It is too late. Theramenes, Hippolytus' tutor, bursts in to tell Theseus that Hippolytus is dead. As they were leaving the gates of Troezen, Hippolytus driving in his chariot, a strange cry came from the sea, and Hippolytus' horses grew restive. Then, in the sea, a great wave arose, from whose foam a monster, half-bull and half-snake, appeared. Theramenes and the guards, terrified, took refuge in a nearby temple; Hippolytus alone stood to face the monster and pierced him with his javelin. The dying monster spewed his blood and flame at the feet of the horses, and they ran wild. Despite Hippolytus' magnificent efforts, he could not control them, and some of the guards even thought they saw a god spurring them on. Dragging the chariot toward the cliffs, they broke the axle and the chariot came apart beneath its driver. The horses dragged Hippolytus to death. Following the traces of his blood and hair, Theramenes arrived at the spot where the horses had stopped, near the temple of Hippolytus' ancestors. With his dying breath, Hippolytus assured his tutor that he was innocent of the accusations against him and begged him to look after Aricia and ask Theseus to be kind to her.
Theseus, overcome by grief, cries that the gods have served him only too well and given him a remorse which will last all his life. Theramenes tells him that just as Hippolytus died, Aricia arrived, saw the mutilated body of her lover, and fainted away at his feet. She has now revived, and Ismene, her attendant, is sharing her tears; Theramenes has left her only to bring Theseus his son's last words.
At this moment Phaedra enters, and Theseus turns upon her. "My son is dead, Madame, take your victim," he cries, "enjoy his death, legitimate or unjust." He wants to know no more; the truth, if he knew it, might only increase his suffering. It is he, Theseus, who will now go into exile, to hide himself from the memory of his son's death and his name from the knowledge of humans. The gods, with all their kindness to him, have given him at last a fatal gift.
Phaedra, unshaken, reveals the truth. "Your son must be given back his innocence," she tells Theseus. "He was not guilty." When Theseus exclaims at her cruelty, she silences him. She has only a few moments to live, and she must tell her story. It was she who, cursed by the heavens, conceived an incestuous love for his son; Oenone did the rest. Fearing that Hippolytus would reveal the truth to his father, the nurse accused him instead, but she has received her punishment. Phaedra would already have slain herself with the sword, but she felt that she must clear Hippolytus' name. She has taken a poison which Medea brought to Athens, and she is dying. Her presence need no longer offend the heavens and the husband she has outraged. The heavens, which she has soiled by her existence, will be restored to purity by her death. She dies.
Theseus, left with neither wife nor son, plans to go and weep over the body of his son and to bury him with the honors he deserves. Henceforward, he will consider Aricia—Hippolytus' only legacy to him—as his own daughter.
