Part 1: Lines 1-97

Poseidon (the god of the sea) recounts how he and Apollo built the walls of Troy, but now it lies in ruins after the Greeks deceived the Trojans by creating a giant wooden horse (inspired by Athena) filled with Greek soldiers. The Trojans pulled the horse inside their impenetrable walls, seeing it as a gift from Athena, only to unleash a horde of Greek soldiers who were hidden inside, who proceeded to slaughter the Trojans.

He observes that the Trojans have been slaughtered indiscriminately, even on the shrines of the gods. Priam, their king, was slaughtered at Zeus’ altar and all the gold and spoils have been carried onto the Greek ships. The Greeks now await good winds so they can sail home to their families after ten long years of war.

Poseidon blames the destruction of Troy on the goddesses Hera and Athena, who aligned themselves with the Greeks after being jilted by Paris, who chose Aphrodite instead. Poseidon informs us that the Trojan women have been wailing endlessly as they await their fates on the shores of their ruined city. In his musings, we learn that Hecabe’s daughter Polyxena has been sacrificed at the great warrior Achilles’ tomb, yet she is unaware of this yet. In their discussion, the gods give us insight into what is to become of the three female members of the Trojan royal family.

Athena (goddess of war) enters and asks to speak with Poseidon, her uncle. After learning that Ajax, a warrior for the Greeks assaulted Cassandra (Hecabe’s daughter) in Athena’s temple, Athena switches her sympathies to the Trojans and asks both her father Zeus and her uncle Poseidon to summon a storm that will shipwreck the Greeks on their way home. Poseidon agrees, finding the Greeks’ behaviour intolerable and his final say on the matter is to remind us that how men behave in war will inevitably revisit them.

Part 1 Quotes

‘When a man who takes a city includes in the general destruction
Temples of the high gods and tombs that honour the dead,
He is a fool; his own destruction follows him close.’ (Poseidon) Part 1

‘If you would see misery itself,
Here by the door, prostrate, shedding unmeasured tears
For griefs unmeasured, Hecabe lies.’ (Poseidon) Part 1

Part 2: Lines 98-233

Hecabe rises from her position on the stage and converses with the Chorus, representatives of the other Trojan women waiting for their fate. She is bereft, having lost everything – her husband, her children, her city. Despite her overwhelming grief, she summons the courage to face what lies before her and urges the women around her to do the same, and to take solace in the company of each other.

Hecabe cuts off her own hair in protest, torn between the despair of grief and the fire of anger toward Helen, who she believes is the cause of her losses. Although she admits that the happenings are because ‘fate has cursed’ (Part 2) her, she struggles to accept that was the will of the gods and questions other forces that may have had an input.

The Chorus respond in similar fear, afraid as they await the news of whom they will be enslaved to. They are gripped by a ‘shuddering fear’ (Part 2) and list their many anxieties – becoming a slave, being a nurse to the enemy children or worse, sharing a bed with the murderers that have slain their families. Despite this, there is an undeniable positivity in some of their language as they consider that they’ve heard it said that Athens is a rich, plentiful land with many opportunities to flourish. They remind one another that the far off lands to which they may be allotted have many attributes of which they have only heard of – Aetra, with Hephaestus’ great metal forge, Sicily and its ‘people of heroic wealth’ (Part 2), and Crathis with its blessed waters that feed fertility in the region.

Their lament ends with the arrival of Talthybius, a Greek herald who has arrived to tell them of their decided fates, a fitting punctuation to their tortuous wait.

Part 2 Quotes

‘Sworn to bring back the hated Helen,
The cursed wife of Menelaus,
Sparta’s shame and Castor’s ruin, her whose sin
Struck down Priam, patriarch of fifty sons,
Wrecked my life, and left me
Stranded and despairing.’ (Hecabe) Part 2

‘Will they take us now? What have you heard? Is this our last breath of our native air?’ (The Chorus asking Hecabe about their uncertain future) Part 2

Part 3: Lines 234-294

Talthybius informs the women they have all been assigned to different men, but to audiences, merely confirms what we have already learnt from the gods in the first scene. One by one, as Hecabe asks, he tells us the fate of each individual woman:

• Cassandra will be taken by King Agamemnon to be used as his concubine, this insult is grave considering she has dedicated her life and virginity to the god Apollo after he saved her from Ajax’s attack
• Polyxena has been appointed to Achilles’ tomb; we know she is already dead but Talthybius is evasive in the details and spares the bereft Hecabe this detail
• Andromache is to be the slave of Neoptolemus, the son of Achilles, who murdered her husband Hector
• Hecabe herself is to be enslaved to Odysseus, the Greek warrior and King of Ithaca

