The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1910-12-20
pUROGDU,D@0@ BIZ 0RWOFG MDeaG. ALI, MD@5TS RESERVE,

s,OsytuS'' two thousand HVc Huiiufc's
years ago the tragedy Is strangely
modern i'm the feeling displayed in
many OF the passages, thoughts II
situations. The subject ts one which
requires to be handled ski)lfuily, Oh II
becomes ugly, If not repulsiVc. Ahu
the commentators and fm1tatofs .
Euripides have made it ugly many a
time since. Even Racine created a
Pilaedra who was quite another sort OF
person from the Phacs.ra Of EuripideS.
This tragedy OF Euripides is, as Pro-
lessor Gilbert Murray puts 1t, "A
thing Of beauty to give thanks for.
surrounded by an atmosphere os
haunting purity" Euripides wrote
seventy-fivc plays, only eighteen OF
which are cxtant. OF these "Hipp0-
iytus'' Is. perhaps, the most satisfying
and human according to mOder
minds. The supernatural machinery
seems to us cumbersome only in one
thins-the making use of Artemis To
enlightcn the mind OF Theseus. The
old nurse. conscience stricken, cOuid
have been used, according to modert
ideas, more effectively. But as Aphro-
dite caused the misuIid ersta nding per-
haDs the Greek idea was that Artenfis
should set it right. 1t must be allow
ed. however. that If the chastc god
dess were to interfere in the matter at
all she might have taken u hand cartier
with profit to everybody concerned.
King Theseus had exiled himself
from mis- greater capital Of Athens ana
was spending his time in the city OF
. frozen. that city which he had in
herited from his mother as from his
. father he had inherited Athens. His
Queen, the fair and stately Phaedra.
daughter Of Minos, King { Crete, was
with him. as was likeN'se his son
Hippolytus-his son. but not the son
Of Phaedra. Years before, when
Theseus had accomplished those great
advnnfrreC ~ which the world still
tells, he had fought whit the Amazons
and beaten them. He had been young
tells. he had fought with the Amazons
had fallen in love with him. The re-
suit Of this guilty passion was Hip
polytus-
He had been strictly brought up by
the sage, Pittheus. and came to mans
estate free from any manner of evil
OF hunting. of athletic sports and
especially OF chariot racing was the
young man fond. There was no steed
so fierce that the Prince Hippolytus
could not manage it in all his fathers
domains. His manly and youthful
beauty, developed by the pure and
athletic life he led. caused the maidens
aye, and sometimes the matrons,
too-who saw him to heave a sigh.
But Of the ewo statues which stood
at the entrance Of the royal palace
at frozen but one of them received
the homage Of Hippolytus. That was
the statue of Artemis. that pure and
chaste goddess known afherward In
other cliInes as Diana Of the silver
bow. To the statue which stood OPP
posite. the statue OF Aphrodite the
Cyprian, the cold Ifippolytus never
bowed.
And, as we know the gods Of god
desses Of the olden times were very
human in their jealousies. this in
difference on the part Of the young
+ 4 N,ncf 81 y
dite, who declared she would AVE re-
Fenge, and have 1t in a form which
would be long remembered. Already,
even before the court came to frozen.
even in Athens, Aphrodite had begun
her work to melt the heart Of Hip
DOlytus or to have revenge upon him
When the youth had come from the
castle of his instructor, Pittheus, to
the shores Of Athens seeking 'the
vision of the mysteries" and his ia
theirs court, the young Queen, the
nlgh-born Phaedra, had looked upon
him and her heart had been torn with
great but hopeless love-all brought
about by the will of the Cyprian
A~phrodite.
But the Queen had locked her secret
IN her breast A little shrine had she
built to love, however, a little shrine
in a cave on the Athenian hills, a
cave which opened toward frozen
and she called the shrine the shrine OF
"LOVe-at-HOme." When AphrOditf
saw that all her arts and all her power
were unavailing to make the proud
Queen discover her love for her nus
hands son, or to move the heart 81
Hlppolytus, her anger was unbounded
and so. when the court removed tt
frozen, she resolved upon the deatf
of both the Queen and Hippolytus.
Shall and my worship be thu
s~cornedts cried the goddess. Il whom
men in the far red west worship when
ever they see the day-star spring? An,
shall this Prince of Theseus's seed, tn,
child Of that dead Amazon, shah n
alone Of all the dwellers in this ian,
scorn me and refuse me praise? Their
is that, even in the mind OF the i'm