Presented at the Dionysis Theatre in 415 BCE, The Trojan Women (or The Women of Troy) is considered one of the greatest anti-war pieces of literature ever written. As the play is centred in the aftermath of a great war and on the fates of those left behind, namely women, the audience’s reception when it was performed was lukewarm at best. Its penetrating depiction of the callous nature of soldiers touched a nerve in the conscience of the Grecian peoples who, at that time were themselves embroiled in war against Sparta. Reminiscent of the Athenian army’s massacre of men and imprisonment of the women and children of the island of Melos, The Women of Troy presents as more of a commentary on the behaviours of men in war, and challenges the morality of their actions. Its depiction of the women, in contrast, celebrates a previously oppressed gender as noble figures that shoulder their fates with decency and poise.

Euripides’ depiction of classical characters within the text aids us in understanding why his works were not a favourite among many of the ancient critics; namely his depiction of the gods, who in his pieces appear contrite. This portrayal of the revered gods as capricious onlookers would have had an enormous effect on the reception of his works, polarising the conservative members of the audience that would have been unsettled by this interpretation.

In the same way, cleaving through the façade of women in nobility and exposing the raw emotion and passion they exhibit under strain and circumstance would have upset the primarily male audience. Given that all audience members and all acting players on stage would have been men, including those playing women’s roles, Euripides’ focus on women is undeniably avant-garde in ancient Grecian times. By using the cryptic Cassandra, Euripides works to expunge the notion of the god’s role as the omnipotent foreseer and introduces the potential that women have to circumspect. By placing weight on Helen’s manipulation of argument and rhetoric, Euripides supports the notion of women in roles of politics. He is careful however, to gift each of the characters their own time and space within the play to react to the tragic circumstances in their own individual way.