Hippolytus is generally acknowledged to be one of Euripides' finest tragedies, for the construction of its plot, its use of language and its memorable characterisations of Phaedra and Hippolytus. Furthermore, it asks serious and disturbing questions about the influence of divinity on human lives. Sophie Mills considers these and many other themes in detail, setting the play in its mythological, cultural and historical contexts. She also includes discussions of major trends in interpretations of the play and of subsequent adaptations of the Hippolytus story, from Seneca to Mary...

Accessible introductions to ancient tragedies discuss the main themes of a play and the central developments in modern criticism, while also addressing the play's historical context and the history of its performance and adaptation. References to Dionysus in popular culture focus on the god as the incarnation of wild and decadent behaviour, by which humans are intrigued and appalled. The god as he is portrayed in "Euripides' Bacchae" is, however, more complex, paradoxically transcending straightforward notions of the Dionysiac. "Euripides' Dionysus" blurs the dividing line between many of...