这是莎士比亚<<仲夏夜之梦>>的作业。老师对我写作内容的评语不错，但我引用文献的格式不对，得了90分。这个希腊神话里也有二奶上位的故事.

Please do some research on the Greek mythology surrounding Hippolyta and Theseus. Summarize your discoveries in your own words in a paragraph of about 200 words including one quote from your source. Conclude with your own insight on how knowing about this mythology affects your interpretation of the Hippolyta and Theseus relationship in Shakespeare's play.  Be sure to include a works cited for your source.

我的回答：

In the Greek mythology, Hippolyta is a daughter of Ares (the God of war) and Otrera, and she is also the Queen of the Amazons (1). One day, when Theseus travels to the land of the Amazons, he kidnaps Hippolyta and  takes her back with him to his home at Athens where Theseus marries Hippolyta. After they have a son named Hippolytus, Theseus begins to love another woman named Phaedra. Therefore Hippolytus has to leave Athens sadly and returns to her home at the Amazons (1, 2). After Hippolytus arrives at her home, she calls the soldiers of the Amazons to attack the wedding ceremony of Theseus and Phaedra. It is during this battle that Hippolytus is killed. There are several versions of sayings about the death of Hippolytus. Based on the Wikipedia, the killer of Hippolyta is not sure yet, as stated in the following sentence:“ Either Thesus directly killed her in the fight, or she was accidentally killed by another Amazon, Molpadia or was accidentally killed by her sister Penthesilea.” (2)

The Greek mythology makes me feel really surprised about the relationship between Hippolyta and Theseus in “A Midsummer Night’s Dream”. In Shakespeare’s works, Hippolyta is truly loved by Theseus who never shows his love to the other woman (3). Also in this play, Hippolyta is a confident and strong woman who dares to challenge the different opinion of Theseus on the mechanicals' play in Act 5.1.207-210 as below (3):

HIPPOLYTA

This is the silliest stuff that ever I heard.

THESEUS

The best in this kind are but shadows; and the worst
are no worse, if imagination amend them.

HIPPOLYTA

It must be your imagination then, and not theirs.

In my opinion,  Hippolytus is not a lucky woman who loses her love and even loses her life in the Greek mythology.  Also in the Greek mythology, Theseus is not a loyal man for Hippolytus and he changes his love attitude dramatically to Hippolytus  after they have a son.  In the Greek mythology, Hippolytus  is a submissive and passive person when she loses her love. While in Shakespeare’s play, Hippolytus is a happy lady who is loved deeply by Theseus.  She is also strong and confident .  Also in Shakespeare’s play, Theseus is a good man with a big heart who can take Hippolytus as she is.

Works Cited

1.       "The Greek Myth of Hippolyta and Theseus." Prezi.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 27 July 2014.

2.       "Hippolyta." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 22 July 2014. Web. 27 July 2014.

3.       Greenblatt, Stephen, et al. The Norton Shakespeare Based on the Oxford Edition (Second Edition). W.W.Norton & Company (New York), 2008. Print.