The hero Hippolytus was loved by Phaedra, a cunning and duplicitous heroine. Married to the hero Theseus, Phaedra fell in love with Theseus’ son by another woman, Hippolytus. Rejected by Hippolytus, she composes a letter to Theseus claiming that Hippolytus raped her, thus bringing a curse down upon Hippolytus, who dies in a chariot crash. In some versions, Phaedra commits suicide (see below). Here we have the hero Hippolytus. In the lower left the diminutive nurse of Phaedra approaches him to tell him of her mistress’s desire.