Greek mythology A major branch of classical mythology, Greek mythology is the body of myths originally told by the ancient Greeks, and a genre of Ancient Greek folklore. These stories concern the origin and nature of the world, the lives and activities o ...

, Phaedra ( grc, Φαίδρα, ) (or Fedra) was a

Cretan Crete ( el, Κρήτη, translit=, Modern: , Ancient: ) is the largest and most populous of the Greek islands, the 88th largest island in the world and the fifth largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, after Sicily, Sardinia, Cyprus, ...

princess. Her name derives from the Greek word (), which means "bright". According to legend, she was the daughter of

Minos In Greek mythology, Minos (; grc-gre, Μίνως, ) was a King of Crete, son of Zeus and Europa. Every nine years, he made King Aegeus pick seven young boys and seven young girls to be sent to Daedalus's creation, the labyrinth, to be eaten ...

and Pasiphaë, and the wife of

Theseus Theseus (, ; grc-gre, Θησεύς ) was the mythical king and founder-hero of Athens. The myths surrounding Theseus his journeys, exploits, and friends have provided material for fiction throughout the ages. Theseus is sometimes describ ...

. Phaedra fell in love with her stepson Hippolytus. After he rejected her advances, she accused him of trying to rape her, causing Theseus to pray to Poseidon to kill him, and then killed herself. The story of Phaedra is told in

Euripides Euripides (; grc, Εὐριπίδης, Eurīpídēs, ; ) was a tragedian of classical Athens. Along with Aeschylus and Sophocles, he is one of the three ancient Greek tragedians for whom any plays have survived in full. Some ancient scholars ...

' play '' Hippolytus'',

Seneca the Younger Lucius Annaeus Seneca the Younger (; 65 AD), usually known mononymously as Seneca, was a Stoic philosopher of Ancient Rome, a statesman, dramatist, and, in one work, satirist, from the post-Augustan age of Latin literature. Seneca was born ...

's ''

Phaedra Phaedra may refer to: Mythology * Phaedra (mythology), Cretan princess, daughter of Minos and Pasiphaë, wife of Theseus Arts and entertainment * ''Phaedra'' (Alexandre Cabanel), an 1880 painting Film * ''Phaedra'' (film), a 1962 film by ...

'', and

Ovid Pūblius Ovidius Nāsō (; 20 March 43 BC – 17/18 AD), known in English as Ovid ( ), was a Augustan literature (ancient Rome), Roman poet who lived during the reign of Augustus. He was a contemporary of the older Virgil and Horace, with whom ...

's ''

Heroides The ''Heroides'' (''The Heroines''), or ''Epistulae Heroidum'' (''Letters of Heroines''), is a collection of fifteen epistolary poems composed by Ovid in Latin elegiac couplets and presented as though written by a selection of aggrieved heroi ...

''. It has inspired many modern works of art and literature, including a play by

Jean Racine Jean-Baptiste Racine ( , ) (; 22 December 163921 April 1699) was a French dramatist, one of the three great playwrights of 17th-century France, along with Molière and Corneille as well as an important literary figure in the Western traditi ...

Family

Phaedra was the daughter of

and Pasiphaë of

Crete Crete ( el, Κρήτη, translit=, Modern: , Ancient: ) is the largest and most populous of the Greek islands, the 88th largest island in the world and the fifth largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, after Sicily, Sardinia, Cyprus, ...

, and thus sister to Acacallis,

Ariadne Ariadne (; grc-gre, Ἀριάδνη; la, Ariadne) was a Cretan princess in Greek mythology. She was mostly associated with mazes and labyrinths because of her involvement in the myths of the Minotaur and Theseus. She is best known for having ...

Androgeus Androgeos or Androgeus ( Ancient Greek: Ἀνδρόγεως, la, Androgeum or Androgeōs derived from ''andros'' "of a man" and ''geos'', genitive ''gē'' "earth, land") was the name of two individuals in Classical mythology. * Androgeus, son of ...

, Deucalion, Xenodice, Glaucus and

Catreus In Greek mythology, Catreus or Katreus (, ; grc, ) was the eldest son of Minos and Pasiphaë, and Minos' successor as king of Crete. Catreus had one son, Althaemenes, and three daughters, Apemosyne, Aerope and Clymene. Catreus was mistakenly ...

and half-sister to the

Minotaur In Greek mythology, the Minotaur ( , ;. grc, ; in Latin as ''Minotaurus'' ) is a mythical creature portrayed during classical antiquity with the head and tail of a bull and the body of a man or, as described by Roman poet Ovid, a being "p ...

