Phaedra, wife of Theseus, is consumed by desire for her stepson Hippolytus. He is young, beautiful, and devoted to chastity. She confesses her love. He recoils in horror. What follows is a catastrophe of shame, false accusation, and divine punishment. Seneca turns Euripides's subtle tragedy into something more extreme — a study of desire as a force that destroys everything it touches.
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