Hecabe (A.K.A Hecuba)

Once the Queen of Troy, Hecabe holds court in this short Greek play. She is an essential voice that speaks of the truth behind the disaster of war and the tragedy for those left behind on the battlefield. Hecabe’s drama consists not only of her concern for herself and her future, but also that of her kingdom and more specifically her daughter Cassandra and daughter in law, Andromache. She speaks of the pain of losing her sons throughout the long war but also, of the death of her husband Priam, the great Trojan King.

The pride she possesses for her beloved Troy is evident in the constant lamentation for the city itself, acting as a personification of the greatest of the Trojan race and their tenacity in the war. At times, she appears infirm in her argument and she struggles to find the right words to express her despair but even as she prepares for a bleak future as a servant to the wife of Odysseus, King of Ithaca, she holds onto her former values with dignity and stoicism.

She has a great sense for what is right and wrong, and doesn’t hold back in her scathing opinion of those who she sees have wronged her; her relentless accusations toward Helen for beginning the strife demonstrates her moral fortitude and utter devotion to her country and kin.

Hecabe Quotes

‘I mourn for my dead world, my burning town,
My sons, my husband, gone, all gone!
What pride of race, what strength
Once swelled our royal sails!’ (Hecabe) Part 1

‘Come, you widowed brides of Trojan fighting-men,
Weeping mothers, trembling daughters,
Come, weep with me while the smoke goes up from Troy!’ (Hecabe) Part 1

‘Odysseus!… Now I belong
To a perjured impious outcast… monster of wickedness…’ (Hecabe when she learns that she will be given to Odysseus) Part 3

Cassandra

Being part of the Trojan royal line, Cassandra is both feared and revered. According to legend, she parlayed with the god Apollo that he give her the gift of foresight if she agreed to give herself to him carnally. Once she had been inflicted by the prophetic sight, she refused his advances. This maddened Apollo and so he cursed her, mandating that although her prophecies would continue, none would ever believe her. She remained a virgin, until during the sacking of Troy, a Greek warrior Ajax raped her inside a temple dedicated to the goddess Athena. Despite predicting the fall of Troy, the danger of allowing the Trojan horse inside the city gates, and the premature death of Agamemnon, the curse held fast and no one believed her.

In Euripides’ play, she appears suddenly carrying two flaming torches and wildly celebrating her ‘marriage’ with Agamemnon, the king of the enemy country. Her joy is puzzling to the women and they dismiss it as madness and Hecabe’s frustration with her ‘frenzied’ (Part 4) daughter is evident when she exclaims, ‘…you hardly know what you are doing. All you have suffered has not made you sane – you are just as you were’ (Part 4), once more dismissing the girl’s foresight as mere madness.

Cassandra’s glee comes from the fact that she doesn’t fear death, believing that her death will be coupled with that of Agamemnon, therefore the Trojans will be victorious after all. Her song upon entry boasts of her virginity and in place of her mother’s celebration, brings her own wedding torches and praises the god of marriage, Hymen, for the opportunity to seek revenge on her enemies – ‘take me to Agamemnon; if you find me reluctant, force me; for if Apollo is a god, this famous king of Greeks will find me a more fatal bride than Helen was. I shall be his death, and the ruin of his whole house, so I shall avenge my brothers and my father’ (Part 4). She believes herself blessed to be given this opportunity, but Cassandra’s future remains uncertain as Hecabe’s doubt mirrors those of all onlookers.

Just before Cassandra departs, she delivers a prophesy to her mother, Hecabe, concerning the man she will be gifted to – Odysseus. She exclaims in all certainty that he will experience sufferings like no other, being tested by various quests and finally returning to his homeland of Ithaca to find it destroyed. She is once more disbelieved and her prophesy gives little comfort to her mother as she is escorted away.

Cassandra Quotes

‘Loudly chant your daughter’s wedding-song!
Wildly whirl and turn in purest ecstasy!
Maids of Troy,
Wear your brightest gowns:
Come, and sing my wedding-song,
Hail the lover Love and Fate appoint for me!’ (Cassandra) Part 4

‘Their sage commander, to win what he most hated, lost what he most loved; sacrificed the delights of home and children to his brother Menelaus… what did they die for day after day? To repel invasion from their borders or siege from their city-walls? No!’ (Cassandra on Agamemnon) Part 4

‘Mother, no tears! Farewell!
Oh, my brothers, buried in this dear earth of Troy,
My father, you have not long to wait for me. I will come
To the House of Death triumphant, my hands and garments red,
With the blood of the Atreus, who brought our Troy to dust!’ (Cassandra) Part 4

Andromache

Known by Hecabe as being ‘iron-hearted’ (Part 5), Andromache’s fate is to be remarried to Neoptolemus and taken to his homeland. The wife of the first-born son of the Trojan royal family, Andromache has come to expect that one day she would be a widow but this concept doesn’t help her come to terms with what she believes is a curse, and one that punishes her despite her service to her husband and his nation. The fact that Andromache arrives in a chariot eludes to her being a gift to her new husband, as opposed to purchased in the sick auction between Grecian victors, and this notion is confirmed by Talthybius who carefully instructs that ‘she [Andromache] goes, as an award of distinction, to the son of Achilles’ (Part 5), hinting that the exchange might not be something as sinister as the others. In addition to this, she toys with the idea that another life awaits her with Neoptolemus; and that she may, in time, come to forget her first husband Hector and live a semblance of a normal life in the new land. This is however, before she learns of the barbaric fate that lies in store for her son.

