  hippolytus (, hippolytos) is an ancient greek tragedy by euripides, based on the myth of hippolytus, son of theseus. the play was first produced for the city dionysia of athens in 428 bc and won first prize as part of a trilogy."euripides' hippolytus", translated by george theodoridis euripides first treated the myth in hippolytos kalyptomenos ( â hippolytus veiled), now lost. scholars are virtually unanimoussee, e.g., barrett 1964; mcdermott 2000. in believing that the contents to the missing kalyptomenos portrayed a shamelessly lustful phaedra who directly propositions hippolytus,hence the title: hippolytus was so shocked by phaedra's advances that he covers his face with a veil in horror. to the displeasure of the audience.this according to a hypothesis appended to the text of the hippolytus that survives. this failure prompted euripides to revisit the myth in hippolytos stephanophoros ( â "hippolytus who wears a crown"), in reference to the crown of garlands hippolytus wears as a worshipper of artemis, this time with a modest phaedra who fights her sexual appetites. the surviving play offers a much more even-handed and psychologically complex treatment of the characters than is commonly found in traditional retelling of myths. ==synopsis== the play is set in troezen, a coastal town in the northeastern peloponnese. theseus, the king of athens, is serving a year's voluntary exile after having murdered a local king and his sons. his illegitimate son hippolytus, whose mother is the amazon hippolyta, has been trained here since childhood by the king of troezen, pittheus. at the opening of the play aphrodite, goddess of love, explains that hippolytus has sworn chastity and refuses to revere her. instead, he honors the goddess of the hunt, artemis. this has led her to initiate a plan of vengeance on hippolytus. when hippolytus went to athens two years previously aphrodite inspired phaedra, hippolytus' stepmother, to fall in love with him. hippolytus appears 
Plays_adapted_into_films Plays_by_Euripides Theseus