. She was the wife of

and the mother of Demophon of Athens and Acamas.

Mythology

Much of what we know about the mythology and story of Phaedra is from a collection of plays and poems. Many of these earlier sources such as ''Phaedra'', a play by

Sophocles Sophocles (; grc, Σοφοκλῆς, , Sophoklễs; 497/6 – winter 406/5 BC)Sommerstein (2002), p. 41. is one of three ancient Greek tragedians, at least one of whose plays has survived in full. His first plays were written later than, or c ...

, and '' Hippolytus Veiled'', a play by

, have been lost. However, works such as ''

'', written by Roman statesman and philosopher

, and the ''

'', a collection of poems written by

, give details of the story. As a result there are many different versions of the story of Phaedra and Hippolytus, but they all share the same general structure, with two versions becoming more prominent over time. Version 1 depicts Phaedra as the shameless and lustful wife of

, the King of Athens. The other version, Version 2, shows Phaedra in a much kinder light, as a noble and virtuous queen, yet each has a similarly tragic ending.

Traditional version

In the more traditional version of the story, Phaedra is the primary cause of misfortune in the tale. The story goes that Phaedra, who was the mother of two sons, Acamas and Demophon, falls in love with her stepson Hippolytus, Theseus's son by another woman (born to either

Hippolyta In Classical Greek mythology, Hippolyta, or Hippolyte (; grc-gre, Ἱππολύτη ''Hippolytē'') was a daughter of Ares and Otrera, queen of the Amazons, and a sister of Antiope and Melanippe. She wore her father Ares' ''zoster'', the Gre ...

, queen of the

Amazons In Greek mythology, the Amazons (Ancient Greek: Ἀμαζόνες ''Amazónes'', singular Ἀμαζών ''Amazōn'', via Latin ''Amāzon, -ŏnis'') are portrayed in a number of ancient epic poems and legends, such as the Labours of Hercule ...

, or Antiope, her sister) and sets out to entice him. It is unclear in this version exactly why Hippolytus rejects Phaedra, if not simply because he is her stepson, but Phaedra becomes humiliated when Hippolytus refuses her. Afraid of the consequences that may befall her if Theseus learns about her actions, she lies to her husband that Hippolytus tried to rape her. This angers Theseus who immediately curses his son with one of three wishes granted to him by

Poseidon Poseidon (; grc-gre, Ποσειδῶν) was one of the Twelve Olympians in ancient Greek religion and myth, god of the sea, storms, earthquakes and horses.Burkert 1985pp. 136–139 In pre-Olympian Bronze Age Greece, he was venerated as ...

, the god of the sea. At the request of Theseus to kill Hippolytus, the god summons a huge bull that rises from the sea and scares Hippolytus's horses into a frenzy that dragged the rider to his death. In one rendition of the story Hippolytus's name is translated to "the one who is torn apart by horses". In the end Phaedra's treachery is somehow discovered (it is unclear how), and to avoid a more painful death, she decides to take her own life.

Alternative version

In this version of the story, Phaedra has a reputation of a virtuous queen and is not entirely responsible for her actions. She gets caught in the crossfire between Hippolytus and Aphrodite the goddess of love. This narrative requires a little background on an earlier conflict between Hippolytus and

Aphrodite Aphrodite ( ; grc-gre, Ἀφροδίτη, Aphrodítē; , , ) is an ancient Greek goddess associated with love, lust, beauty, pleasure, passion, and procreation. She was syncretized with the Roman goddess . Aphrodite's major symbols incl ...

. Hippolytus is a devout follower of

Artemis In ancient Greek mythology and religion, Artemis (; grc-gre, Ἄρτεμις) is the goddess of the hunt, the wilderness, wild animals, nature, vegetation, childbirth, care of children, and chastity. She was heavily identified with ...

