Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology/Phaedra

by Various Authors

PHAEDRA (Φαίδρα), a daughter of Minos by Pasiphaë or Crete, and the wife of Theseus. (Apollod. iii. 1. § 2,) She was the stepmother of Hippolytus, the son of Theseus, by Antiope or Hippolyte, and having fallen in love with him he repulsed her, whereupon she calumniated him before Theseus. After the death of Hippolytus, his innocence became known to his father, and Phaedra made away with herself. (Hom. Od. xi. 325; Eurip. Hippol.; compare Theseus and Hippolytus.) [L. S.]