Phèdre: Édition bilingue

"Phedre" is a timeless classic. Based on Euripides' Hippolytus (Focus Classical Library),Phaedra falls into forbidden love with her stepson, Hippolytus. In the Greek original, Hippolytus is a repressed prude, punished by Aphrodite for his hubris. In Jean Racine's French neo-classical version, Phaedra is the center of the tragedy, pining for Hippolytus while he pines for Aricia. There is deus ex machina in the Greek original, but even in Racine's version, the characters live in a god-haunted world. Theseus calls on Neptune to destroy his son; Phaedra lives in fear and trembling before Venus. Margaret Rawlings, herself an actress, undertook the task of translating Racine's alexandrines into contemporary verse. Sometimes it works, and other times her translation sounds grandiose with its "thee" and "thou." It's helpful that there's French on one side and English on the other. Rawlings comes up with the novel interpretation that Phaedra and Hippolytus should be close in age, with Theseus as the older man. In recent performances of "Phedre", however, the leading ladies are middle-aged (such as Dame Helen Mirren, Lady Diana Rigg) It's usually Phaedra as cougar, with Hippolytus as the younger man (he is a hunter). "Phedre" is finally receiving the recognition it deserves with performances at the American Conservatory Theater and movie theater simulcasts from the National Theater in London. "Phedre" is a masterpiece of human passion.

Hughes' modern translation is a masterwork. The highly structured form of the original is replaced with a stark minimalism, but the effect is the same: the reader cannot help but appreciate that despite the madness of their actions, the actors are entirely rational - indeed, merely human. The final act is particularly moving. At less than 100 pages, it can be, and should be, read several times.

This is arguably Racine's best known play. It is based on an earlier version of the play by Euripides. It is written at a relatively late period in Racine's career when he was moving back toward Jansensim and a fully religious life. The play is considered the most perfect French example of a tragedy written according to the classic rules. The story is one of illicit passion and its price. One strange idea of Racine was that the 'gods' forced people to sin, and then punished them for this. This cruelty of the gods somehow suits the whole tenor of Racine's work which has a certain fierce kind of cruelty in it. Phaedra the second wife of the king Theseus falls passionately in love with Theseus' son Hippolytus. Hippolytus who supposedly hates woman is in fact secretly in love with Arcis. Upon receiving a message that Theseus has died Phaedra contain contain her passion and confesses her love to a horrified Hippolytus. Then it is revealed that the message of Theseus dead like Mark Twain's has been premature. Theseus returns and urged on by her wicked servant Oenone Phaedra indicates that Hippolytus has attempted to seduce her. Outraged Theseus orders that his son be executed. Phaedra upon learning this thinks to confess, but then learns that Hippolytus is not indifferent women as he has pretended to her but in fact loves Arcis. In a fit of jealousy she allows Theseus to carry out the execution. Upon learning of Hippolytus death, she commits suicide. The virtous Phaedra who worked so hard to overcome her passion for Hippolytus has been defeated by that passion. The passion, the sinful nature of the human heart has ruthlessly brought to the tragic death of the innocence. This is the harsh and bleak world of Racine's tragedy, the cruel world in which sinner and innocent alike go to their doom.

It is not possible to read Ted Hughes' Phedre casually. I am currently rehearsing to perform the play and I find that if I ever try to just read it sitting down, I get cramps in my neck. The play is that intense. Like a flexed muscle, every moment of Phedre is taut with raw power. The play is extremely challenging to perform, but I think that any actor or audience member will find the catharsis enormous. Even those most wary of the "classics" will be sent reeling from Phedre.

This year I am using Jean Racine's "Phaedra" as the one non-classical text in my Classical Greek and Roman Mythology Class (yes, I know, "Classical" makes "Greek and Roman" redundant, but it was not my title). In Greek mythology, Phaedra was the half-sister of the Minotaur who was married to Theseus after the hero abandoned her sister Ariadne (albeit, according to some versions of what happened in Crete). Phaedra fell in love with her step-son Hippolytus, who refused her advances. Humiliated, she falsely accused him of having raped her. My students read "Phaedra" after Euripides's "Hippolytus" as part of an analogy criticism assignment, in which they compare/contrast the two versions, which are decidedly different, to say the least. In the "original" Greek version Hippolytus is a follower of Artemis, and the jealous Aphrodite causes his stepmother to fall in love with him. Phaedra accuses Hippolytus of rape and then hangs herself; Theseus banished his son who is killed before Artemis arrives to tell the truth. In Racine's version Hippolytus is a famous hater of women who falls in love with Aricia, a princess of the blood line of Athens. When false word comes that Theseus is dead, Phaedra moves to put her own son on the throne. In the end the same characters end up dead, but the motivations and other key elements are different. While I personally would not go so far as to try and argue how Racine's neo-classical version represents the France of 1677, I have found that comparing and contrasting the two versions compels students to think about the choices each dramatist has made. Both the similarities and the differences between "Hippolytus" and "Phaedra" are significant enough to facilitate this effort. Note: Other dramatic versions of this myth include Seneca's play "Phaedra," "Fedra" by Gabriele D'Annunzio, "Thesee" by Andrea Gide, and "The Cretan Woman" by Robinson Jeffers.