Produced c. 424 BC. It is set at the time immediately after the fall of Troy.
Dramatis Personae: Ghost of Polydorus, Hecuba, Chorus of Captive Trojan Women, Polyxena, Odysseus [Ulysses], Talthybius [Agamemnon's Herald], Female Attendant, Agamemnon, Polymestor and His Children.
Setting: Coast of Thracian Chernonese [Dardanelles] where the Greeks have landed in their ships after leaving Troy; they are on the other side of the Hellespont to it on their way back to Greece. Troy has been sacked; it is lying in ruins which are still visibly smouldering. The skene represents Agamemnon's tent.
Synopsis and Structure:
Prologue and Lyric Scenes [Lines 1-215] Ghost of Polydorus, Hecuba and Polyxena
Prologue [lines 1-97]
The ghost of Polydorus, son of King Priam and Queen Hecuba, appears suspended on the roof of the skene above the tents of the Greek forces perhaps using the technique of Deus ex Machina. He relates how his father during the last days of Troy had secretly sent him with a cache of gold to King Polymestor of Thrace, who was an ally of Troy, so that if Troy were to fall to the Greeks, at least the sons of Priam would be provided for. After learning of Troy's defeat by the Greeks, Polymestor has Polydorus killed for the gold and had his body thrown into the sea. Polydorus' ghost goes on to explain that the Greek fleet has been becalmed by adverse winds by the ghost of Achilles, who is demanding that the princess Polyxena of Troy [Polydorus' sister] must first be sacrificed on his tomb before the fleet can set sail again. The ghost foretells that Hecuba will see her daughter killed and his own body washed ashore that day.
Hecuba's Lament [Lines 58-97] and Parodos of the Chorus [line 98-152]
At that moment the elderly and much grief-struck Hecuba aided by a crutch comes on stage out of Agamemnon's tent . She says she has had terrible nightmares about her son and daughter and prays to the gods that they are shown mercy. However, her worst dreams seem to begin to come true when the Chorus of Captive Trojan Women informs her that Polyxena has to be sacrificed. They sing of the life to come as slaves in Greece.
Hecuba continues her lament [Lines 153-176]
Polyxena enters. Hecuba and Polyxena discuss the latter's fate of having to be sacrificed [Lines 177-215]
First Episode [Lines 216 - 443] Hecuba, Odysseus and Polyxena
Odysseus enters to take Polyxena away to be sacrificed to Achilles. Hecuba reminds him that she had once let him go when he had secretly entered Troy during the war in disguise, but that he had been recognised by Helen, and brought before Hecuba. She begs him to do likewise, let Polyxena go, but Odysseus responds that he has to fulfill his promise to Achilles, to give him Polyxena, and he continues stubbornly to refuse to be released from his bond. Polyxena refuses to beg for her own life and leaves with Odysseus.
First Choral Stasimon [Lines 444 - 483]
The Chorus lament about their enslaved condition and the Sack of Troy. They are curious about where their captor's ships might take them in Greece and to whom they might be sold.
Second Episode [Lines 484 - 628] Talthybius and Hecuba
The messenger Talthybius enters. He reports that Polyxena has died an honourable death and has come to ask Hecuba to come and bury her corpse, when a serving woman enters bringing on stage a corpse wrapped in a cover. Hecuba thinks that it is her daughter, but when the cover is removed, the body is revealed to be Polydorus, her son. Hecuba screams out of fear and dread, and presumes King Polymestor was the perpetrator. Agamemnon is on his way to summon Hecuba to her daughter's funeral.
Second Choral Stasimon [Lines 629 - 657]
The chorus look back to the origin of the Trojan War.
Third Episode [Lines 658 - 904] Serving Woman, Hecuba and Agamemnon
Third Choral Stasimon [Lines 905 - 952]
The subject of this stasimon is the Iliupersis: the fall and sack of Troy, the rape of the Trojan women and their loss of freedom. They are nostalgic for their lost homeland.
Fourth Episode [Lines 953 - 1022] Polymestor and Hecuba
Chorus [Lines 1023 - 1034]
Exodos (Last episode) [Lines 1035 - 1295] Polymestor, Hecuba and Agamemnon
Prologue [lines 1-97]
The ghost of Polydorus, son of King Priam and Queen Hecuba, appears suspended on the roof of the skene above the tents of the Greek forces perhaps using the technique of Deus ex Machina. He relates how his father during the last days of Troy had secretly sent him with a cache of gold to King Polymestor of Thrace, who was an ally of Troy, so that if Troy were to fall to the Greeks, at least the sons of Priam would be provided for. After learning of Troy's defeat by the Greeks, Polymestor has Polydorus killed for the gold and had his body thrown into the sea. Polydorus' ghost goes on to explain that the Greek fleet has been becalmed by adverse winds by the ghost of Achilles, who is demanding that the princess Polyxena of Troy [Polydorus' sister] must first be sacrificed on his tomb before the fleet can set sail again. The ghost foretells that Hecuba will see her daughter killed and his own body washed ashore that day.
Hecuba's Lament [Lines 58-97] and Parodos of the Chorus [line 98-152]
At that moment the elderly and much grief-struck Hecuba aided by a crutch comes on stage out of Agamemnon's tent . She says she has had terrible nightmares about her son and daughter and prays to the gods that they are shown mercy. However, her worst dreams seem to begin to come true when the Chorus of Captive Trojan Women informs her that Polyxena has to be sacrificed. They sing of the life to come as slaves in Greece.
