A Goddess wants what a Goddess wants

By Maria Gregoriou

If you haven’t had the chance to see the performance of Hippolytus by Euripides yet, your last chance is on Wednesday at the Pattichion Municipal Amphitheatre in Larnaca.

The performance is everything you would expect from a Greek tragedy, great costumes, great set, and performances that (if you let them) could easily break your heart.

Hippolytus, the son of Theseus and the Amazon queen Hippolyta, angers Aphrodite, the goddess of love, when he honours the goddess of virginity, Artemis.

Aphrodite, being scored, plans on punishing the youth by making Theseus’ wife (Phaedra) fall in love with him.

The love that Phaedra feels for the youth upsets her so much that she commits suicide and leaves a note suggesting that her step-son raped her. The irony being not only that such a thing never happened, but that Hippolytus has vowed not to sleep with any woman.

When Theseus returns he reads the note and curses his son to exile. In the end the tragedy takes more lives and we mere mortals learn some valuable lessons.

Hippolytus
Performance of the Ancient Greek tragedy by Euripides. July 29. Pattichion Municipal Amphitheatre, Nikolaou G. Dimitriou Street, Larnaca. 9pm. €17/8. In Greek. Tel: 77-772717

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