the goddess of the hunt and, among other things, the goddess of chastity. As a result he hails her as the greatest of all deities and in a show of devotion to honor the goddess, Hippolytus vows eternal chastity, swearing that he will never love or marry. This offends Aphrodite who is regularly worshipped by all in Greek mythology, and in an attempt to punish Hippolytus, the goddess of love curses his stepmother Phaedra to fall madly in love with him. Phaedra becomes distraught and depressed for several months due to "dreadful longings" for Hippolytus. Eventually, unable to tolerate the burden of her suffering in silence, she confides in her nurse and shares her feelings towards Hippolytus. The nurse who is concerned about the health of her mistress tells Hippolytus about how Phaedra feels. Bound by his oath of abstinence Hippolytus rejects his stepmother. When Phaedra learns of her nurse's actions, she fears the consequences of her immoral desires and plans to commit suicide. But before doing so, she writes a letter to her husband Theseus accusing Hippolytus of attempting to seduce her in an attempt to clear her name and possibly protect her children from misfortune. Similar to the ending of Version 1, once Theseus reads Phaedra's letter and learns of his son's supposed sins, he prays to Poseidon to kill his son. And in a very similar fashion to the first tale, Poseidon summons a huge bull to scare Hippolytus's horses into a wild frenzy that kills him. However in this version of the narrative, the story does not end there. Artemis is saddened by the loss of her devout follower and reveals the truth to Theseus about Aphrodite and the curse she placed on his wife. The story ends with Theseus grieving over the death of his wife and son.

Other versions of the story

In another version, after Phaedra told Theseus that Hippolytus had raped her, Theseus killed his son, and Phaedra then committed suicide out of guilt, for she had not intended Hippolytus to die.

later told Theseus the truth. In a third version, Phaedra told Theseus and did not kill herself;

Dionysus In ancient Greek religion and Greek mythology, myth, Dionysus (; grc, wikt:Διόνυσος, Διόνυσος ) is the god of the grape-harvest, winemaking, orchards and fruit, vegetation, fertility, insanity, ritual madness, religious ecstas ...

then sent a wild bull which terrified Hippolytus's horses.

twice placed this story on the Athenian stage, of which one version survives. According to some sources, Hippolytus had spurned

to remain a steadfast and virginal devotee of Artemis, and Aphrodite made Phaedra fall in love with him as a punishment. The Athenians maintained a small shrine high on the south slope of the Acropolis devoted to Aphrodite 'for Hippolytus'. In one version, Phaedra's nurse told Hippolytus of her love, and he swore he would not reveal her as a source of information.

Cultural influence

Phaedra has been the subject of many notable works in art, literature, music and film.

In art

Wall painting - Phaidra and her nurse - Pompeii - London BM GR 1856-0625-5 - 02

* Phaedra with attendant, probably her nurse, a

fresco Fresco (plural ''frescos'' or ''frescoes'') is a technique of mural painting executed upon freshly laid ("wet") lime plaster. Water is used as the vehicle for the dry-powder pigment to merge with the plaster, and with the setting of the plast ...

from

Pompeii Pompeii (, ) was an ancient city located in what is now the ''comune'' of Pompei near Naples in the Campania region of Italy. Pompeii, along with Herculaneum and many villas in the surrounding area (e.g. at Boscoreale, Stabiae), was burie ...

circa 60–20 BC * Figure 8 Phaedra, wall painting, early first century CE, Pompeii, now Antiquarium di Pompeii, Pompeii, inv. no. 20620, * Second century Roman Sarcophagus of

Beatrice of Lorraine Beatrice of Bar (also ''Beatrix''; c. 1020 – 18 April 1076) was the marchioness of Tuscany by marriage to Boniface III of Tuscany, and Regent of Tuscany from 1052 until her death, during the minority of and in co-regency with, her daughter Mat ...

in the Camposanto in

Pisa Pisa ( , or ) is a city and ''comune'' in Tuscany, central Italy, straddling the Arno just before it empties into the Ligurian Sea. It is the capital city of the Province of Pisa. Although Pisa is known worldwide for its leaning tower, the ci ...

. This was the model for Nicola Pisano's work on the Pisa Baptistery in the mid-thirteenth century. * Alexandre Cabanel's ''

'' (1880) * Ewen Feuillâtre's ''Phaedra'' (2020)

In literature

Phaedra's story appears in many acclaimed works of literature, including: *

, '' Hippolytus'', Greek play *

, ''

'' IV *

, ''

'', Latin play *

, '' Phèdre'' (1677), French play * Algernon Charles Swinburne, ''Phaedra'' (1866), English lyrical drama *

Herman Bang Herman Joachim Bang (20 April 1857 – 29 January 1912) was a Danish journalist and author, one of the men of the Modern Breakthrough. Biography Bang was born in Asserballe, on the small Danish island of Als, the son of a South Jutlandic vicar ...

