Hercules and Cadmus once/ When in a wood of Crete they bayed the bear/ With hounds of Sparta. Never did I hear/ Such gallant chiding; for besides the groves,/ The skies, the fountains, every region near/ Seemed all one mutual cry. I never heard/ So musical a discord, such sweet thunder.” (4.1. 109-115) In my estimation, her mention of Hercules and Cadmus at the beginning shows a mourning of her old life; I also find it interesting how casual the drop of these famous names is. Perhaps a way to gain displeasure with Theseus, by mentioning the names of great heroes that he could never compare to. I think it is a surge of defiance—almost like ‘well you may have caught me, but you are still not as good as my friends the heroes.’ I think that Hippolyta’s mourning of her old life is quite extreme, because of the line of how musical the discord of the barking dogs is. Musical discord is when different notes combined strike the ear harshly, yet, Hippolyta refers to it as “sweet thunder.” (4.1. 115) In A Midsummer Night’s Dream when two people are together that are either not supposed to be or are together against one person’s will, the sense of the ‘wrong love’ is given to be horrible; it is either criticized or, as in the case of Hippolyta, good things are remembered in order to avoid thinking about the wrong love. In the end, the overall sense of the ‘wrong love’ is given to be something quite atrocious, and thankfully everything is put to amends....
