Hippolytus

One of these maxims is ascribed to Pittheus, namely, quote, "Payment pledged to a man who is dear must be ample and certain," unquote.

At any rate, this is what Aristotle the philosopher says; and Euripides, when he has Hippolytus addressed as, quote, "Nursling of the pure and holy Pittheus," unquote, shows what the world thought of Pittheus.

Now Aegeus, king of Athens, desiring to have children, is said to have received from the Pythian priestess the celebrated oracle in which she bade him to have intercourse with no woman until he came to Athens.

But Aegeus thought the words of the command somewhat obscure, and therefore turned aside to Troezen and communicated to Pittheus the words of the god, which ran as follows, quote, "Loose not the wine-skin's jutting neck, great chief of the people, until thou shalt have come once more to the city of Athens," unquote.

So much, then, is worthy of mention regarding the Amazons.

For the insurrection of the Amazons, written by the author of the Theseid, telling how, when Theseus married Phaedra, Antiope and the Amazons who fought to avenge her attacked him and were slain by Heracles, has every appearance of fable and invention.

Theseus did indeed marry Phaedra, but this was after the death of Antiope, and he had a son by Antiope, Hippolytus, or as Pindar says, Demophone.

As for the calamities which befell Phaedra and the son of Theseus by Antiope, since there is no conflict here between historians and tragic poets, we must suppose that they happened as represented by the poets uniformly.

One of these maxims is ascribed to Pythias, namely, Payment pledged to a man who is dear must be ample and certain.

At any rate, this is what Aristotle the philosopher says, and Euripides, when he has Hippolytus addressed as nursling of the pure and holy Pythias, shows what the world thought of Pythias.

Now Aegeus, king of Athens, desiring to have children, is said to have received from the Pythian priestess the celebrated oracle in which she bade him to have intercourse with no woman until he came to Athens.

But Aegeus thought the words of the command somewhat obscure and therefore turned aside to Troizen and communicated to Pythias the words of the god which ran as follows.

So much, then, is worthy of mention regarding the Amazons.

For the insurrection of the Amazons, written by the author of the Theseid, telling how, when Theseus married Phaedra, Antiope and the Amazons who fought to avenge her attacked him and were slain by Heracles, has every appearance of fable and invention.

Theseus did indeed marry Phaedra, but this was after the death of Antiope, and he had a son by Antiope, Hippolytus, or, as Pindar says, Demophone.

As for the calamities which befell Phaedra and the son of Theseus by Antiope, since there is no conflict here between historians and tragic poets, we must suppose that they happened as represented by the poets uniformly.

But in poetry the godhead of the animal lingers, and especially the terror and the divinity of the bull remains.

It lives on in the story of the death of Hippolytus.

Theseus, the father of Hippolytus, is son of Poseidon, and Poseidon has granted him the boon that thrice his prayer shall be granted.

When Theseus curses the innocent Hippolytus, he says, And by Poseidon's breath he shall fall swiftly to the house of death.

Hippolytus is driving his chariot by the seashore when the curse falls.

He has reached the Saronis Gulf.

Just there an angry sound, slow swelling, like God's thunder underground, broke on us, and we trembled.

To whom did he pray? Whence came the bull? He prayed to Poseidon, and Poseidon sent him up from the deep a magnificent bull.