{{Short description|Son of Theseus in Greek mythology}} {{Hatnote group| {{Other uses|Hippolytus (mythology)}} {{Redirect|Virbius|the synonym of a genus of shrimp|Hippolyte (crustacean)}} }} {{More citations needed|date=December 2008}} [[File:Darius Painter - RVAp 18-17 - death of Hippolytos - young warrior in naiskos - London BM 1856-1226-1 - 15.jpg|thumb|Detail of the Hippolytus volute-krater (bowl for mixing wine and water), {{circa|340 BC|320 BC}}, British Museum.]]
'''Hippolytus''' ({{langx|grc|Ἱππόλυτος|Hippolutos|unleasher of horses}}; {{IPAc-en|h|ɪ|'|p|ɒ|l|I|t|ə|s}})<ref name=":0" /> in [[Greek mythology]] is the son of [[Theseus]] and an Amazon, either [[Hippolyte|Hippolyta]] or [[Antiope (Amazon)|Antiope]]. His downfall at the hands of [[Aphrodite]] is recounted by the playwright [[Euripides]]. Other versions of the story have also survived.
== Etymology == The meaning of Hippolytus' name may be understood ironically. Ἱππό- translates to 'horse', and the element -λυτος (from λύω 'loosen, destroy') suggests the adjective [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/morph?l=lutos&la=greek#Perseus:text:1999.04.0057:entry=luto/s-contents λυτός, -ή, -όν] 'which may be undone, destroyed'. His name thereby takes on the prophetic meaning 'destroyed by horses'.<ref name=":0">{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xyDrBEe7tEMC&q=hippolytus+destroyed+by+horses&pg=PA395|title=Aeneid – Virgil – Google Boeken|date=October 2007|isbn=9780191517785|access-date=2013-10-16|author1=Virgil|last2=Ahl|first2=Frederick|publisher=Ebsco }}</ref>
== Premise of the myth == [[File:Hippolytus and Phaedra, fresco from Pompeii.JPG|thumb|''Hippolytus and Phaedra'', antique fresco from [[Pompeii]]]]
Hippolytus is a hunter and sportsman who is more inclined towards hunting than towards marriage and love. In consequence, he scrupulously worships [[Artemis]], the virgin huntress, and refuses to honor [[Aphrodite]]. Offended by this neglect, Aphrodite causes [[Phaedra (mythology)|Phaedra]], Hippolytus’ stepmother, to fall in love with him; Hippolytus rejects Phaedra's advances, setting events in motion that lead to his death in a fall from his [[chariot]]. <ref name=":1" />
== Euripides == [[Image:Death Hippolytus Lemoyne Louvre MR2026.jpg|thumb|upright=1|''The Death of Hippolytus'', by [[Jean-Baptiste Lemoyne (sculptor)|Jean-Baptiste Lemoyne]] (1679–1731), [[Louvre]]]]
Euripides' tragedy ''[[Hippolytus (play)|Hippolytus]]'' describes the death of the hero after a confrontation with his stepmother [[Phaedra (mythology)|Phaedra]], the second wife of Theseus. Cursed by Aphrodite, Phaedra falls so ardently in love with Hippolytus that she becomes physically ill and decides to end her suffering through suicide. Her nurse tries to save her by revealing the secret to Hippolytus and encouraging him to reciprocate. Hippolytus responds only with horror and disgust, humiliating Phaedra. In despair, and not wanting to admit the true reason for ending her life, she hangs herself and leaves a note for Theseus accusing his son, Hippolytus, of raping her.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web|last=ancientadmin|title=Hippolytus - Euripides - Ancient Greece - Classical Literature|url=https://www.ancient-literature.com/greece_euripides_hippolytus.html|access-date=2020-10-21|website=Ancient Literature|language=en-US}}</ref> Theseus, furious, uses one of the three wishes given to him by [[Poseidon]], his father: Theseus calls on Poseidon to kill Hippolytus, who has fled the palace to go hunting. Poseidon sends a [[Sea monster|sea-monster]] to terrorize Hippolytus' chariot horses, which become uncontrollable and hurl their master out of the vehicle. Entangled in the reins, Hippolytus is dragged and suffers lethal wounds.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Rice|first=Bradley N.|url=http://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctvmx3k11|title=Coming Back to Life: The Permeability of Past and Present, Mortality and Immortality, Death and Life in the Ancient Mediterranean|date=2017-03-31|publisher=McGill University Library|isbn=978-1-77096-222-4|editor-last=Tappenden|editor-first=Frederick S.|edition=2|pages=345–374|doi=10.2307/j.ctvmx3k11.20|jstor=j.ctvmx3k11 |editor-last2=Daniel-Hughes|editor-first2=Carly}}</ref> Artemis reconciles father and son by telling Theseus that Phaedra's accusation against Hippolytus was not true. Artemis comforts the dying Hippolytus with a promise to make him the subject of religious practice so that his memory will live forever. She assigns a band of Trozenian maidens the task of preserving the story of Phaedra and Hippolytus in a ritual song.<ref name="worldcat.org">{{Cite book|title=Coming back to life : the permeability of past and present, mortality and immortality, death and life in the ancient Mediterranean|others=Daniel-Hughes, Carly, 1974–, Tappenden, Frederick S,, Rice, Bradley N,, Coming Back to Life: Performance, Memory, and Cognition in the Ancient Mediterranean (Conference) (2014 : Montréal, Québec)|year=2017 |isbn=978-1-77096-222-4|location=Montréal, QC|publisher=McGill University Library|oclc=975051675}}</ref>
Versions of this story also appear in [[Seneca the Younger]]'s play ''[[Phaedra (Seneca)|Phaedra]]'', [[Ovid]]'s ''[[Metamorphoses]]'' and ''[[Heroides]]'', [[Jean Racine]]'s ''[[Phèdre]],'' and [[Thomas Sturge Moore]]'s ''[[Aphrodite against Artemis]].''
