Plot: More than anything in the world, the powerful Greek shipping magnate, Thanos Kyrilis, yearns to reconcile with his estranged art student son, Alexis, who is living in London. To help him build bridges between them, the pained father enlists the help of his passionate second wife, Phaedra, to talk the distant twenty-four-year-old son into spending his summer vacation with them at the family's villa in the sun-kissed island of Hydra. However, against the backdrop of a rain-soaked Paris, a torrid love affair beyond reason will bloom, threatening to burn the oblivious tycoon's international maritime transport empire to the ground. Now, tormented Phaedra finds herself unable to suppress her forbidden and guilty feelings for her young stepson. Will the modern temptress share the same fate as Hippolytus' stepmother in Euripides' Ancient Greek tragedy?
Alternative Plot: Phaedra (Melina Mercouri) is sent by her wealthy older husband, Thanos (Raf Vallone), to London in order to bring his son from a previous marriage, Alexis (Anthony Perkins), home for the summer. After Phaedra meets Alexis, they fall in love and embark on an affair. Alexis returns to Greece but feels consumed by guilt about the situation. When Thanos tries to arrange a marriage for him, it brings out jealousy in Phaedra that leads to a tragic series of events.
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