(aside). Great gods! why do I not unlock my lips, seeing that I am ruined by you, the objects of my reverence? No, I will not; I should nowise persuade those whom I ought to, and in vain should break the oath I swore.TheseusFie upon thee! that solemn air of thine is more than I can bear. Begone from thy native land forthwith!HippolytusWhither shall I turn? Ah me! whose friendly house will take me in, an exile on so grave a charge?TheseusSeek one who loves to entertain as guests and partners in his crimes corrupters of men’s wives.HippolytusAh me! this wounds my heart and brings me nigh to tears to think that I should appear so vile, and thou believe me so.TheseusThy tears and forethought had been more in season when thou didst presume to outrage thy father’s wife.HippolytusO house, I would thou couldst speak for me and witness if I am so vile!TheseusDost fly to speechless witnesses? This deed, though it speaketh not, proves thy guilt clearly.HippolytusAlas! Would I could stand and face myself, so should I weep to see the sorrows I endure.TheseusAy, ’tis thy character to honour thyself far more than reverence thy parents, as thou shouldst.HippolytusUnhappy mother! son of sorrow! Heaven keep all friends of mine from bastard birth!TheseusHo! servants, drag him hence! You heard my proclamation long ago condemning him to exile.HippolytusWhoso of them doth lay a hand on me shall rue it; thyself expel me, if thy spirit move thee, from the land.TheseusI will, unless my word thou straight obey; no pity for thy exile steals into my heart. [Exit Theseus. HippolytusThe sentence then, it seems, is passed. Ah, misery I How well I know the truth herein, but know no way to tell it! O daughter of Latona, dearest to me of all deities, partner, comrade in the chase, far from glorious Athens must I fly. Farewell, city and land of Erechtheus; farewell, Troezen, most joyous home wherein to pass the spring of life; ’tis my last sight of thee, farewell! Come, my comrades in this land, young like me, greet me kindly and escort me forth, for never will ye behold a purer soul, for all my father’s doubts. [Exit Hippolytus.

ChorusIn very deed the thoughts I have about the gods, whenso they come into my mind, do much to soothe its grief, but though I cherish secret hopes of some great guiding will, yet am I at fault when I survey the fate and doings of the sons of men; change succeeds to change, and man’s life veers and shifts in endless restlessness.