== In Italy as Virbius == [[File:Salle de Diane (Louvre) - Diane rendant à Aricie Hippolyte ressuscité par Esculape.jpg|thumb|right|Diana returning to Aricia Hippolytus resuscitated by Aesculapius]]
During a later phase of [[Hellenization]], Virbius, one of two figures associated with the ancient cult of [[Diana Nemorensis]] (the other being [[Egeria (mythology)|Egeria]]), was assimilated to the Hippolytus, as a [[metamorphosis]].<ref>[[Georges Dumézil]], ''la religion romaine archaïque,'' [[Payot]] 1974 p.410.</ref>
The version presented by Ovid in his ''Metamorphoses'',<ref>{{cite book |last1=Ovid |title=Metamorphoses, Book XV}}</ref> and by [[Pausanias (geographer)|Pausanias]], relates a story about Hippolytus that differs from the version presented by Euripides.<ref name="worldcat.org"/> Here Hippolytus was brought back from the dead by [[Asclepius]], but once revived he refused to forgive Theseus, went to Italy, became the king of the Aricians, and named a city after Artemis. He there ruled as "Virbius" from inside the shrine of Diana. (The sanctuary forbade horses from entering, which is why it is believed he lived there.) Euripides' Hippolytus remained permanently connected him to his tomb.<ref name="worldcat.org"/> Virbius was also identified with the sun god [[Sol (Roman mythology)|Sol]]/[[Helios]] (Phaedra's grandfather).<ref>[[Maurus Servius Honoratus|Servius]], ''Commentary on Virgil's Aeneid'' [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.02.0053%3Abook%3D7%3Acommline%3D776 7.776]</ref><ref>{{cite book | first = Joseph Eddy | last = Fontenrose | author-link = Joseph Fontenrose | title = Orion: The Myth of the Hunter and the Huntress | publisher = [[University of California Press]] | date = 1981 | isbn = 0-520-09632-0 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=tD4lJxC95mEC | page = [https://books.google.com/books?id=tD4lJxC95mEC&pg=PA199 199]}}</ref>
The nature of Virbius' function remains enigmatic, but his cult maintained that [[Artemis]] asked [[Asclepius]] to resurrect the young man since he had vowed chastity to her. Followers of Hippolytus' cult cut off a piece of their hair to dedicate their chastity to him before marriage.<ref>{{Cite book|last1=Waldner|first1=Katharina|chapter=Hippolytus and Virbius:: Narratives of "Coming Back to Life" and Religious Discourses in Greco-Roman Literature|date=2017|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctvmx3k11.20|title=Coming Back to Life|pages=345–374|editor-last=Tappenden|editor-first=Frederick S.|series=The Permeability of Past and Present, Mortality and Immortality, Death and Life in the Ancient Mediterranean|edition=2|publisher=McGill University Library|doi=10.2307/j.ctvmx3k11.20|access-date=2020-12-09|last2=Rice|first2=Bradley N. |jstor=j.ctvmx3k11.20 |editor2-last=Daniel-Hughes|editor2-first=Carly}}</ref>
== Gallery == <gallery widths="150" heights="200"> File:Esculape rend la vie à Hippolyte.jpg|''Esculape rend la vie à Hippolyte'' by [[Abel de Pujol]] File:German school Hippolytus, Phaedra and Theseus.jpeg|''Hippolytus, Phaedra and Theseus''. German School, 18th century File:Hippolytus mosaic 01.jpg|Part of the mosaic of Hippolytus in the [[Madaba#Archaeological finds|Archaeological Park of Madaba]], Jordan File:Hyppolitus készlet.jpg|Hippolytus set – [[Seuso Treasure]] File:Hippolytus Sir Lawrence Alma Tadema.jpg|''The Death of Hippolytus'', by [[Sir Lawrence Alma-Tadema]] (1836–1912) </gallery>
== See also == * [[Rex Nemorensis]] * [[The Golden Bough]] * [[Phaedra complex]] * ''[[Ippolito ed Aricia]]'' * ''[[Hippolyte et Aricie]]''
== References == {{Reflist}}
== External links == * {{Commons category-inline|Hippolytus}} * [https://web.archive.org/web/20040729112331/http://www.verbumvanum.org/adel/ Hippolytus] for details on the figure of Hippolytus and a classicist's philological study of the evolution of Hippolytus as a [[chastity]] [[paradigm]] in [[Euripides]], [[Seneca the Younger|Seneca]], [[Jean Racine|Racine]]; extensive bibliography (in [[Dutch language|Dutch]])
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[[Category:Asclepius in mythology]] [[Category:Children of Theseus]] [[Category:Deeds of Artemis]] [[Category:Deeds of Poseidon]] [[Category:Metamorphoses characters]] [[Category:Mythological Greek archers]] [[Category:Mythological hunters]] [[Category:Mythological Athenians]] [[Category:Phaedra (mythology)]] [[Category:Retinue of Artemis]]