Phaedra

Mortal Cretan princess, daughter of Minos and Pasiphae and sister of Ariadne; second wife of Theseus and mother of Acamas and Demophon. The tragic protagonist of the Euripidean Hippolytus: her Aphrodite-sent passion for her stepson, his rejection, her suicide and accusing tablet, and the destruction of Hippolytus by the bull from the sea.

Parentage

• Minos

Children

• Acamas
• Demophon

Domains

• queenship

Powers

• Destroy her stepson with a dying false accusation

Relations

• sibling: Ariadne
• sibling: Androgeos
• sibling: Catreus
• sibling: Glaucus
• spouse: Theseus
• mother of: Acamas
• mother of: Demophon
• enemy: Hippolytus

Sources

• Euripides Hippolytus (428 BCE); Apollodorus 3.1.2, Epitome 1.17-19; Ovid Heroides 4; Seneca Phaedra; Hyg. Fab. 47
• Apollod. 3.1.2 (daughter of Minos and Pasiphae)