Where does a hermit learn carnal knowledge?
Where did the playwright Racine get all this carnal knowledge if he grew up with hermits? Perhaps Hippolytus does indeed represent the young, repressed and disciplined playwright Racine, a Frenchman, but the Frenchman as a bastion of culture and father of many, which he became in his later years. Racine, himself an orphan, found himself raised by religious hermits only to find many mistresses when he became a playwright in the French theater as an adult. He overcame a humble and tragic start in life through his intellectual discipline. Specifically Racine learned to appreciate language, learning the arts of Greek and Latin and foregoing worldly goods and temptations for such spiritual enrichment. Hence, the gods’ presence in his play Phedre and how they affect the mortal soul with their very human vices, mischief, punishment and vengeance, all articulated with the words, conveying the emotions whipping about within their souls but not to be acted out. The love and loyalty inspired by s
