Meaning of Phaedra | Babel Free

Definitions

1. The wife of Theseus, who falls in love with but is spurned by her stepson Hippolytus, then commits suicide, but is the cause of his later death (details vary between versions).
   Greek
2. A female given name from Ancient Greek.
   rare
3. The asteroid 174 Phaedra.

Equivalents

Examples

“We notice that Racine's Phaedra, like Euripides', displays high moral dignity because she considers her passion for Hippolytus to be abominable.”

“Why did Seneca decide to postpone his own Phaedra’s suicide until after Hippolytus' death? The question is by no means as futile as it may sound.”

“I may add that the notion that Aphrodite is especially cruel because she destroyed Phaedra, who was an innocent victim, since she had no choice, is not a perception that would have been shared by the ancient audience. Not only is it at the very least arguable—in fact likely—that in ancient eyes Phaedra did have a choice,¹⁶⁶ but also the very notions "innocent victim since she had no choice" and "cruel because destroying an innocent victim" are unstable cultural concepts.”

CEFR level