The Greeks versus their Gods in Hippolytus

A detailed Summary of The Greeks versus their Gods in Hippolytus

The play Hippolytus by the Greek playwright Euripides is one which

explores classical Greek religion. Throughout the play, the influence

of the gods on the actions of the characters is evident, especially when Aphrodite affects the actions of Phaedra. Also central to the plot is the god-god interactions between Artemis and Aphrodite. In this essay, I hope to provide answers to how the actions of Hippolytus and Phaedra relate to the gods, whether or not the characters concern themselves with the reaction of the gods to their behavior, what the characters expect from the gods, how the gods treat the humans, and whether or not the gods gain anything from making the humans suffer.

Before we can discuss the play, however, a few terms need to be

defined. Most important would be the nature of the gods. They have

divine powers, but what exactly makes the Greek gods unique should be

explored. The Greek gods, since they are anthropomorphic, have many of

the same characteristics as humans. One characteristic of the gods

which is apparent is jealousy. Aphrodite seems to be jealous of Artemis because Hippolytus worships Artemis as the greatest of all gods, while he tends to shy away from worshipping Aphrodite (10-16). This is importa

Aphrodite certainly is happy that Hippolytus suffered and died through

irrational at times. After all, a stepmother falling in love with her

tricked. Also, Artemis does not blame Theseus for the death of his son: "It is natural for men to err when they are blinded by gods."

directly related to the gods. What Aphrodite does to Phaedra certainly

sometimes the gods do care what happens to the humans. It also shows

part. The Greeks believed that if they gave to the gods, through prayer and sacrifices, that the gods would help them out. This is especially true of Hippolytus and his almost excessive worship of Artemis. Also, Theseus praying to his father Poseidon is another example of this, only Theseus actually gets what he prays for. (887-890) Just because mankind worshipped the gods, however did not mean that the gods had any sort of obligation to help out the humans. Artemis did nothing to protect Hippolytus from being killed. But not all relations between the gods and mankind were positive from the humans' standpoint. Since Aphrodite is angry with Hippolytus for not worshipping her, she decides to punish him by making Phaedra love him, then making it seem that he rapes her, when she actually hangs herself, whether that is through her own actions or is the doing of Aphrodite.

As far as what the characters expect from their gods, it varies by

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Approximate Word count = 1764
Approximate Pages = 7 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: English