Great Books Ep 78. Euripides - Hippolytus. The Perils of Imposed Morality

Should people in power decide that there is a particular way to live, much like Aphrodite in the play? Should unnatural desires against social mores cause people to die in shame?

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“And last when I could not succeed in mastering love hereby, methought it best to die; and none can gainsay my purpose. For fain I would my virtue should to all appear, my shame have few to witness it.”

~ ‘Hippolytus’ by Euripides (Edward P. Coleridge translation. GB5 - p. 228)

Brief Summary:

The play starts with a monologue from A…