Terracotta neck-amphora (jar)
Attributed to the Ixion Painter
On the body, obverse, Hippolytos, attendant, and Phaidra, with a Fury above
Reverse, two youths
On the neck, obverse and reverse, youth
The Ixion Painter drew on many sources, including drama and mythology, for his vases. The representation her shows Hippolytos, the son of the Athenian hero Theseus, and his step-mother, Phaidra, seated on the right. She fell in love with the youth, and when he repulsed her advances, she killed herself, leaving a letter incriminating Hippolytos. Theseus believed her allegations and was responsible for his son's death. The Fury here foreshadows the tragic fate of the protagonists. The playwrights Sophokles and Euripides treated the story.
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