Despite this, the idea that she will be companioned with the son of her husband’s murderer offends her and upon entry there is a moment of competition between the Queen and her daughter-in-law when Andromache reminds Hecabe that ‘that [Hecabe’s prayer] is mine by right… no more your children: all that is ended’ (Part 5), severing her connection with the remaining women in a bid to make her fate easier to bear. Her single word answers to Hecabe’s inquiring questions indicate she has long ago decided that her best play is to become dispassionate in an attempt to protect herself from further hurt. Andromache doesn’t hold back in her accusations of what caused the turmoil in Troy, placing some of the blame on Priam and Hecabe that ‘spared [Paris] at his birth’ (Part 5) which caused the gods to ‘hate us [Trojans]’ (Part 5). This accusation is lost on the aggrieved Hecabe but audiences are poised to consider that perhaps Helen’s later claims have some truth behind them, that the destruction of Troy was caused by multiple events in tandem and does not all lie at the feet of the Spartan woman.

We see the concept of ambition visited in Andromache when she recalls ‘lost[-ing] all that I [she] aimed for’ (Part 5) as she practised the ‘perfection of womanly modesty’ (Part 5) and became the best royal princess she could. It is clear that she loved her husband Hector, and is distraught when her son Astaynax is executed. Andromache’s final pleas are not for herself, but for the body of her little boy, that it be buried in the proper way in Trojan soil.

Andromache Quotes

‘The dead have no feeling; so evil can bring no pain. But one who has known prosperity, and falls from happiness to unhappiness, wanders bewildered in an unknown world.’ (Andromache) Part 5

‘Darling child…your noble father’s courage, which saved others, has condemned you; his spirit was a fatal inheritance… I thought, on that day when I entered Hector’s house as a bride… that my son would rule the teeming multitudes of the East – not die by a Greek ritual of murder.’ (Andromache to her little son Astaynax) Part 6

‘My baby, so young in my arms, and so dear!’ (Andromache on Astaynax) Part 5

Helen

Throughout mythology, Helen has always been revered as a beauty among many; yet in The Women of Troy, Euripides manages to strip back the exotic mystery that surrounds the historical figure and paints an intensely unforgiving portrayal in his play. Formally of Sparta and the wife of Menelaus, Helen becomes a honorary princess of Troy after eloping with Paris. Although she claims she was initially abducted, a claim Hecabe dismisses in her rebuttal in the final stages of the play, it was proven that she made no attempts to escape Troy and therefore the blame for the ‘ten thousand dead’ (Part 7) lies firmly at her feet.

However, when she sees Menelaus again on the shores of the ruined city, she claims she was bewitched by Aphrodite and led astray, unknowingly running away with Paris without being in control of her own choices.

Despite making a reasonable case in her defence, it is almost impossible for audiences to fully trust her as so many others cast doubt on her – ‘Remember your friends who died because of her. I [Hecabe] speak for them and for their children, and beg you not to fail them now’ (Part 7).

In a strange twist of fate, Hecabe warns Menelaus not to have Helen aboard the same ship and by believing in the odd custom that it was bad luck to have a pregnant woman aboard, Menelaus questions if ‘she [is] heavier than she used to be?’ (Part 7) Hecabe does not respond, but audiences are left with the possibility that perhaps the Trojan line has not yet died out completely.

Helen Quotes

‘You should show Aphrodite your anger, me your forgiveness.’ (Helen when she defends herself and blames Aphrodite instead) Part 7

‘I will guess what charges you would make if you accused me, and as I have things to accuse you of, I will reply by weighing the one against the others. Whom shall we blame first?’ (Helen in defence of herself) Part 7

Talthybius

He is one of only two mortal men within the play and despite the fact that his orders will harm the women (either directly or indirectly), his attempts to ease their suffering are commendable, albeit fruitless. In addition to having lost his comrades in the battle, and being deprived from seeing his family and homeland for a decade at the order of his commander, Talthybius comments on the difficulty he faces as a man with honour, acting dishonourably. The cost of his instructions weigh heavily upon him and he often believes he is unsuitable for the dirty business of war and admits as much to the audience, causing them to reflect on the way war can warp its victims – ‘A job like this is fit for a man without feeling or decency; I’m not half brutal enough’ (Part 6).

