Hippolytus

How are ideas of agency depicted in the play? To what extent, if any, do characters still have (or believe they have) agency even when faced by the power of the gods and fate?

Compare and contrast the different moral codes explored in the play. How do different characters conceive of morality? What do their moral codes reveal about their characterization and motivations? How do they illustrate some of the play’s key ideas?

Compare and contrast the ways in which the different characters view Aphrodite and the power of love. How are love and desire experienced and defined by the characters? What is the significance of these experiences?

How do the “tragic flaws” of both Phaedra and Hippolytus contribute to the destructive outcomes of the play? In what ways are they similar or different to one another in their downfalls?

How are ideals of masculinity and femininity explored in the play? How does the tension between Phaedra’s erotic desires and her social expectations as a woman contribute to her internal conflict? How does Hippolytus conform to, or diverge from, Greek ideals of masculinity?

Analyze the idea of justice, both human and divine, in the play. What counts as just or unjust behavior? Is there any successful implementation of justice by the play’s conclusion? Why or why not?

Explore Theseus’s role as a father figure in the play. In what ways does Theseus fail in this role? In what ways does he succeed?

How is the relationship between men and women explored in Euripides’s Hippolytus? What do these gender dynamics reveal about Greek society in Euripides’s day?