, ''Fædra'' (1883), Danish novel. * Gabriele D'Annunzio, ''Fedra'' (1909), Italian play * Miguel de Unamuno, ''Fedra'' (1911), Spanish play *

Eugene O'Neill Eugene Gladstone O'Neill (October 16, 1888 – November 27, 1953) was an American playwright and Nobel laureate in literature. His poetically titled plays were among the first to introduce into the U.S. the drama techniques of realism, earli ...

, '' Desire Under the Elms'' (1924), American play * Marina Tsvetaeva, ''Fedra'' (1928), Russian play * Robinson Jeffers, ''Cawdor'' (1928), English long poem *

Marguerite Yourcenar Marguerite Yourcenar (, , ; born Marguerite Antoinette Jeanne Marie Ghislaine Cleenewerck de Crayencour; 8 June 1903 – 17 December 1987) was a Belgian-born French novelist and essayist, who became a US citizen in 1947. Winner of the ''Prix Fem ...

, "Phaedra", short story from ''Fires'' (1957) * Mary Renault, '' The Bull from the Sea'' (1962), English novel *

Frank D. Gilroy Frank Daniel Gilroy (October 13, 1925 – September 12, 2015) was an American playwright, screenwriter, and film producer and director. He received the Tony Award for Best Play and the Pulitzer Prize for Drama for his play ''The Subject Was Rose ...

, ''That Summer, That Fall'' (1967), retelling of Phaedra and Hippolytus *

Tony Harrison Tony Harrison (born 30 April 1937) is an English poet, translator and playwright. He was born in Beeston, Leeds and he received his education in Classics from Leeds Grammar School and Leeds University. He is one of Britain's foremost verse w ...

, ''Phaedra Britannica'' (1975), English verse play * Salvador Espriu, ''Fedra'' (1978), Catalan play * Per Olov Enquist, ''Till Fedra'' (1980), Swedish play * Didier-Georges Gabily, ''Gibiers du temps'' (1994-1995), French contemporary play * Sarah Kane, '' Phaedra's Love'' (1996), Gate Theatre London *

Charles L. Mee Charles L. Mee (born September 15, 1938) is an American playwright, historian and author known for his collage-like style of playwriting, which makes use of radical reconstructions of found texts. He is also a Special Lecturer of theater at Col ...

, ''True Love'' (2001), modernized adaptation of Euripides's ''Hippolytus'' and Racine's ''Phèdre'' * Frank McGuinness, ''Phaedra'' ( Donmar Warehouse, 2006) * Ted Hughes, ''Phedre'' FSG, c1998, Drama/Classics, * Jennifer Saint, ''Ariadne'' (2021), Flatiron Books

In music

Phaedra is also the subject of a number of musical works, including: * ''

Hippolyte et Aricie ('' Hippolytus and Aricia'') was the first opera by Jean-Philippe Rameau. It was premiered to great controversy by the Académie Royale de Musique at its theatre in the Palais-Royal in Paris on October 1, 1733. The French libretto, by Abbé Sim ...

'',

opera Opera is a form of theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically a collaboration between a composer and a libr ...

(

tragédie en musique Tragédie en musique (, ''musical tragedy''), also known as tragédie lyrique (, ''lyric tragedy''), is a genre of French opera introduced by Jean-Baptiste Lully and used by his followers until the second half of the eighteenth century. Operas in ...

) by Jean-Philippe Rameau, 1733 * '' Phédre'',

by Jean-Baptiste Lemoyne, 1786 * ''Fedra'', opera by Giovanni Paisiello, 1788 * ''Fedra'', opera by

Simon Mayr Johann(es) Simon Mayr (also spelled Majer, Mayer, Maier), also known in Italian as Giovanni Simone Mayr or Simone Mayr (14 June 1763 – 2 December 1845), was a German composer. His music reflects the transition from the Classical to the ...

, 1820 * '' Fedra'', opera by Ildebrando Pizzetti, 1915, based on D'Annunzio's 1909 play * Character in '' L'abandon d'Ariane'' by Darius Milhaud, 1928 * "

Some Velvet Morning "Some Velvet Morning" is a song written by Lee Hazlewood and originally recorded by Hazlewood and Nancy Sinatra in late 1967. It first appeared on Sinatra's album ''Movin' with Nancy,'' the soundtrack to her 1967 television special of the sam ...

