Hippolytus Lesson Plan

One of the themes of Hippolytus is miscommunication and lack of understanding. How do the characters in this section misunderstand each other? How does Euripides use stagecraft to underline the characters’ inability to honestly communicate with each other?

This section is the middle of the play, yet the three main characters have yet to see each other. Phaedra stands to the side during Hippolytus’ anti-women speech: she only hears it. She also doesn’t see that Hippolytus, for all his faults, is honorable enough not to break his oath of silence. Hippolytus, of course, doesn’t understand or accept women in general, let alone Phaedra. And Phaedra and Theseus never address...