- May 2025
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classics.mit.edu classics.mit.edu
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Lady goddess, awful queen, daughter of Zeus, all hail! hail! of Latona and of Zeus, peerless mid the virgin choir, who hast thy dwelling in heaven's wide mansions at thy noble father's court, in the golden house of Zeus. All hail! most beauteous Artemis, lovelier far than all the daughters of Olympus!
The use of elevated language in this line eg "awful queen," "peerless mid the virgin choir," "golden house of Zeus" elevates the goddess Artemis to the status of a national symbol. Euripides' deliberate choice of language reinforces the implicit connection between the divine and the state. The language and tone links individual piety to national identity. The language itself becomes a tool of nation-building, shaping and reinforcing Greek cultural narratives.
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But for his sins against me, I will this very day take vengeance on Hippolytus; for long ago I cleared the ground of many obstacles, so it needs but trifling toil. For as he came one day from the home of Pittheus to witness the solemn mystic rites and be initiated therein in Pandion's land, Phaedra, his father's noble wife, caught sight of him, and by my designs she found her heart was seized with wild desire. And ere she came to this Troezenian realm, a temple did she rear to Cypris hard by the rock of Pallas where it o'erlooks this country, for love of the youth in another land; and to win his love in days to come she called after his name the temple she had founded for the goddess.
In this passage the goddess makes her case for the eventual penalty leveled against Hippolytus by the wrathful goddess. The audience is presented with the transgression as well as the intended punishment. Just as Greek society had a strict code of laws regarding civil responsibilities they also had a moral code from the Gods. The reiteration of these standards in this form promotes general acceptance among the masses.
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Wide o'er man my realm extends, and proud the name that I, the goddess Cypris, bear, both in heaven's courts and 'mongst all those who dwell within the limits of the sea and the bounds of Atlas, beholding the sun-god's light; those that respect my power I advance to honour, but bring to ruin all who vaunt themselves at me.
This seems to be a standard message of foreboding and the promise of consequence for defying the gods. The opening line sets the tone and prepares any audience who will hear the message to receive the message from the gods. The cultural saturation promotes shared cultural values.
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