> How is this different from harikari?
PS; as long as I have you on the horn, wasn't Phaedra
a charactr in Zen&the art of Motorcycle Maintenence?
Rachel Cogent<

Hi Rachel,
Beats me, better consult the list!
Oddly, I haven't read it, (Zen & the Art...)but I understand
there is reference to the name, at least.
Phaedra figures prominently in classic Greek mythology.
She was goddess/wife of the god Theseus who went off to war
for 40 yrs. Phaedra became restless & took a young lover, thinking
Theseus long dead.  Theseus returns & discovers the lovers.
The twist is that the young lover is son of Theseus from a previous
marriage. The pair of lovers commit joint suicide.

Feminist scholars & male scholars interpret the myth differently,
naturally.  The men give it a mean twist, depicting Phaedra as a
harridan; feminist scholars say she behaved honorably.
The most well know translation of the myth is by the French poet,
Racine.

; }
P