When covetous Pirithous wants to steal Persephone, Theseus accompanies his friend down into the kingdom of the dead. No one has ever returned from there before. But mighty Theseus breaks the rule and saves himself and his unredeemed friend. Together, they head home. But at home, another horror awaits them. At home, the wife has given her desire free reign. At home, Phaedra now loves Hippolytus, the son of Theseus. And on exactly the day that those believed dead return, there is a wedding that will unite the stepson with the wife of his father. Blind with rage, Theseus assaults Phaedra. But she exacts her revenge through suicide. And in death, she summons destruction.
The terrible suffering makes Theseus long for the underworld. But now Persephone denies him death. And even the furious Hippolytus, thirsty for revenge, does not manage to kill his father. Instead, Theseus is damned to life.