Phaidra
Phaidra ( Greek Φαίδρα , the radiant one ), common German spelling Phaedra , is the second wife of Theseus , king of Athens in Greek mythology . Her parents are Minos and Pasiphaë , her sister is Ariadne . She is the granddaughter of the sun god Helios .
The myth
Phaidra is enchanted by Aphrodite , whereby she falls in love with her stepson Hippolytos . This rejects her love. Phaidra then commits suicide, but first leaves the false accusation on a tablet that Hippolytus stalked her.
When Theseus returns and finds Phaidra dead, he curses Hippolytus, whereupon the latter flees with his chariot. At Theseus' request, Poseidon sends a sea monster that makes the horses on the chariot of Hippolytus shy. Hippolytus falls from the wagon, gets caught in the reins and is dragged to death.
reception
Literary processing
The material was often edited literarily:
- Euripides ' tragedy Hippolytus with a wreath , dated 428 BC. Chr. , Is his second dramatic adaptation of the subject. His first is not preserved.
- The first known Latin version is that of Ovid , who treats this subject both in his Heroides and in the Metamorphoses .
-
Seneca ties in with Euripides in his tragedy Phaedra .
- Seneca's work was the basis for a number of adaptations in the 16th and 17th centuries, for example by Ottaviano Zara ( Hippolito , 1558), Robert Garnier ( Hippolyte , 1573) and by Jacques Pradon ( Phèdre et Hippolyte , 1677)
- In literary terms, Phèdre by Jean Racine (1677), translated into German by Friedrich Schiller in 1805.
- In 1909 Gabriele D'Annunzio wrote a tragedy Fedra , on which the libretto for the opera Ildebrando Pizzettis is based.
- Even Miguel de Unamuno wrote a play called Fedra (premiered in 1918).
- In 1927 Marina Ivanovna Tsvetaeva wrote the tragedy Fedra .
- The Swedish author Per Olov Enquist used the Phaidra material in his piece "Till Fedra" (1980).
- There is also an adaptation by Sarah Kane called Phaidras Liebe (1996).
music
As an opera , the subject was u. a. by Jean-Philippe Rameau , Hippolyte et Aricie 1733, Johann Simon Mayr , Fedra 1820, both based on Jean Racine , and Ildebrando Pizzetti, based on a libretto by Gabriele D'Annunzio, and set to music by Hans Werner Henze in 2007 - Phaedra .
The material also inspired Benjamin Britten , who wrote a cantata on the Phaidra theme as his last vocal work , which he dedicated to the soprano Janet Baker . She sang the cantata in the world premiere at the Aldeburgh Festival in 1976.
In the song "Some Velvet Morning" by Lee Hazlewood , which he recorded with Nancy Sinatra , the myth is also alluded to (album "Nancy & Lee", 1968).
The band Tangerine Dream , a pioneer in electronic music, titled an album that was decisive for their later musical style in 1974 "Phaedra"; the album is still one of the group's most successful productions (including a completely re-recorded remix album in 2005).
Movie
- Fedra (1909), silent film directed by Oreste Gherardini with Italia Vitaliani as Fedra, and Carlo Duse and Ciro Galvani
- Theseus, Held von Hellas (1960), Italian adventure film, with Rosanna Schiaffino as Phaedra and as her sister Ariadne
- Phaedra (1962), based on the tragedy of Euripides, directed by Jules Dassin , Melina Mercouri as Phaedra, Anthony Perkins as Alexis
- Phädra (1967), based on the play by Racine, directed by Oswald Döpke with Joana Maria Gorvin as Phädra and Rolf Henniger as Hippolyt, Lina Carstens as Œnone, Phädras wet nurse
- Freida Pinto played Phaedra in the 2011 film War of the Gods , which was loosely based on the mythology of the Minotaur and the Titanomachy .
Visual arts
Ancient representations of the myth can be found on marble sarcophagi, for example in the Musée d'Arles Antique in Arles , in the Church of San Clemente in Rome and in Agrigento .
Parallels
Parallels can be found in other Eurasian myths:
- Fingal Rónáin ("Ronan's Relatives Murder").
- Potifar
- Kunala , son of Ashoka .
literature
- Max Grosse: Phaidra. In: Maria Moog-Grünewald (Ed.): Mythenrezeption. The ancient mythology in literature, music and art from the beginnings to the present (= Der Neue Pauly . Supplements. Volume 5). Metzler, Stuttgart / Weimar 2008, ISBN 978-3-476-02032-1 , pp. 578-589.
- Johannes Ilberg : Phaidra . In: Wilhelm Heinrich Roscher (Hrsg.): Detailed lexicon of Greek and Roman mythology . Volume 3.2, Leipzig 1909, Col. 2220-2232 ( digitized version ).
- Otto Zwierlein : Hippolytos and Phaidra. From Euripides to D'Annunzio. With an appendix to Jansenism (= North Rhine-Westphalian Academy of Sciences . Lectures. Humanities. Volume 405). Schöningh, Paderborn 2006, ISBN 3-506-75694-X .
Web links
- Phaedra, tragedy by Jean Racine, transferred by Friedrich Schiller (Gutenberg project)
- Interpretation in Racine: Phèdre , Edward D. James, Gillian Jondorf, Cambridge University Press 1994, ISBN 9780521397216 (English)
Remarks
- ^ Ovid, Heroides , IV
- ^ Ovid, Metamorphoses , XV, 497-546
- ^ Interpretation by Jean Firges : Jean Racine. Phèdre. The Demonie der Liebe , Exemplary Series Literature and Philosophy, 23. Sonnenberg, Annweiler 2008 ISBN 978-3-933264-50-3 . Among other things with a family tree of gods and heroes. Picture of Racine in an undated copper engraving by Victor Pollet, after a picture by Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres , p. 196
- ↑ Fedra (Dramma mitologico dell'Antica Grecia) (1909) in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- ↑ Phädra (TV 1967) in the Internet Movie Database (English)