 Wondering what is causing her desire for the forest glades, she reflects on her mother, Pasiphaë, daughter of Helios , who was cursed to fall in love with a bull and give birth to a monster, the Minotaur.Phaedra wonders if she is as doomed as her mother was.Phaedra's aged nurse interjects that Phaedra should control the passions she feels, for love can be terribly destructive.