Hecuba continues her lament [Lines 153-176]
Polyxena enters. Hecuba and Polyxena discuss the latter's fate of having to be sacrificed [Lines 177-215]
First Episode lines 216-443
Odysseus enters to take Polyxena, away to be sacrificed to Achilles. Hecuba reminds him that she had once let him go when he had secretly entered Troy during the war in disguise, but he had been recognised by Helen, and brought before Hecuba. She begs him to do likewise, let Polyxena go but Odysseus responds that he has to fulfill his promise to Achilles, to give him Polyxena, and he continues stubbornly to refuse to be released from his bond. Polyxena refuses to beg for her own life and leaves with Odysseus.
First Stasimon lines 444-483
The Chorus of Enslaved Trojan Women sing about where their captor's ships might take them in Greece and their fate.
Second Episode 484-628
The messenger Talthybius enters. He reports that Polyxena has died an honourable death and has come to ask Hecuba to come and bury her corpse, when a serving woman enters brings on stage a corpse wrapped in a cover. Hecuba thinks that it is her daughter, but when the cover is removed, the body is revealed to be Polydorus, her son. Hecuba screams out of fear and dread, and presumes King Polymestor was the perpetrator. Agamemnon is on his way to summon Hecuba to her daughter's funeral.
He enters and learns about the new misfortune and takes pity on the former queen. He promises that he will exact revenge on her behalf upon the treacherous Polymestor. Hecuba sends a message to King Polymestor who suspects nothing. She asks him to come and see her, bringing his two sons with him.
Third Stasimon line. 905-52
The Chorus sing of the fall of Troy
When the three arrive, Polymestor pretends to have sympathy for Hecuba's losses, giving her false answers to questions about Polydorus and the Trojan gold that had been sent with him. Hecuba lures him and his sons into her tent with a promise of further gold and jewels. Screams are heard from within, and Hecuba soon appears and says that Polymestor has been blinded and his children killed with the help of her women, the Chorus of Captive Trojan Women.
Polymestor staggers out of the tent, bleeding from the eyes and furiously in pain. When Agamemnon hears the commotion, he returns on stage and listens to both Polymestor and Hecuba. He declares that his actions were just, and that justice has been done. Polymestor then foretells that Hecuba will turn into a bitch and drown, and that Clytemnestra will kill both Cassandra and Agamemnon. Agamemnon orders Polymestor to be marooned on a desert island and tells Hecuba that she must bury her dead children before he sets sail from Thrace.
Hecuba - Wikipedia
Iliupersis - Wikipedia
Crowell's handbook of classical drama (1967 edition) pp. 152-4 - Open Library
Helene P. Foley (18 December 2014). Euripides: Hecuba. Bloomsbury Publishing. ISBN 978-1-4725-6908-0.
Laura K. McClure (17 January 2017). A Companion to Euripides. Hecuba: John Wiley & Sons. pp. 136–. ISBN 978-1-119-25750-9.
Sarah B. Pomeroy (1994). Goddesses, Whores, Wives and Slaves: Women in Classical Antiquity. Pimlico. ISBN 978-0-7126-6054-9.
Desmond J. Conacher (15 December 1967). Euripidean Drama: Myth, Theme and Structure. Chapter 8 The Hecuba: University of Toronto Press, Scholarly Publishing Division. pp. 222–. ISBN 978-1-4426-3759-7.
Ian C. Storey; Arlene Allan (15 April 2008). A Guide to Ancient Greek Drama. Synopsis of Hecuba: John Wiley & Sons. pp. 263–. ISBN 978-1-4051-3763-8.
Euripides: Hecuba (Ἑκάβη) - Major Reference Works - Wiley Online Library
Iliupersis - Wikipedia [Sack of Troy]
Nostoi - Wikipedia [Returns from Troy]
Hecuba
Andrew Brown
Subject: Greek Myth and Religion
DOI: 10.1093/acrefore/9780199381135.013.2963
Greek Versions
Teubner - Euripides - Hecuba
The Hecuba and Medea of Euripides, Chiefly from the Text of Dindorf. With E... - Google Books
The Hecuba of Euripides : a revised text with notes and an introduction : Euripides - Internet Archive
W. S. Hadley (18 November 2011). The Hecuba of Euripides. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-1-107-60140-6.
Euripides, Hecuba - Perseus Digital Library
Euripides (1851). The Hecuba of Euripides. Printed at the University Press.
Translations
Euripides : with an English translation p. 243- A. Way
The Hecuba of Euripides : a revised text with notes and an introduction : Euripides - Internet Archive
Euripides (31 July 2014). Hecuba: translated by Tony Harrison. Faber & Faber. ISBN 978-0-571-31877-3.
Euripides; Kenneth McLeish trans. (1995). After the Trojan War: Women of Troy ; Hecuba ; Helen : Three Plays. Absolute Classics. ISBN 978-0-948230-65-3.
Euripides (2000). Hecuba: The Trojan Women ; Andromache. Hecuba: Oxford University Press. pp. 1–. ISBN 978-0-19-815093-0.
Euripides, Hecuba - Perseus Digital Library
The Project Gutenberg eBook of the Tragedies of Euripides, Volume I.
Audio-Visual
Hecuba by EURIPIDES (484 BCE - 406 BCE), translated by Theodore Alois BUCKLEY (1825 - 1856) Genre(s): Classics (Greek & Latin Antiquity), Tragedy - Librivox 00:00:00 - 01 - Part 1 00:29:50 - 02 - Part 2
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