Talthybius makes every attempt to mitigate the horrors of war and at first, hides the brutal death of Polyxena from Hecabe in order to save her the pain. Similarly, he takes it upon himself to warn the women against a rebellion, coaxing Andromache into accepting the fate of Astaynax and reminding her that if she bears the decision of his execution, she will find the Greeks to be more reasonable; trying to reason with her in an attempt to allay any more harm coming to her. His admittance that Andromache’s wailing as she left aboard the ship ‘brought tears to my [his] eyes’ (Part 8) indicates a gentle soul that is not as callous as the absent Greeks are portrayed as being whilst they bid and barter for the women. Arguably the most difficult thing for him to do is to inform Andromache on the decided fate of her little boy and he admits his loss of words over it – ‘It was decided that your son – how can I say it… my news is bad. It is hard to find the words’ (Part 6).

His efforts to soothe Hecabe that she will be given time to properly bury her grandson before the ships set sail belie foresight and kindness, knowing the importance of acknowledging the burial rites and paying homage to the death of a royal. In attempts to make this even more possible, he tells her of ‘one trouble I [he] has saved her’ (Part 8) which was to bathe the child in the waters of his homeland and he also offers to ‘break the ground for his grave’ (Part 8).  His relationship with the women indicates sympathy, yet he still remains dispassionate enough that he is never considered a full ally to them.

Talthybius reminds viewers that not all of the enemy are vicious and callous, and we glean from his depiction that war is simply many men doing their duty, some willingly and others with hesitance but driven by a persistent devotion to their commanders.

Talthybius Quotes

‘Come, child; I pity your mother, but time is up. No more embracing now. You must climb to the topmost fringe of your father’s towers, where the sentence says you must leave your life behind.’ (Talthybius to baby Astaynax) Part 6

‘Now, as soon as you [Hecabe] have made him ready, I will see that he is laid to rest in the earth, and we will hoist sail.’  (Talthybius to Hecabe) Part 8

‘Look! The herald from the Achaean camp, hurrying here with urgent orders! What has been decided? What will be his message?’ (The Chorus regarding Talthybius) Part 3

Menelaus

Menelaus’s role is dualistic –the jilted lover who returns to claim his wife Helen from the Trojans and brother to the Agamemnon, the King of Mycenae and the leader of the Grecian armies that lay raid of Troy.

Despite Helen’s insinuation that he was a brutish husband, Menelaus is respectful when dealing with the elderly Hecabe and affords her the opportunity to speak her piece before departing with Helen as his prisoner. Despite arriving and claiming he ‘came here to use my sword, not to argue’ (Part 7), he holds back when he has the opportunity to learn more about Helen’s actions since she escaped from his Spartan castle. For all intents and purposes, he seems quite reasonable in his short role as mediator between Hecabe and Helen – ‘it is a favour, and will take time; however, if she [Helen] wants to defend herself, she may. Let her observe that I grant it for your sake, Hecabe, not from any indulgence towards her’ (Part 7).

As the women debate the cause of the strife, Hecabe uses Menelaus’ pride against him when she warns him to ‘be worthy of yourself [himself]’ (Part 7) and exact the penalty of death onto Helen. Naturally, the conversation ends quickly and Menelaus decides to wait until they return to Argos before ending her life. He takes heed of Hecabe’s advice that he ‘let her not sail on the same ship’ (Part 7), worried that she will bewitch him into love as Hecabe believed she had done with her son, Paris.

Menelaus Quotes

‘…I came to Troy not so much for her sake as people think; but rather to meet the man who entered my house as a guest, deceived me, and like a thief went off with my wife. Now with the help of the gods and the Greek army, we have made Paris, and his whole country, pay for it in blood. And I have come to fetch the Spartan woman…’ (Menelaus) Part 7

‘However, as you wish, she shall not set foot on my ship – there’s something in what you say. And when we reach Argos she shall pay for her shameful life with a shameful death…’ (Menelaus responding when Hecabe shares her concern about Helen) Part 7

Astaynax

The small boy-child of the slaughtered Hector and Andromache and heir to the throne of Troy, Astaynax, has no lines but the narrative of Euripides’ play pivots around the destruction of the great city he would once rule.

Arriving on the lap of his mother, Astaynax’s fate is soon learnt and the boy is thrown from the walls of the city in order to interrupt the royal line and allow the seed of King Priam to cease.

Astaynax Quotes

‘Poor little head, your curls were a garden where your mother loved to plant her kisses… your little hands – how like your father’s they are! But now they hang limply from your arms. Dear, dead lips…’ (Hecabe on Astaynax) Part 6

‘Weep for Andromache – all her strong hopes broken
With this broken body! And weep for him
Whose royal birth the world envied and honoured
Whose death will be told with terror.’ (The Chorus) Part 8