Sarcophagus depicting The Story of Hippolytus at The State Hermitage Museum, St Petersburg

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Hippolytus was a minor deity in ancient Greek mythology. At Athens he was closely associated with Aphrodite, the goddess of love; at Troezen, young women about to marry would often dedicate a lock of their hair to him. The Greeks themselves believed that his name might suggest that he had been destroyed by horses. In Euripides' famous tragedy Hippolytus, he is portrayed as the son of Theseus, king of Athens, and the Amazonian warrior Hippolyte. Theseus' queen, Phaedra, fell deeply in love with Hippolytus. However, when Phaedra's passion was revealed to him, he reacted with such intense disgust that she ultimately took her own life, leaving behind a note accusing Hippolytus of attempting to rape her. Theseus refused to believe Hippolytus' fervent denials of guilt and instead banished him from the kingdom. The sea god Poseidon had given Theseus three curses, one of which was invoked by Theseus against his own son. Poseidon responded by sending a terrifying sea monster that frightened Hippolytus' horses until he could no longer control them. The terrified horses smashed their chariot and dragged their master to his untimely death.