Hippolytus and Aricia (2001)

Theseus has become King of Athens by disposing of King Pallas and all his family except Ariela, whom he forces to take vows of chastity. Theseus’s wife, Phaedra, harbors an incestuous desire for her stepson Hippolytus, who is Theseus’s son by his first wife, Hippolyta, Queen of the Amazons. Hippolytus loves Aricia and is determined to keep her from pledging her vows to Diana, the chaste goddess of the hunt and the moon.

Neptune, god of the sea, has promised to come to the aid of his son Theseus three times. The first of these appeals has already been granted, allowing Theseus to descend to Hades to try to rescue his warrior friend Pirithoius from the wrath of Pluto, god of the underworld, whose wife Proserpina he has attempted to abduct. Mercury, on behalf of the gods of Olympus, persuades Pluto to release Theseus from a similar fate — but the Fates warn the King that a greater tragedy awaits him at home.

Believing her husband dead, Phaedra declares her love to Hippolytus. Her horrified stepson protests his love for Ariela, and when Theseus miraculously returns from the underworld, Phaedra, in an agony of jealousy, allows him to believe that Hippolytus has attempted to rape her. To save his stepmother from Theseus’s wrath, Hippolytus refuses to contradict her, and his father calls on Neptune to destroy him. The guilt of the king takes the shape of a sea monster. Hippolytus perishes in his efforts to protect Aricia and the followers of Diana.

The goddess has sworn to protect the young lovers and brings matters to a happy conclusion. Grief-stricken, Phaedra has committed suicide, and Theseus, now aware of the truth, wishes to follow her.
Neptune prevents him, but Theseus is sentenced by the gods never to see his son again.