The clash between the private and the public in the Euripidean tragedy ‘Hippolytus’

Abstract

To discuss the ‘private’ and the ‘public’ in a Greek tragedy, it is necessary that different issues be addressed, such as the male and female roles in the household, the male activities in the polis, and even the presence of gods in human relationships. Euripides’ Hippolytus provides us with a debate about the boundaries between the ‘private’ and the ‘public’, emphasizing the different vantage points from which men and women see the world. A peculiar aspect of the whole dramatic scene is that the narrative takes place when Theseus is away from home and, therefore, one does not know where he is or whether he is alive; that is the moment of disintegration of his family and, consequently, the boundaries between the private and the publicare reshaped.

Keywords

• hipólito
• fedra
• eurípides