The Naming of
The Phaedra Hotel
[Melina
Mercouri], nicknamed "The Last Greek Goddess" was
born in Athens, Greece on October 18, 1920. An early woman activist
she was elected to the Greek Parliament in 1977. Later Miss Mercouri
was to become the first woman to hold a senior cabinet post
"Minister of Culture" in the Greek government. In 1971 she
wrote her autobiography titled "I Was A Greek". Melina wed
actor/director [Jules
Dassin] in 1966 and remained married to him until her death
in 1994.
Melina Mercouri was also an actress and starred in
numerous films. Phaedra (1962) was filmed entirely on location on
Hydra. A modern adaptation of Euripides' classic tragedy, Hippolytus.
Anthony Perkins and R. Vallone were her co-stars, Mikis Theodoakis
wrote the excellent music and Jules Dassin directed her once more.
Mercouri's Phaedra was a big hit in many European countries, and it
was the reason that Anthony Perkins become a superstar in Europe.
Melina Mercouri died of lung cancer in New York
City, on March 6, 1994. Jules Dassin now lives in Athens and is a
Director of the Melina Mercouri Foundation.
The Phaedra Hotel has been named as such in honour
of Ms Mercouri. |
Phaedra in Mythology and Literature
Phaedra (Phaidra, Φαίδρα)
Phaedra is best known for her role in Euripides'
play, the Hippolytus. The plot follows a pattern of sexual intrigue and
betrayal that has parallels in ancient Mediterranean myths, mostly
notably, the Biblical account of Joseph and Potiphar's wife. Phaedra
married Theseus who has a son, Hippolytus, from a previous marriage to
Antiope. The young Hippolytus, however, angered Aphrodite by shunning her
worship and devoting himself entirely to Artemis, the virgin goddess of
the hunt. To punish him, Aphrodite compels Phaedra to begin lusting after
the young man. At first, she resisted, and sought magic cures for her
passions, or at least a noble death.
Hippolytus learns of Phaedra's desire for him through
Phaedra's nurse and launches into a fierce denunciation of women - a locus
classicus for misogyny. Out of shame and guilt Phaedra hung herself, but
not until she'd left a letter condemning him of trying to rape her.
Hipploytus was trapped into silence because he had promised that whatever
Phaedra's nurse told him, he would never repeat.
Therefore, when confronted by his father he was
defenceless. Out of anger Theseus asked Poseidon to punish Hippolytus,
which he did. Hippolytus died as Poseidon's bull emerged from the sea
frightened his horses.
Unfortunately, after it was too late, Artemis revealed
the truth to Theseus concerning his son and Phaedra. In a typical
Euripidean deus ex machina, the goddess Artemis is questioned as to why
she stood by and allowed her devoted follower to be destroyed. She reminds
the chorus that there is an agreement among the gods that the favourites
of one divinity can be destroyed by another divinity at will. It is scant
consolation that she promises that someday she'll similarly destroy a
mortal favourite of Aphrodite in revenge. And so "As flies are to
wanton boys, are we to the gods. They kill us for their sport"
(Shakespeare, "King Lear").
However, in a different version of this story Hippolytus
rejected her advances. Out of spite, she slandered Hippolytus and Theseus
had the boy killed. Phaedra ended her own life from remorse over the boy's
death for this was not what she intended. |
A Converted Carpet Factory Now An Intimate Hotel
Today, Hydra is a permanent home to only 2,400
residents but approximately 200-150 years ago this number was closer
to 27,000. From 1750 - 1850 Hydra's community was more or less
self-sufficient and so there were many industries on the island that
provided products and services that weren't imported by the
sea-faring captains.
The building of the Phaedra Hotel was a factory,
producing carpets for the homes on the island.
Sadly, with the exodus of islanders looking for
work abroad and the number of inhabitants having dwindled to today's
numbers, all of the island's little industries closed and the
Phaedra building lay derelict for years. |
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| Today's owners found the
Phaedra in much the same state as it was abandoned. The National
Heritage laws governing the island mean, of course, that the
structure of the building couldn't be changed and Hilda and Andonis
have taken great care to keep and incorporate as many of the
novelties of a bygone era in their refurbishments.
The massive looms with their huge bobbins and
hooks were in a poor state of repair and much of the wood so rotten
that it couldn't be saved. However some of the larger struts and a
few bobbins have been recycled into homes around the island. |
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The wall colours, ceiling
designs, window sills, cisterna well heads and a wealth of other
features have been renovated to keep the "spirit" and
character of the building while every convenience is blended very
sympathetically to create an intimate and elegant hotel.
Phaedra by Jean Baptiste Racine
Jean Baptiste Racine [rah-seen']
Jean Racine, baptised Dec 22, 1639 La Ferté Milon,
died Apr 21, 1699 Paris, was orphaned at an early age and raised on
charity by relatives who belonged to a puritanical Catholic reform
sect known as Jansenists that, among other things, subscribed to an
extreme doctrine of original sin and destiny. He education included
a thorough grounding in Greek and he was profoundly influenced by
Jansenist tenets.
Except for a brief interlude in Uzès in 1661 where he placated
anxious relatives by seeking for a clerical office that was not to
be, Racine fell deeper in love with the theatre and poetry and
cultivated the friendships of fellow contemporaries Boileau, La
Fontaine and Molière. Where earlier he was content with penning
assorted poems, 1664, a year after his return to Paris, saw the
première of his first play La Thébaïde and, 1665 his second
Alexandre le Grand, to rave reception.
The next ten years beginning from 1667 and ending in 1677, with
works like Andromaque, Les Plaideurs, Britannicus, Bérénice,
Bajazet, Mithridate, Iphigénie and finally Phèdre, established him
as a literary giant standing shoulder to shoulder with previous
greats like Corneille. Due to the vitriolic attacks on Phèdre by
partisan critics and to an internal moral crisis (perhaps brought on
by his notorious liaisons with the comédiennes Thérèse Du Parc
and Champmeslé), Racine abandoned all secular theatre and married
Catherine de Romanet while being appointed the Royal Historiographer
alongside Boileau in 1677.
Thus, began his "conversion" or his reconciliation with
religion. His two plays of biblical themes, Esther (1689) and
Athalie (1691), were written at the request of Madame de Maintenon
for performance by students at her boarding school at Saint-Cyr for
religious as well as secular instruction. However, religious bigots
who distrusted all stagecraft ensured that, except for some minor
works like the Cantiques spirituels (1694), these would be his last. |
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