Phaedra and Hippolytus (Met. 15.479-546)

Phaedra attempts to seduce her stepson, Hippolytus, who rebuffs her. She commits suicide and leaves behind a letter that blames Hippolytus. Her husband Theseus reads the letter and consigns his son to a brutal death.

Model play.

The Hippolytus of Euripides.

Areas to explore.

Why is this episode so brief? What are the intratextual connections with Heroides 4 (Phaedra to Hippolytus)? Connections with the Phaethon episode of book 2?

Bibliography.

• S. Casali, "Strategies of Tension (Ovid, Heroides 4)."
• P. J. Davis, "Rewriting Euripides: Ovid, Heroides 4."
• H. Jacobson, Ovid's Heroides
• D. H. J. Larmour, "Tragic Contaminatio in Ovid's Metamophoses."
• B. Otis, Ovid as an Epic Poet.