Hippolytus

Quartigod son of Theseus by the Amazon Antiope (or Hippolyta in variant recensions). The protagonist of Euripides' Hippolytus (428 BCE), one of the most influential tragedies in the Greek canon. Killed by Poseidon's bull-from-the-sea after his stepmother Phaedra's engineered false accusation; resurrected by Asclepius (the act that triggered Zeus's killing of Asclepius with the thunderbolt). The Italian Aricine-cult tradition (Vergil Aen. 7.761-782) preserved the post-resurrection name Virbius, attesting the cross-Mediterranean continuity of his cult. The Troezen sanctuary of Hippolytus had the canonical pre-marriage maiden-hair-offering rite (Pausanias 2.32.1) — among the longest-surviving Greek hero-cults.

Parentage

• father: TheseusApollod. Epit. 1.16 (primary)

Domains

• hunting
• virginity

Powers

• Excel in the hunt as devoted companion of Artemis

Relations

• enemy: Phaedra
• father: TheseusApollod. Epit. 1.16 (primary)
• mother: Antiope (Amazon, sister of Hippolyta in some recensions) · GreekApollod. Epit. 1.16 (primary)
• half sibling: AcamasHalf-brother through their shared father Theseus; Acamas is Theseus's son by Phaedra.Apollod. Epit. 1.16-18 (primary)
• half sibling: DemophonHalf-brother through their shared father Theseus; Demophon is Theseus's son by Phaedra.Apollod. Epit. 1.16-18 (primary)
• half sibling: MelanippusHalf-brother through their shared father Theseus; Melanippus is Theseus's son by Perigune daughter of Sinis.Apollod. Epit. 1.16; Plut. Theseus 8 (primary)
• killed by: Poseidon's bull from the sea (panicking the chariot-horses) — invoked by Theseus's curse · GreekEur. Hippolytus 1166-1248 (primary)

Sources

• existence: Euripides, Hippolytus (428 BCE; surviving complete); Apollodorus, Epitome 1.16-19; Pausanias 2.32.1-4 (Troezen cult); Pindar, Pythian 3.55-58 (resurrection); Vergil, Aeneid 7.761-782 (Aricine Virbius); Ovid, Metamorphoses 15.497-546 (Italian afterlife) (primary)
• parentage: Apollod. Epit. 1.16; Eur. Hipp. prol. (primary)