Phaedra
Minos's tragic daughter
Phaedra is a figure from Greek mythology, the daughter of King Minos of Crete and wife of the hero Theseus.
Her story centers on her forbidden passion for her stepson Hippolytus—a desire that ends in tragedy when he rejects her and she falsely accuses him, leading to his death.
The name appears in classical drama, most famously in plays by Euripides and Racine, and has become shorthand for destructive, illicit desire: a Phaedra complex.
Tragic chaste youth
- TheseusAthenian hero, beast-slayer
- AriadneMythical thread-giver
- MinosAncient Cretan sovereign
- CretanGreek island native
Aphrodite · Artemis · curse · stepmother · Athens · labyrinth · Minotaur · Greek
Intense emotional drive
- forbiddenNot allowed
- longingIntense, persistent desire
- obsessionPersistent, intrusive preoccupation
- unrequitedNot returned in kind
stepson · confession · shame · infatuation · yearning · ardor · torment · eros
Greek tragic dramatist
- SenecaStoic moralist of Rome
- RacineSoutheastern Wisconsin municipality
- HippolytusTragic chaste youth
- dramaTheatrical art or turmoil
chorus · catharsis · hubris · nemesis · downfall · fate · doom · lament
Hippolytus
Tragic chaste youth
Cretan · Aphrodite · Artemis · curse · stepmother · Athens · labyrinth · Minotaur · Greek · myth
passion
Intense emotional drive
unrequited · stepson · confession · shame · infatuation · yearning · ardor · torment · eros · lust
Euripides
Greek tragic dramatist
- SenecaStoic moralist of Rome
- RacineSoutheastern Wisconsin municipality
- HippolytusTragic chaste youth
drama · chorus · catharsis · hubris · nemesis · downfall · fate · doom · lament · anguish
accusation
Claim someone did wrong
remorse · shame · confession · blame · innocence · wronged · deception · slander · consequence · honor
- 1600s WorksParadise Lost, Leviathan, Don Quixote, King James Bible, Hamlet
- 1962 filmsLawrence of Arabia, To Kill a Mockingbird, Dr. No, The Manchurian Candidate, Lolita
- Ancient PlaysAgamemnon, Ajax, Antigone, Electra, Helen
- Classic PlaysHamlet, Macbeth, Othello, King Lear, Romeo and Juliet
- Greek tragedytragedy, Greek tragedy, Greek tragedies, Sophocles, Aeschylus
- Legendary WomenPenelope, Cassandra, Clytemnestra, Andromeda, Atalanta
PhaedraHippolytus
Tragic chaste youth
Penelope · Lucretia · Artemis · Diana · Andromache