In Greek mythology, Hippolytus was the son of Theseus and an Amazon, either Hippolyta or Antiope. A devoted hunter and sportsman, he worshipped the virgin huntress Artemis and scorned Aphrodite, who in revenge caused his stepmother Phaedra to fall in love with him. When Hippolytus rejected her, the chain of events that followed led to his death in a fall from his chariot. His story is best known from the tragedy Hippolytus by Euripides, though several other versions survive.
Adapted from Wikipedia, "Hippolytus of Athens" · CC BY-SA 4.0
I.Etymology
The name's meaning carries an ironic weight. The prefix "hippo-" means horse, while "-lytus" derives from the verb meaning "loosen" or "destroy." Thus the name prophetically suggests "destroyed by horses" — a foreshadowing of the manner of his death.
II.Premise of the myth
Hippolytus is a hunter and sportsman who is more inclined towards hunting than towards marriage and love. In consequence, he scrupulously worships Artemis, the virgin huntress, and refuses to honor Aphrodite.
Offended by this neglect, Aphrodite causes Phaedra, Hippolytus' stepmother, to fall in love with him. Hippolytus rejects Phaedra's advances, setting in motion the events that lead to his death in a fall from his chariot.
III.Euripides
Euripides' tragedy Hippolytus depicts the hero's demise after Phaedra, Theseus's second wife, falls ardently in love with her stepson. Cursed by Aphrodite, Phaedra becomes physically ill from her passion. Her nurse tries to save her by revealing the secret to Hippolytus and encouraging him to reciprocate, but Hippolytus responds only with horror and disgust, humiliating Phaedra.
In despair, Phaedra hangs herself and leaves a note for Theseus accusing his son Hippolytus of raping her. The enraged Theseus invokes one of the three wishes given to him by his father Poseidon and asks for Hippolytus's death. Poseidon sends a sea-monster to terrorize Hippolytus' chariot horses, which become uncontrollable and hurl their master out of the vehicle; entangled in the reins, Hippolytus is dragged along and suffers lethal wounds.
Artemis appears and reconciles father and son, revealing that Phaedra's accusation was false. She comforts the dying Hippolytus and promises that his memory will endure forever in religious practice, assigning a band of Trozenian maidens the task of preserving the story of Phaedra and Hippolytus in a ritual song.
Later adaptations of the story appear in Seneca the Younger's Phaedra, Ovid's Metamorphoses and Heroides, Jean Racine's Phèdre, and Thomas Sturge Moore's Aphrodite against Artemis.
IV.In Italy as Virbius
During the Hellenization of Italian religion, Virbius — one of two figures associated with the ancient cult of Diana Nemorensis, the other being Egeria — was assimilated to Hippolytus as a metamorphosis.
Ovid's Metamorphoses and the account of Pausanias preserve a different narrative: Hippolytus was brought back from the dead by Asclepius. Once revived, he refused to forgive Theseus, went to Italy, became king of the Aricians, and named a city after Artemis. There he ruled as "Virbius" from inside the shrine of Diana; the sanctuary forbade horses from entering, which is held to explain why he lived there.
Unlike Euripides' version, in which Hippolytus remained bound to his tomb, this Virbius was also identified with the sun god Sol/Helios, the grandfather of Phaedra. The cult maintained that Artemis had asked Asclepius to resurrect the young man because he had vowed chastity to her. Followers of his cult cut off a piece of their hair to dedicate their chastity to him before marriage.