Racine - Phaedra - College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences

I
162 / JEAN RACINE
..
Phaedra'
CHARACtERS
THESEUS, son ofAegeus, King ofAth­ THERAMENES, Hippolytus' tutor
ens OENONE, Phaedra's nurse and confida:nte
PHAEDRA, wife of Theseus, daughter ISMENE, Aricia's confidante
of Minos and Pasiphae PANOPE, lady-in-waiting to Phaedra
HIPPOLYfUS, son of Theseus and An­ GUARDS
tiope, Queen of the Amazons
ARICIA, princess of the blood royal of
Athens .
The action takes place within and without a palace at Troezen, a town in the
Peloponnesus. .
Act 1
SCENE. 1
HIPPOLYTUS, THERAMENES
HIPPOLITUS No, dear Theramenes, I've too long delayed
In pleasant Troezen; my decision's made.
I'm off; in my anxiety, I commence
To tax myself with shameful indolence.
My father has been gone six months and more,
And yet I do not know what distant shore
Now hides him, or what trials he now may bear,
THERAMENES You'll go in search of him, my lord? But where?
Already, to appease your fears, I've plied
The seas which lie on Corinth's either side;
I've asked for Theseus among tribes who dwell
Where Acheron- goes plunging into Hell;
Elis I've searched and, from Taenarus" bound,
Reached even that sea where Icarus" was drowned...
In what fresh hope, in what unthought-of places, 15
Do you set out to find your father's traces?
Who knows, indeed, if he wantsthe truth about
His long, mysterious absence to come out,
And whether, while we tremble for him, he's
Not fondling some new conquest at his ease 20
And planning to deceive her like the rest? ...
HIPPOLYTUS Enough, Theramenes. In King Theseus' breast,
The foolish fires of youth have ceased to burn;
No tawdry dalliance hinders his return.
Phaedra need fear no rivals now; the King 25
1. Translated by Richard Wilbur. 2. A river that flows into Hades; Charon ferried the dead across it.
3. A point of land in southern Greece, near Sparta. Elis is a district of Greece on the west coast of the
Peloponnesus. 4. Son of Daedalus. Escaping from Crete by means of wings made by his father, Icarus
flew so high that the sun melted the wax holding his wings together, and he fell to his death.