Hecuba: girlboss, gaslight, gatekeep

What does a 2000 year old play have to tell us about our lives today. . .astonishingly quite a bit. Hecuba was the Queen of Troy and watched her city destroyed and her sons killed or taken as slaves after the Greek's destroyed Troy. . .her rages against war are prescient today still...

n  "yo, desde luego, no he muerto cuando debía morir, ni zeus me eliminó, sino que me da vida para que vea yo, la infeliz, otras desgracias mayores que las desgracias pasadas."n

hécuba my beloved no one's doing it like you

3,3*

I'm reading this for backgronnd and inspiration as I begin to write a new novel -- What Cassandra Didn't Know.

این نمایشنامه به تازگی توسط نشر بیدگل ترجمه و چاپ شده و خوشحالم که چنین اثر مهمی رو تونستم بخونم.
اوریپیدس این‌بار از شخصیت زنی به اسم هکوب، شهبانوی سرزمین تروا، نوشته که بعد از حمله اسپارت ها به اونجا و نابودی شهر، هکوب و دخترش رو به بردگی می‌گیرن.
نمایشنامه هکوب رو به عنوان یک مادر، همسر و زن نشون می‌ده و همچنین درد جانکاهی که بعد از جنگ شامل حالش میشه، به نظر شخصی خودم، نمایشنامه از نقطه شروع تا پایان در اوج بود و یک لحظه هم منو از خوندن ادامه ماجرا خسته نکرد، برای کامل کردن حرفم دیگه چی مهم‌تر از این که پلیمِستُر قبل از مرگش سرنوشت آگاممنون و هکوب رو گفت و داستان تموم شد! نمایشنامه همچنان باعث شد من برم دنبال ادامه ماجرا و این اتفاق قشنگیه و می‌تونه افرادی رو که خوندن نمایشنامه های کلاسیک براشون یه چالشه و تاحالا هیچ کدومشون رو نخوندن جذب کنه، گرچه دوران اوریپیدس بعد از سوفوکلس و آیسخولوس بوده و این دو بزرگوار هم نمایشنامه های وحشتناک خفنی دارن، اما من آثار اوریپیدس رو برای مخاطب تازه وارد پیشنهاد می‌کنم، همون‌طور که خودم با قلاب مده آ توی این دنیا اسیر شدم.

معذرة.. عندما تفوق الآلام حد الإحتمال، فلا ملامة لمن يهرب من حياته التعسة.

Well, that was soul-crushing.

"I witness a mighty woman.
Her worth is in her words."

Stunning. Perfect.

Hecuba is one of those rare Greek Tragedies where the protagonist doesn’t die. In fact, Euripides’s protagonist, the title character of Hecuba, not only survives, but succeeds in her revenge and is pardoned for it. She does end the play in slavery, hence the play remaining as a tragedy; however, Euripides takes a strong anti-slavery, pro-feminist stance. The play reads as ahead of it’s time. It has all of the classic hallmarks of Greek Tragedy while having a strong feminist lean.

A slightly better take on the struggles on women in Ancient Greece, granted this is not the only theme. There are themes of slavery/power relations and the idea of fate being very closely related towards one another as well as a common tragedian theme of injustice by a state or god. I want to focus one two things in particular, one, where Hecabe says, “unless misery herself be a Woman”. This is the first nod, besides the overarching go lack of power women have in the play except in the frenzy of the climax, to the struggle that women had and still have to go through to gain equal rights, recognition, and respect. I also want to focus on the scene where Hecabe fails to look into the eyes of Polymestor, another clear sign of power relations between men and women. Not only does Polymestor ironically get his eyes soon after taken out, but it is an act of feminine protest again male domination. It appears as if this not an example of Hecabe’s passion, as the force of passion is a common theme in Euripides plays, which leads us to see the continued struggle of feminine power in the play, where her daughter gives herself up passively without resistance, Hecabe is sure to resist her masters. Besides that, a solid play.

Euripides I'm your biggest fan.

I love how the fall of Troy hovers around the plot like a heavy fog. It bears the weight of an apocalypse for these characters in such a FASCINATING way. Example from the chorus, "Troy, my father's home, no longer will you be named among the cities never sacked. A thundercloud of Greeks hides you from sight, and their spears have destroyed you. You are shorn of your crown of towers, your ravaged face marked with the grime of smoke. Poor Troy, I shall never walk in you again."

If the Iliad was asking about the value of a human life, Hecabe asks about the quality of a death. Polyxena is praised for how royally she falls, and with how much dignity. Hecabe gives Polymestor and his sons disgraceful deaths. If this story is about the death of Troy, Euripides asks us to give it a kind of dignity.

As always, Euripides is the ally of the ancient woman. When Agamemnon asked if women can really commit murder (him of all people) Hecabe responds "Did women not kill Argyptus' fifty sons? Was it not women who stripped Lemons clear of their males?"