Euripides is one of the best-known playwrights of the classical scene. His plays were among the first of their kind and noted for their novel use of staging and for pushing boundaries. Those who saw his plays knew they were in for a treat as soon as they arrived at the theater. However, for all his fans, Euripides was not even liked by his colleagues for his portrayal of the Greek gods. He is often chastised for portraying them as common and fickle. In the modern world, Euripides is acclaimed for his use of language, but hated by many scholars for his blatant misogyny towards women. In this article I will show several examples of how Euripides displayed blatant sexism towards women, particularly in his work Hippolytus. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay First, we need to think about the time Hippolytus was written. Written in 428 BC, Greek society was organized into a patriarchy that supported the city-states into which Greece was divided. Women were considered second-class citizens and property, responsible for causing destruction around them and useful only for maintaining the home. They were never given the right to own property, and some could not leave home without permission from their husband or father. Because of this, the expected attitude was that women were inferior and often in Greek theater they make fun of us. This can be seen in Aristophanes' Lysistrata. As discussed in class, one of the main reasons this play was considered a comedy is because it was considered fantasy. People of the time knew this would never happen. The idea of ​​women coming together and exercising bodily autonomy was unheard of and therefore impossible. Once you set the lens from which to view this play, you can adequately understand why this play is so problematic from the perspective of women. First, the play begins with Aphrodite, the goddess of love, upset because Hippolytus has decided to remain celibate and worship Artemis, the goddess of the hunt. This brings us to the first example of sexism in this piece. The idea that Aphrodite is so fickle and jealous is quite stereotypical. What's worse is that the men of 400 BC would have agreed with Euripides in assuming that women are irrational and annoying when they don't get what they want. In fact, all of Hippolytus' suffering is caused by Aphrodite's anger and thus adds fuel to the already sexist fire. Due to Aphrodite's jealousy, he decides to make Phaedra, Hippolytus' stepmother, fall in love with him. Naturally, Phaedra is heartbroken because she knows it's wrong and attempts to starve herself. In fact, when her nurse tries to help her, she swears she won't tell him so she can die with honor. Phaedra's life is completely at Aphrodite's mercy and she is completely helpless in her desire. Here Euripides gave us another example of misogyny. Phaedra is described as acting wildly and asking to die, saying, “Ah! could I draw a draft of pure water from some dew-fed spring, and lie down to rest in the grassy meadow in the shade of the poplar! Indeed, she is described several times as crying and wishing for death, with her nurse and aides asking her to maintain her sanity. Instead of anyone realizing that Phaedra is under a spell, everyone around her is led to think she is crazy, a common belief for women in this time period. This is also a common theme in Euripides' work with Medea being classified as mad, although circumstances pushed her to do so as well. Keep in mind:.