Review of Michael R. Halleran's translation of Euripides' Hippolytus (Focus Classical Library, 2001.) - Halleran's translation is very readable, and he provides brief, but good and helpful notes. This is a revised version of his 1995 translation (Aris and Philips), which also included the Greek text. This newer edition is directed to a wider readership and features a very useful Introduction where Euripides' earlier, now lost, version of Hippolytus (sometimes called 'Hippolytus Veiled') is also discussed - a topic that is (partly) picked up in his very interesting interpretative essay that concludes this book. The Introduction focuses on the play in the time and context it was written and first performed; the original staging of tragedy in general, as well as Hippolytus in myth and cult. The well-written concluding essay deals more in-depth with plot and structure, including major themes like speech, silence and deception; reputation, shame and honour; sōphrosynē; passion, reason and ignorance. – The combination of the translation, introduction and final essay in this edition makes it a very good choice both for the general reader as well as for those with some prior knowledge of Greek tragedy.




This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License. ( )

This was a very decent play by Euripides that delivered what it set out to do in both style and poise. I felt taken along for the journey and some of the language was quite delicate and poetic- especially to my liking. Overall, a good play.

3.5 stars! ( )

Hipolito, tragedia representada por vez primera en el año 428 a. C., trata de Teseo, el Heroe ateniense por excelencia, de Fedra, hija de Minos y Pasifae, y de Hipolito, hijo bastardo de Teseo y la amazona Antíope; tambien trata de Afrodita y Artemisa, diosas del deleite sexual aquella y de su abstinencia esta.
Todo ello, así como el delito de castidad de Hipólito, es explicado por el entusiasmo del traductor Rubén Bonifaz Nuño, quien, desde la introducción, envuelve apasionada y casi libidinosamente a los lectores en esta tragedia, donde Teseo, avergonzado y dolido por haber mandado a la muerte a Hipólito, quiere reconciliarse con él cuando aún respira. ( )

In the play Hippolytus by Euripides, Hippolytus finds out that his step-mother has fallen for him. But what he doesn’t know is that the goddess Aphrodite has had her hand in these matters.

Hippolytus, the illegitimate son of Theseus, king of Trozen, has angered the goddess Aphrodite because he scorns love and women. Artemis, the goddess of the hunt, can do nothing for him, for Aphrodite has cast a love potion on Theseus’ wife, the queen Phaedra. When Phaedra falls in love with attractive Hippolytus, she is doomed by her own guilt and obsession. In classic Greek format, tragedy befalls Theseus’ house.

I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed reading Euripides’ play.

Note that I read a translation via Project Gutenberg by Gilbert Murray. I wouldn't recommend it: the forced rhyming poetry wasn't particularly clear or delightful to read.

Magnificent. Both this and Bacchae seem to personify the gods better than any other tragic author. The Hippolytus won competition in 428bc and I can understand why. It is a very moving work -- particularly this version by David Grene (University of Chicago Press) ( )