Female Deception in Hippolytus: The Ruin of Men

Female Deception in Hippolytus: The Ruin of Men

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In Ancient Greece, deceit was considered to be part of a woman's nature

and an inherent female characteristic. It was generally believed that a

good woman was the result of the careful cultivation of her morals by her

guardians, and if left to her own devices, a woman was apt to be wicked.

The deceit of women is a theme that shows up often in Ancient Greek

literature, and many Ancient Greek authors portray women as jealous,

plotting, deceitful, and vengeful creatures capable of destroying the men

affiliated with them. Hippolytus, a tragedy by Euripides, is an excellent

example of the Greek notion of the deception of women because it involves

the deceit of a goddess as well as two women.

In the beginning of the tragedy a very jealous Aphrodite delivers a

self-serving justification of her actions as she prepares to punish the

virgin Hippolytus. Aphrodite's reason for wanting to castigate Hippolytus

is really quite selfish. She is extremely angry with him because he has

sworn off physical love and he honors Artemis, the goddess of chastity

rather than her, Aphrodite, the goddess of love. Scheming Aphrodite who

made Phaedra, Hippolytus' step-mother, Phaedra, fall in love with

Hippolytus, decides to reveal Phaedra's love because she knows that if

Theseus, Hippolytus' father, discovers Phaedra's secret, "all shall come

out," the truth will be revealed, "father shall slay son with curses," and

Hippolytus will be ruined (line 43 and line44). As Aphrodite, who appears

to be so hateful and cold, plots his demise she vengefully says, "He

[Hippolytus] does not know that the doors of death are upon him, ...

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...ent son. Although Theseus,

unlike Hippolytus who was killed, still has his life, his life is now

miserably filled with regret and guilt. The deception of women leads one

man to his bitter death and another man to a life filled with remorse.

Ultimately, the men's lives are ruined.

In Hippolytus, three women, a goddess, a nurse, and a wife, each exemplify

the Greek idea of the deceitful woman. Even though two of the women are

from different social classes and positions and one of the women is an

immortal goddess, they share something in common; none of them can evade

their inescapable, natural female inclination toward trickery and

deception. All of these women surrender to their cunning, duplicitous

sides, and the people who pay the price for their deceitful deeds are the

men connected to them whose lives are completely shattered.