Phaedra was the daughter of Minos and Pasiphaë of Crete, and thus sister to Acacallis, Ariadne, Androgeus, Deucalion, Xenodice, Glaucus and Catreus and half-sister to the Minotaur.

As a result he hails her as the greatest of all deities and in a show of devotion to honor the goddess, Hippolytus vows eternal chastity, swearing that he will never love or marry.

Eventually, unable to tolerate the burden of her suffering in silence, she confides in her nurse and shares her feelings towards Hippolytus.

When Phaedra learns of her nurse's actions, she fears the consequences of her immoral desires and plans to commit suicide.

And in a very similar fashion to the first tale, Poseidon summons a huge bull to scare Hippolytus's horses into a wild frenzy that kills him.

Artemis is saddened by the loss of her devout follower and reveals the truth to Theseus about Aphrodite and the curse she placed on his wife.

In a fourth version, Phaedra told Theseus and did not kill herself; Dionysus then sent a wild bull which terrified Hippolytus's horses.

The Athenians maintained a small shrine high on the south slope of the Acropolis devoted to Aphrodite 'for Hippolytus'.

[1] In one version, Phaedra's nurse told Hippolytus of her love, and he swore he would not reveal her as a source of information.