Phedra

Drama Classics: The World's Great Plays at a great Little Price

Racine's reworking of Euripides' Hippolytus, celebrated for its tragic construction and the richness of its language.

Consumed by an uncontrollable passion for her young stepson and believing Theseus, her absent husband, to be dead, Phedre confesses her darkest desires and enters the world of nightmare. When Theseus returns, alive and well, Phedre, fearing exposure, accuses her stepson of rape. Unable to see beyond her impassioned words to his own son's protestations, heartbroken and overcome, Theseus banishes Hippolytus and wishes him dead. But when the gods are always listening, you should be careful what you wish for.

This English version of Jean Racine's play Phedra (Phèdre), in the Nick Hern Books Drama Classics series, is translated and introduced by Julie Rose.