The ballet action is based on these quotes from Euripides’ Greek drama Hippolytus:
Scene 1
Aphrodite: I shall punish Hippolytus this very day.
Scene 2
Phaedra & Theseus: Go away now for the gods’ sake and let go my hand.
Scene 3
Hyppolytus: Follow our guardian maid Artemis.
Scene 4
Hyppolytus: My body is pure.
Scene 5
Phaedra & The Nurse: Aphrodite sent Phaedra an unhappy star.
Scene 6
Hyppolytus: The counterfeit coin, woman, to curse the human race.
Scene 7
Phaedra: Passion reaches the boundary of life.
Scene 8
Chorus: Love whose coming is devastation.
Scene 9
Hippolytus: Curse on the whole race of woman.
Scene 10
Phaedra: The strength of my limbs has melted away.
Scene 11
Chorus: Her body seems so wasted, all her strength is gone.
Scene 12
Phaedra & Hippolytus: Terrible is the advent of Aphrodite. The breath of her terror is felt in every land.
Scene 13
The Nurse: Oh, hateful day! This hateful life.
Scene 14
Phaedra: Death must end this torture.
Scene 15
Theseus: My dead wife, whose death is living death to me.
Scene 16
Theseus to Hippolytus: Take Orpheus for your master, dance his crazy rites.
Scene 17
Chorus: Weep for the Queen, tears for her tears.
Scene 18
Theseus: How often Aphrodite shall I in tears remember the wrong that you have done?