", Nancy Sinatra and Lee Hazlewood, 1967 * ''Phaedra'' (monodrama for mezzo-soprano and orchestra) by

George Rochberg George Rochberg (July 5, 1918May 29, 2005) was an American composer of contemporary classical music. Long a serial composer, Rochberg abandoned the practice following the death of his teenage son in 1964; he claimed this compositional technique ...

, 1973–1974 * ''

'', album by Tangerine Dream, 1974 * ''Phaedra'', song cycle by Mikis Theodorakis * ''

'', cantata by

Benjamin Britten Edward Benjamin Britten, Baron Britten (22 November 1913 – 4 December 1976, aged 63) was an English composer, conductor, and pianist. He was a central figure of 20th-century British music, with a range of works including opera, other ...

, 1976 * ''Lament for Phaedra'', composition for soprano and cello by John Tavener, 1995 * "Phaedra's Meadow", song on the Blue Rodeo album '' Are You Ready'', 2005 * ''

'', opera by Hans Werner Henze, 2007 * ''Phaedra'', song from ''

Obsidian Obsidian () is a naturally occurring volcanic glass formed when lava extruded from a volcano cools rapidly with minimal crystal growth. It is an igneous rock. Obsidian is produced from felsic lava, rich in the lighter elements such as silicon ...

'', the 2013 third studio album of electronic artist Baths. * ''I Remember Phaedra'', song from '' Creatures of the Deep'' by Rob Haigh, 2017 * ''Death Grips Is Online'' song from ''

Year of the Snitch ''Year of the Snitch'' is the sixth studio album by experimental hip hop group Death Grips, released on June 22, 2018, through Third Worlds and Harvest Records. Background With the release of '' Steroids (Crouching Tiger Hidden Gabber Megamix)' ...

'' by Death Grips, 2018 * ''Phaedra'', song from '' From Home'' by The Rubinoos, 2019 * ''Phaedra'', song from ''How Do You Live'' by

Amon Tobin Amon Adonai Santos de Araújo Tobin (born February 7, 1972), known as Amon Tobin (), is a Brazilian electronic musician, composer and producer. He is noted for his unusual methodology in sound design and music production. He has released eight ...

, 2021

In film

* ''Fedra'' (1909), silent short film directed by Oreste Gherardini with Italia Vitaliani as Fedra, and

Carlo Duse Carlo Duse (5 January 1898 – 9 September 1956) Birth name: Carlo Artemio e Vittorio Duse. With mention in margin of his date and place of death. was an Italian film actor. He appeared in more than 80 films between 1916 and 1956. He was bor ...

and Ciro Galvani * '' Fedra'' (1956), filmed in Spain, based on Seneca's Latin play. Directed by

Manuel Mur Oti Manuel Mur Oti (25 October 1908 – 5 August 2003) was a Spanish screenwriter and film director.Bentley p.127 He also acted in one film, the neorealist '' Segundo López'' (1953). Selected filmography * '' Four Women'' (1947) * '' Guest of D ...

with

Emma Penella Manuela Ruiz Penella (2 March 1931 – 27 August 2007), better known as Emma Penella, was a Spanish film and television actress. Biography Manuela Ruiz Penella was born on 2 March 1931 in Madrid, the child of far-right politician Ramón ...

Enrique Diosdado Enrique Diosdado (May 6, 1910 – December 1, 1983) was a Spanish actor. He is sometimes credited as Enrique Alvarez Diosdado. Diosdado was a leading man of Argentine and Spanish films of the 1940s and 1950s. His daughter, Ana Diosdado, was a lead ...

, and

Vicente Parra Vicente Parra Collado (5 February 1931 – 2 March 1997) was a Spanish actor. Early career Born in Oliva (Valencia), in a lower-class family, he began his career at a young age in the theater. He formed part of a number of theatrical companie ...

in the main roles. * '' Minotaur, the Wild Beast of Crete'', 1960 Italian

sword-and-sandal Sword-and-sandal, also known as peplum (pepla plural), is a subgenre of largely Italian-made historical, mythological, or Biblical epics mostly set in the Greco-Roman antiquity or the Middle Ages. These films attempted to emulate the big-budget ...

fantasy film, with Rosanna Schiaffino as Phaedra and her sister

* ''

'' (1962), based on Euripides's play, directed by Jules Dassin with

Melina Mercouri Maria Amalia "Melina" Mercouri (, 18 October 1920 – 6 March 1994) was a Greek actress, singer, activist, and politician. She came from a political family that was prominent over multiple generations. She received an Academy Award nomination a ...

