Greek mythology has many antiheroines who
were embroiled in complex plots, mostly
involving revenge. A number of them, such as
Ino and Clytemnestra, chose to do so out of
jealousy, or because they lacked the moral and
social virtues considered necessary in noblewomen. But the actions of others were
guided more by the interference of gods in
human affairs. These antiheroines were often
responsible, directly or indirectly, for the deaths
of others, and their stories frequently ended
with their own deaths, often by suicide.Classical Antiheroines
JEAN RACINE
The great French dramatist Jean
Racine (1639–99) wrote several
tragedies on Classical themes,
including Phèdre. He believed
that tragedy was inherent in
the human condition and
that unfortunate events were
not necessary to bring people
into tragic situations. In Racine’s plays, action
is kept to a minimum and the characters analyse
their passions in language of great poetic beauty.
In Phèdre, he airms the nobility of his heroine by
altering the story, so that she falls in love with her
stepson only when she believes Theseus to be dead.Jean RacineCLASSICAL EUROPE
The death of Hippolytus
When Poseidon raised a storm, a monster in the form of a bull
rose from the sea, terrifying Hippolytus’s horses. Theseus’s
son was thrown off his chariot and dragged to his death.Phaedra and Theseus
The death of Hippolytus was the result of the doomed marriage between
Phaedra and the Athenian king. Her brother, Deucalion, gave her in
marriage to Theseus, despite knowing about his liaison with Antiope.PHAEDRA
The daughter of King Minos of Crete and his wife, Pasiphae, Phaedra
married Theseus after he had become the ruler of Athens.
But she fell in love with Hippolytus, Theseus’s son by Antiope, an Amazon
queen who had been Theseus’s mistress. In some versions of the myth,
her passion was caused by the gods as a way of punishing Theseus for
killing Antiope. When Hippolytus rebufed Phaedra’s amorous
advances, she told Theseus that Hippolytus had tried to rape her.
The enraged king turned against his son and called on the gods to
punish the young man. Hearing Theseus’s cry, Poseidon blew up a
storm that knocked Hippolytus of his chariot to his death. Grief-
stricken, Phaedra hanged herself on hearing about her stepson’s death.52