Part 3 Quotes

‘Men, bring Cassandra out here at once. I must first hand her over to the General, then distribute the other women according to the draw…’ (Talthybius giving his men orders) Part 3

‘No queen’s bed for me now: I shall lay my shrivelled body to rest on the floor, and wear faded, worn rags to match my skin and mock my royalty’ (Hecabe when she considers what her life will become when she serves in Odysseus’ palace) Part 3

Part 4: Lines 295-462

In an odd turn of events, when Hecabe’s daughter Cassandra enters the scene she is merry and in complete contrast to those around her. Entering the stage wielding a fiery torch, the audience are encouraged to see Cassandra as a prophetess and Hecabe reminds the women that Cassandra has been cursed with the gifts of a seer and this enables her to see the future. Cassandra calls the women to celebrate her coupling with Agamemnon and it soon becomes clear that she believes, by Agamemnon choosing her, that he has signed his own fate and she will have revenge for the death of her father and brothers. The women believe her to be mad and even Talthybius defends her behaviour, believing she is so upset upon hearing of her fate that she has lost her mind and should be excused for her strange behaviour.

However, her playful ditties about the demise of Agamemnon are unsettling in their specificity and her prophecy that her mother will die on Trojan soil and never make it to Greece provide little comfort to Hecabe. She prophesies that Odysseus will not return to his native land of Ithaca for another decade and, in the process, will have to endure countless trials before descending in Hades (Hell). She also predicts her own death and that of the man that has claimed her, King Agamemnon – ‘By this marriage of mine I shall destroy my worst enemy and yours’ (Part 4).

She also provides an insightful exploration into what it means for a soldier to be fighting in a foreign land – ‘How different it was for our men! It was their glory to die defending their own country; those who fell were carried by comrades to their homes, prepared for burial by the hands they loved, and laid to rest in the ground that gave them birth’ (Part 4). Such was Euripides’ statement about Athenians, venturing outside of their governed land in an attempt to claim other regions, using Cassandra to instruct ‘certainly a man will avoid a war if he is wise’.

The only emotion that she mirrors of her mother’s is that of pride in her home city, believing that even in its defeat, Troy is more fortunate than Greece. She finds worth in the Trojan’s defence of their land that had been set upon by the alien Greeks, arriving only to fight a war based on the revenge of one man. She argues that soldiers, such as her elder brother Hector, died in valour and that their deaths will be remembered always in glory, as she is sure her homeland of Troy will.

Part 4 Quotes

‘I shall be his death, and the ruin of his whole house; so I shall avenge my brothers and my father.’ (Cassandra on Agamemnon) Part 4

‘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 House of Atreus, who brought our Troy to dust!’ (Cassandra’s parting line) Part 4

Part 5: Lines 463-703

As Cassandra exits the scene, Hecabe once more cries out to the gods in desolation. The Chorus of women respond in like, regretting their collective decision to bring the Trojan Horse behind the city walls and falling for the Greek’s deception; what they believed was a gifted symbol from the gods was in fact a curse and led to their downfall.

Andromache, the widow of Troy’s first-born prince Hector, enters atop a cart of gold and spoils, an objectification of her as a reward to the victors of war rather than as a human being. She carefully cradles her only son, Astaynax, the rightful heir to the Trojan throne. Andromache and Hecabe lament together and find solace in their similar fates, having lost their husbands and their children’s lives under threat, there is much these two royal woman share.

Hecabe finds out from Andromache that her daughter Polyxena has perished at the hands of the Greeks and this blow merely adds to her grief, but Andromache works to soothe Hecabe’s upset by reminding her that Polyxena’s demise was a ‘kinder fate’ than the fate that awaits the rest of them. On this point, the women disagree – whilst Andromache believes that in ‘being dead she [Polyxena] is happier than I who am left alive’ (Part 5), Hecabe denies this and still feels that ‘to be dead is worse’ (Part 5) and that a small sliver of hope exists while the women are still alive.

Andromache’s sorrow over losing her position as the future Queen of Troy touches on the social context of the class system and belies Hecabe’s previous acknowledgement that all of the women share an affinity now that they have had their positions stripped from them. Andromache toys with the concept of forgetting her dead husband and forging a new life with Neoptolemus, her new husband, and suggests how easily one woman might forget a man and switch favour to another – ‘And they say one night is enough to dispel a woman’s dislike of any husband!’ (Part 5) Her dutiful manner and quiet obedience is undeniably one of the reasons she was chosen by Neoptolemus but her prejudice as she remarks that ‘noble birth descends to slavery; what a monstrous change’ (Part 5) sets her up as an elitist.

