Definition: Phaedra was the daughter of Minos and Pasiphae, wife of Theseus, mother of Acamas and Demophoon. When Phaedra's stepson Hippolytus rejected her, she slandered him to Theseus. Phaedra then killed herself.
The tragedy Hippolytus, by Euripides, features Phaedra and her lethal fascination with her stepson. In the relatively modern world (A.D. 1677), the French playwright Jean Racine used Euripides' version of events for his own play, Phèdre et Hippolyte.
Examples:
Here are two quotes from Sophocles' Phaedra tragedy:
- "The truth is always the strongest argument." Frag. 737.
- "Fortune is not on the side of the faint-hearted." Frag. 842.