and Anthony Perkins * ''Phädra'' (1967), based on Racine's play, directed by with as Phaedra and as Hippolyt;

Lina Carstens Lina Carstens (6 December 1892 in Wiesbaden – 22 September 1978 in Munich) was a German film and theater actress. On stage she appeared in plays by Gerhart Hauptmann, Arthur Schnitzler, and August Strindberg, and in her old age she starred in the ...

as Phaedra's nurse *''

Ballad of a Bounty Hunter ''Ballad of a Bounty Hunter'' (also known as ''Fedra West'' and ''I Do Not Forgive... I Kill!'') is a 1968 Italian-Spanish western film directed by Joaquín Luis Romero Marchent and distributed by Troma Entertainment. Cast * James Philbrook: ...

'', (1968), a Spaghetti Western adaptation also released as ''Fedra West'' directed by

Joaquín Luis Romero Marchent Joaquín Luis Romero Marchent (26 August 1921 – 16 August 2012) was a Spanish screenwriter and film director. He directed several Spaghetti Westerns during the 1960s. He died on 16 August 2012 at the age of 91 in Madrid Madrid ( , ) is th ...

. * , based on

Racine Jean-Baptiste Racine ( , ) (; 22 December 163921 April 1699) was a French dramatist, one of the three great playwrights of 17th-century France, along with Molière and Corneille as well as an important literary figure in the Western traditi ...

's play, directed by Pierre Jourdan with Marie Bell and

Claude Giraud Claude Pierre Edmond Giraud (; 5 February 1936 in Chamalières – 3 November 2020) was a French actor. Career Claude Giraud studied with Tania Balachova at the Théâtre du Vieux-Colombier; Berthe Bovy and Jean Meyer at the École de la rue Bla ...

, music by

François Couperin François Couperin (; 10 November 1668 – 11 September 1733) was a French Baroque composer, organist and harpsichordist. He was known as ''Couperin le Grand'' ("Couperin the Great") to distinguish him from other members of the musically talented ...

* Luciana Paluzzi, portrayed Phaedra in '' War Goddess'' (1973) *

Freida Pinto Freida Selena Pinto (born 18 October 1984) is an Indian actress who has appeared mainly in American and British films. Born and raised in Mumbai, Maharashtra, she resolved at a young age to become an actress. As a student at St. Xavier's Col ...

portrayed Phaedra in '' Immortals'' (2011), loosely based on the Greek myths of Theseus and the

and the

Titanomachy In Greek mythology, the Titanomachy (; grc, , , Titan battle) was a ten-year series of battles fought in Ancient Thessaly, consisting of most of the Titans (the older generation of gods, based on Mount Othrys) fighting against the Olympians ...

. * ''

Queen of Hearts The queen of hearts is a playing card in the standard 52-card deck. Queen of Hearts or The Queen of Hearts may refer to: Books * "The Queen of Hearts" (poem), anonymous nursery rhyme published 1782 * ''The Queen of Hearts'', an 1859 novel by ...

'' (2019) Denmark

Notes

References

* Smith, William; ''

Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology The ''Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology'' (1849, originally published 1844 under a slightly different title) is an encyclopedia/ biographical dictionary. Edited by William Smith, the dictionary spans three volumes and 3,700 ...

'', London (1873)
"Phaedra"
*

Virgil Publius Vergilius Maro (; traditional dates 15 October 7021 September 19 BC), usually called Virgil or Vergil ( ) in English, was an ancient Roman poet of the Augustan period. He composed three of the most famous poems in Latin literature: th ...

, ''

Aeneid The ''Aeneid'' ( ; la, Aenē̆is or ) is a Latin epic poem, written by Virgil between 29 and 19 BC, that tells the legendary story of Aeneas, a Trojan who fled the fall of Troy and travelled to Italy, where he became the ancestor of ...

'' VI.445;

, ''

Metamorphoses The ''Metamorphoses'' ( la, Metamorphōsēs, from grc, μεταμορφώσεις: "Transformations") is a Latin narrative poem from 8 CE by the Roman poet Ovid. It is considered his '' magnum opus''. The poem chronicles the history of the ...

'' XV.497 * *

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Phaedra (Mythology) Princesses in Greek mythology Queens in Greek mythology Characters in Book VI of the Aeneid Cretan characters in Greek mythology Attican characters in Greek mythology Theseus Suicides in Greek mythology Deeds of Aphrodite