As the women complain to her, Hecabe changes her tone slightly and urges courage amongst the women, most likely summoning the strength as was expected by someone in her station rather than actually believing this advice.

As Talthybius arrives once more with further news and a grave face, the women are about to experience the true horror of their circumstances.

Part 5 Quotes

‘It was terrible; but she [Polyxena] is dead now; and being dead she is happier than I who am left alive.’ (Andromache) Part 5

‘Listen Hecabe – you are my mother, as you are hers: let me comfort your heart with welcome truth. I believe that to be dead is the same as never to have been born, and far better of living in misery. The dead have no feeling; so evil can bring no pain.’ (Andromache to Hecabe) Part 5

Part 6: Lines 704-859

Naturally, Talthybius is reluctant to deliver his latest missive. Under the advice of Odysseus, the Greeks have decided in order to secure the absolution of the Trojan bloodline, Astaynax (Andromache’s baby son and heir to the throne) is to be killed. Talthybius advises Andromache to submit to the Greeks reminding her that as a woman she has no power to stop them; he states that if she resists or curses them, the boy will go ‘unburied and unpitied’.

Andromache shares a tender moment with her small boy as he clings to her in fear before being ripped away where offstage the boy is thrown from the high walls of Troy.

The shift in Andromache is an apt illustration of maternal emotion, her sadness morphs into unparalleled rage in which she curses Helen for being the cause of all the strife and is taken away in the cart, having turned quite clinical in her departure.

Talthybius feels this task, above all the others, to be the most horrid and taxing on him – ‘A job like this is fit for a man without feeling or decency; I’m not half brutal enough’ (Part 6).

Hecabe collapses to the ground in another spell of grief and the Chorus begin a song about the history of Troy. In summary, Telamon and Heracles were two Greeks who sacked Troy in previous generations, when King Laomedon was king of Troy. At that time, King Laomedon’s son allegedly became the cup bearer of Zeus, yet it was all for nothing, as the gods now turn a blind eye to their suffering and wailing, despite showing some kindness to Troy then. This ode criticises the gods – ‘gone is the love the gods once had for Troy’ (Part 6).

Part 6 Quotes

‘As Hector’s wife I studied and practised the perfection of womanly modesty. I gave up all desire of visiting my neighbours and stayed in my own house – where a woman must stay, however blameless her reputation, unless she means to invite slander…’ (Andromache on being the future Queen) Part 6

‘… my dear daughter, cease mourning for Hector; all your tears cannot help him. And honour your new master; win his love as a husband by your own goodness and sweetness.’  (Hecabe suggests Andromache can have a life beyond this, with Neoptolemus) Part 6

Part 7: Lines 860-1059

Agamemnon’s bother Menelaus, the King of Sparta and Helen’s former husband, enters boasting about having reclaimed his wife and served vengeance on the Trojans. The death of the man Helen had run away with, Paris, son of King Priam and Hecabe, had occurred earlier in the ten year war but is still a proud moment for Menelaus as he remarks he ‘made Paris, and his whole country, pay for it in blood’ (Part 7). It is his intention to bring her back to Greece and have her answer to the families of those that have lost men in the war to reclaim her, but he is taken aback by Hecabe’s frank warning to him that she doubts her ability to follow through with his punishment. Hecabe warns him not to be seized by her beauty, having seen the damage the woman can wreck on those who fall under her spell.

Coy at first, Helen is unsure how to best to behave and is given the floor to defend herself by Hecabe. What follows, in the presence of Menelaus is what the Greeks refer to as an ‘agon’ or contest of speeches. Whether Menelaus allows the contest between the women for mere pleasure or he believes the former Queen of Troy deserves a say, it is not clear.

