The Dramaturgy of Senecan Tragedy

4. Phaedra

66 Chapter 4 Phaedra One actor plays Phaedra exclusively, since she is onstage for four of the five acts,1 and speaks with all of the characters aside from the Messenger. It is possible for the same actor to portray both; but Phaedra is a strenuous role, and it is more sensible to give him a break during act 4. The Nurse, likewise, interacts with all of the characters with the exception of the Messenger, who shares act 4 with Theseus.2 Fortunately, the Nurse is not as strenuous a role as her mistress. Both servants, then, must be assigned to the same actor. The remaining actor gets the remaining parts: Hippolytus and Theseus . Thus, son and father, as well as victim and murderer, are played by the same person. There is undoubtedly some intentional irony, if not humor, when Phaedra comments to Hippolytus that he resembles Theseus (646ff.), and when the youth says that he will fill his father’s place (633). This assignment also prevents the Euripidean confrontation between Hippolytus and Theseus. As a result, the Roman audience does not see a noble Hippolytus who would rather be condemned than break his oath; and Theseus seems even more rash and headstrong than his Attic counterpart, since he passes judgment without even seeing his son. Dramatis Personae Actor Act 1 Act 2 Act 3 Act 4 Act 5 Actor A Hippolytus Hippolytus Theseus Theseus Theseus Actor B Phaedra Phaedra Phaedra — Phaedra Actor C Nurse Nurse Nurse Messenger — Phaedra • 67 The Chorus is not identified in any way, except for being hostile to Phaedra and sympathetic to Hippolytus.3 But in this context, the oddness of the opening act should be considered. It seems to divide itself into two parts: the song of Hippolytus and the dialogue between Phaedra and the Nurse. The youth’s ode, in fact, consists of anapests, the meter that Seneca often uses for the entrance of the Chorus. I would suggest, therefore, that this first section is actually the choral parodos, only with the singing done by an actor while the silent Chorus of huntsmen enters and follows his instructions.4 It is reasonable to assume that the play is set in Athens, since all of the geographical names and references in the first thirty lines, except for Riphaea at line 8, are to places in Attica. The center doors stand for the palace. Kragelund argues ingeniously that there is a change of setting to the forest outside the city at line 405, based on his assumptions that the confrontation between Hippolytus and Phaedra would naturally take place in the forest, that the altar to Diana would be found in the woods, and that Hippolytus’ frequently stated aversion to urban living would preclude his ever setting foot in Athens .5 These are all fairly subjective points, and none are supported by the text, unless, as Kragelund does, we take them as given and reinterpret certain lines accordingly. To be sure, Seneca does sometimes change the setting, for example in the Troades and apparently in the Phoenissae, but only when it serves some dramaturgical purpose. Nothing is achieved by shifting the action between the forest and the city; indeed, retaining the same setting throughout would emphasize the way Phaedra desires The Set: Athens 68 • the dramaturgy of senecan tragedy to blend nature and civilization. And so it is better to assume a constant setting in front of the palace at Athens. Rather than leading to the forum and to foreign parts, both wings have more specific associations: Theseus emerges from the Underworld via one wing,6 while Hippolytus and the Chorus enter from and exit into the forest through the other. This represents a notable departure from the norm, since both destinations seem to be “foreign,” and neither could be interpreted as the “forum.” There also is a window or balcony above the center doors that opens to reveal Phaedra in act 2 (sed en! patescunt regiae fastigia, 384), undoubtedly the same mechanism as is used in the final act of the Medea. Fortey and Glucker absolutely deny that anything indoors happens on the Roman stage, and instead would have Phaedra appear onstage and enter from the center doors;7 but Fitch surely has it right when he observes that the balcony allows Phaedra “to be visible to the audience while remaining indoors by theatrical convention.”8 Dramaturgical Issues Act 1 (1–273)9...