα ἠξίου τὸν Ἱππόλυτον μιγῆναι αὐτῇ.
A short time later, when Hippolytus returned to Athens for the mysteries, Phaedra fell in love with him because of his beauty; and when he departed at that time for Troezen, she established a sanctuary of Aphrodite beside the Acropolis, from where it was possible to look across to Troezen; but later, when she stayed with Pittheus along with Theseus, she urged Hippolytus to lie with her.
ἀντειπόντος δʼ ἐκείνου φασὶ τὴν Φαίδραν ἀγανακτῆσαι, καὶ ἐπανελθοῦσαν εἰς τὰς Ἀθήνας εἰπεῖν τῷ Θησεῖ διότι ἐπεβάλετο Ἱππόλυτος αὐτῇ μιγῆναι.
When he refused, they say that Phaedra was outraged, and returning to Athens, she told Theseus that Hippolytus had attempted to lie with her.
§4.62.3Θησέως δὲ διστάζοντος περὶ τῆς διαβολῆς, καὶ τὸν Ἱππόλυτον μεταπεμπομένου πρὸς τὸν ἔλεγχον, Φαίδρα μὲν φοβηθεῖσα τὸν ἐξετασμὸν ἀνεκρέμασεν ἑαυτήν, Ἱππόλυτος δʼ ἁρματηλατῶν, ὡς ἤκουσε τὰ περὶ τῆς διαβολῆς, συνεχύθη τὴν ψυχήν, καὶ διὰ τοῦτο τῶν ἵππων ταραχθέντων καὶ ἐπισπασαμένων αὐτὸν ταῖς ἡνίαις, συνέβη τὸν μὲν δίφρον συντριβῆναι, τὸ δὲ μειράκιον ἐμπλακὲν τοῖς ἱμᾶσιν ἑλκυσθῆναι καὶ τελευτῆσαι.
When Theseus doubted the accusation and sent for Hippolytus to examine him, Phaedra, fearing the inquiry, hanged herself; and Hippolytus, who was driving a chariot, when he heard about the accusation, was thrown into confusion in his mind, and because of this, the horses becoming terrified and dragging him along by the reins, it happened that the chariot was shattered, and the youth, entangled in the thongs, was dragged and died.
§4.62.4Ἱππόλυτος μὲν οὖν διὰ σωφροσύνην τὸν βίον καταστρέψας παρὰ Τροιζηνίοις ἔτυχεν ἰσοθέων τιμῶν, Θησεὺς δὲ μετὰ ταῦτα καταστασιασθεὶς καὶ φυγὼν ἐκ τῆς πατρίδος ἐπὶ τῆς ξένης ἐτελεύτησεν.
Thus Hippolytus, having ended his life because of his chastity, received godlike honors among the Troezenians, while Theseus, having afterwards been driven out by factional strife and having fled from his country, died in a foreign land.
οἱ δʼ Ἀθηναῖοι μεταμεληθέντες τά τε ὀστᾶ μετήνεγκαν καὶ τιμαῖς ἰσοθέοις ἐτίμησαν αὐτόν, καὶ τέμενος ἄσυλον ἐποίησαν ἐν ταῖς Ἀθήναις τὸ προσαγορευόμενον ἀπʼ ἐκείνου Θησεῖον.
And the Athenians, having repented, brought back his bones and honored him with godlike honors, and they made an inviolable sanctuary in Athens, which is called after him the Theseum.

Notes

  1. 4.62.1ἔπεμψεν — The subject of this verb shifts to Theseus, the newly-wedded husband of Phaedra, rather than Deucalion (Δευκαλίων) who was the subject of the preceding main clause. In Classical Greek, shifts of subject are frequently unmarked when they can be easily inferred from the context.
  2. 4.62.2τότε μὲν ἀπελθόντος — This genitive participle agrees with the preceding pronoun αὐτοῦ (referring to Hippolytus), describing the temporal circumstance ("when he at that time departed..."). It is set in contrast with ὕστερον δέ ("but later...") which introduces the latter half of the sentence.
  3. 4.62.2ἦν καθορᾶν — The imperfect verb ἦν combined with the infinitive καθορᾶν expresses possibility ("it was possible to look across"). This is an impersonal construction used without an explicit subject.
  4. 4.62.3συνέβη — An impersonal verb meaning "it happened that...", which governs the two parallel accusative and infinitive constructions that follow (τὸν μὲν δίφρον συντριβῆναι and τὸ δὲ μειράκιον ... τελευτῆσαι) as its subject clause.

Cite this passage

Diodorus Siculus, Bibliotheca Historica §4.62.1-4.62.4. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0060.tlg001.humanitext-grc5:4.62.1-4.62.4

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