Source Verification: Hippolytus

Every claim below is either what a named ancient source attests, in its own line or section, or a point where the sources themselves disagree.

What the Sources Attest

Who was Hippolytus in Greek mythology?

He was the son of Theseus, king of Athens, by an Amazon, raised at Troezen by the wise Pittheus. Euripides presents him as a chaste hunter devoted to Artemis who refuses any honor to Aphrodite. For that slight Aphrodite makes his stepmother Phaedra fall in love with him. The result is a false accusation, his father's curse, and his death in a chariot wreck caused by a bull from the sea. Troezen later worshipped him as a hero, and Roman writers said he was revived.

Source: Euripides, Hippolytus 10-20

What is the relationship between Hippolytus and Artemis?

He is her devoted follower. In Euripides he hunts with her in the woods, offers her a woven wreath from an untouched meadow, and claims the rare privilege of hearing her voice without seeing her face. Artemis cannot save him from Aphrodite, but she appears at his death to clear his name and promise him lasting honors at Troezen. Roman tradition goes further. Ovid and Virgil say she hid the revived Hippolytus in her grove at Aricia under the name Virbius.

Source: Euripides, Hippolytus 58-85

Did Hippolytus love Phaedra?

No. In every ancient account the desire runs one way, from Phaedra to him, and he rejects it. Apollodorus's Epitome says he fled her advances because he hated all women. In Euripides he learns of her love from the nurse, reacts with disgust, and keeps silent only because he has sworn an oath. The Troezenians told Pausanias that Phaedra watched him exercise from a temple of Aphrodite above his race-course, but nothing suggests he returned her feelings.

Source: Apollodorus, Epitome 1.18-1.19

What was Hippolytus accused of?

He was accused of raping his stepmother Phaedra. In Euripides's Hippolytus, Phaedra hangs herself and leaves a sealed letter on her body claiming that he forced himself on her. Theseus reads it and believes it. In Apollodorus's Epitome she makes the accusation while alive, tearing her clothes and breaking open the doors of her bedroom to stage an assault. Both sources agree the charge was false and that Phaedra made it out of fear that he would expose her.

Source: Euripides, Hippolytus 885-890

Why did Theseus curse his son?

Because he believed Phaedra's accusation. Poseidon had promised Theseus three prayers that would always be granted, and he spent one on his son's death without any inquiry, oath test or prophecy. In Euripides, Artemis later rebukes him for exactly that haste, telling him he used a gift meant for an enemy against his own child. She also excuses him in part: Aphrodite planned the deception, and Theseus acted in ignorance. The dying Hippolytus forgives him.

Source: Euripides, Hippolytus 885-890

Where Accounts Differ

his Amazon mother: Antiope or Hippolyte
his fate after death: hero cult, revival by Asclepius, or Virbius
how Phaedra made her accusation
Euripides's two Hippolytus plays

His mother's name differs by source. Euripides calls her only the Amazon. Apollodorus's Epitome says most writers named Theseus's Amazon bride Antiope, some Melanippe, and that Simonides called her Hippolyte. Plutarch's Life of Theseus names his mother Antiope and reports that Pindar called her son Demophon rather than Hippolytus.
What happened after his death is told three ways. Euripides and the Troezen cult described by Pausanias make him a hero honored with hair offerings, though the Troezenians denied that the horses killed him and linked him to the constellation of the Charioteer. Apollodorus's Library, citing the Naupactica, and the Aricians quoted by Pausanias say Asclepius raised him. Ovid and Virgil add that Diana hid him at Aricia under the name Virbius.
Ovid makes Virbius the new name of the revived Hippolytus himself. Virgil gives the name both to Hippolytus in hiding and to his son by Aricia, who fights for the Latins in the Aeneid.
The two sources on the accusation differ in staging. Euripides has Phaedra hang herself first and accuse him in a letter. Apollodorus's Epitome has her accuse him while alive, tearing her clothes, and hang herself only after her passion became known.
Euripides wrote two plays on Hippolytus. The earlier one, known in modern scholarship as Hippolytus Veiled, is lost and is named here in prose only. Every Euripides citation on this page refers to the surviving play.

Sources

Primary sources

Euripides, Hippolytus 10-20
Euripides, Hippolytus 58-85
Euripides, Hippolytus 601-616
Euripides, Hippolytus 885-890
Euripides, Hippolytus 1198-1243
Euripides, Hippolytus 1416-1430
Apollodorus, Epitome 1.16-1.17
Apollodorus, Epitome 1.18-1.19
Apollodorus, Library 3.10.3
Pausanias, Description of Greece 1.22.1-1.22.2
Pausanias, Description of Greece 2.27.4
Pausanias, Description of Greece 2.32.1
Pausanias, Description of Greece 2.32.3
Plutarch, Life of Theseus 28
Ovid, Metamorphoses 15.492-546
Virgil, Aeneid 7.761-782