Helen argues that Hecabe is to blame for the situation because she gave birth to Paris. She reminds Hecabe of a prophecy that was given to Priam and Hecabe on the day of Paris’ birth, one that unequivocally claimed he would bring ruin upon Troy. Ignoring the prophecy, the King and Queen changed the infant’s name to Paris in an attempt to avoid the curse and allowed him to live. She goes on to blame Paris’ judgement– mythology tells us that Paris was tasked with judging which of the three goddesses, Athena, Hera or Aphrodite, was the most beautiful. All tried to bribe him to choose them: Athena offered him the ability to overthrow Greece as a general in the army; Hera offered him a powerful empire that would stretch over Asia and Europe; and Aphrodite offered him the most beautiful woman in the land – Helen. Paris chose Aphrodite, which as Helen points out, saved the Greeks from defeat. Helen also shifts the blame to Menelaus, who left Paris alone in Sparta when he sailed off to Crete. It was at this time that, aided by the goddess Aphrodite whom Paris claimed as his prize, Helen makes out she was powerless against the spell and moves the blame on the goddess in a brave move to alleviate the burden of guilt from her. In her final bid, she adds that when her beloved Paris perished she did try to get back to her former husband but the Trojan guards would not allow her to escape.

Hecabe’s arguments are more fitting of a woman who is not desperately trying to save her own life. She comes to the defence of the goddesses, suggesting that it’s unlikely that the goddesses would have needed validation of their beauty from a mere mortal. Instead, she places the entire blame on the manipulative Helen, who bewitched her son in order to escape a loveless marriage with Menelaus. Denying Helen’s claim that she was stolen away by force, Hecabe asserts that no Trojan guard remembers her attempts to escape and berates the manner in which Helen conducts herself amongst the carnage of the war.

Menelaus concludes that Helen did leave of her own choice and blamed Aphrodite only to make herself look good. He condemns Helen to die by stoning, as an example to all women with ‘lustful instincts’ (Part 7). Helen falls at Menelaus’ feet and begs for mercy, to no avail. Menelaus sends her to his ship, however Hecabe urges him not to put her on the same ship as him lest she seduce him with her words on the journey home.

Part 7 Quotes

‘What happened in my own heart, to make me desert my own country and my home and go away with this man whom I hardly knew? The power of love is something neither I nor you can resist… you should show Aphrodite your anger, me your forgiveness.’ (Helen trying to defend herself and her actions) Part 7

‘In Argos your [Helen’s] style and scope were somewhat limited; leave Sparta behind, you thought, and Troy would be a perpetual fountain of gold for your extravagance to spill in floods! Menelaus’s palace was too confined a stage for your luxurious insolence to strut on.’ (Hecabe believes it was Helen’s pride and greed that made her leave Sparta for another life) Part 7

‘Menelaus, punish your wife in a manner worthy of your race, and of your family. Let those who have reproached Greece and called you womanish be silenced by your noble revenge!’ (The Chorus urge Menelaus to exact revenge on Helen) Part 7

Part 8: Lines 1060 – end

The Chorus continue to sing another ode about how the gods have abandoned them and as the morning draws near and the Greeks ready to embark on their journey home, some of the women begin to depart and are separated from those they love.

Talthybius enters one final time, this time carrying the dead body of Astyanax, laid on his father’s shield. This is the final blow for the women of Troy. He informs Hecabe that Neoptolemus has already sailed home and thus, Andromache has also gone. She weeps as she farewells Hector’s tomb and asks Neoptolemus to allow Hecabe to bury her son, using Hector’s shield in place of a proper coffin. Talthybius, always empathetic, has already bathed the child in the Scamander river in preparation. He offers to help dig the grave.

Hecabe curses the Greeks for their cruelty in killing a child. She laments the pleasures the boy has been denied by his premature death, of being married, of battle, of kingship. The very walls that were supposed to protect, were the things that brought about his death – there is irony in this, as well as the symbol of the shield, which failed to protect its owner, his father. The Trojan women bring the last fine robes they have left to dress the corpse of Astyanax for burial. As Hecabe grieves and prepares the body, the Chorus sing their final song of lament.

Finally, Hecabe has a revelation that while these events are horrendous, she believes that many of them will be remembered in history and be sung about. The funeral procession leaves and she has little choice but to take solace in the possibility of their legacy.

Talthybius and men return holding flaming torches. They have been ordered to burn Troy to the ground before sailing home. The women are told to head to the ships. The play ends with dirge sung by the Chorus where Hecabe calls out to the dead while the men try to move them all on: ‘Cities rise and pass away; wretched Troy is no more’ (Part 8).

The play finishes with the blast of trumpets and the collapsing of the citadel, symbolising the destruction of Troy’s strength. The women file off stage to their fate as slaves to the Greeks.

Part 8 Quotes

‘…young man; instead, I am burying you – I, an old woman who has lost her city, her children, and her happiness.’ (Hecabe to the dead body of Astaynax) Part 8

‘Reverberations rock the walls,
Each ruin reels and sinks engulfed!
Come, trembling aged feet,
You must not fail me now.’ (Hecabe) Part 8