the tragedy

“I don’t won’t to be found shaming my husband or the sons I bore. I want my sons to live as free men in this glorious city. In Athens. Free to speak their mind, free to flourish, free to enjoy a good name, a name untarnished by me, their own mother.

Even the bravest of men falls if he finds out that his mother or father have committed deeds of shame.”

What is Phaedra referring to? How desperate, absurd or understanding is her atrocious resolution given the facts so far in the tragedy?