Hippolytus, the illegitimate son of King Theseus of Athens, has invoked the scorn of the goddess Aphrodite by vowing to live a life of chastity and refusing to revere her, while giving the goddess Artemis constant devotion. Aphrodite swears vengeance and plots to cause Hippolytus' young stepmother Phaedra to fall madly in love with him, setting off a series of events that will prove the undoing of them both

King Theseus finds himself in a whirlwind of madness and deceit, caught between his wife and son. He will find his mortal emotions are helpless against the machinations of a goddess and responds in an impulsive and destructive manner that will bring tragedy upon his house. This translation is crafted in rhymed verse to create a close approximation of the rhythms and poetry of the original Greek text.