As a theater major, I've spent an enormous chunk of my life reading and analyzing classical drama. There was a time when I could have broken down for you in great detail the stylistic differences between the three great Greek dramatists (Aeschylus, Sophocles & Euripides) and the great Greek comic playwright Aristophanes. But since I no longer have to, I won't.

I will say that I never took to the other two like I did to Euripides. He was the latest of the three, a product of an evolving social concept of the role of theater - instead of making proclamations at the audience, characters had conversations with each other. The language is simpler and less formal, a forerunner to modern drama, and the characters far more human.

I fell in love with this play because of how beautifully it depicts loss and grief. The characters are so vibrant and real, and their suffering so clearly depicted, that you forget you're reading something that's like 2500 years old. Even in the crappiest of translations, you feel like these characters are real people that you know, and your heart aches for the horrific things that have happened to them and the bleak gray future ahead of them.

The best moment of the whole play to me is a very brief exchange between Hecuba (former queen of Troy, whose husband and sons have all been murdered) and Menelaus (husband of Helen and one of the two Greek kings who led the war against Troy). They are bitter, violent enemies who hate each other and each other's people with a passion that will have consequences for generations. But in this one fleeting moment when Menelaus passes Hecuba on his way back to his ship, dragging Helen with her, they have a moment of connection in their anger towards Helen, who started the whole thing and is responsible for setting in motion the events that led to a ten-year siege and thousands of deaths on both sides. In that moment, as they realize that they both hate Helen more than each other, there's just a sliver of a hint at compassion on both sides, a realization that even though they're enemies, they understand the other's pain in a way that no one else does. Then the moment passes and they're enemies again, but that one moment changes the entire play for me. Gorgeous, heartbreaking stuff.

I also recommend "Medea", "The Bacchae" and "Iphegenia at Aulis."

wtf this wasn’t even bad? like at all?!

I was inspired to read this by finishing A Thousand Ships by Natalie Haynes. It is so long since I read a Greek tragedy I had honestly forgotten how good they can be. This one is startlingly moving about the aftermath of war. Interesting for a playwright working in Athens when it was quite a militarily aggressive state. I actually read the Emily Wilson translation not this one.

i think euripides would be quite smitten to know he's fucking with the emotions of a teen girl 2400 years in the future-

conclusion: everyone in ancient greece needs therapy– wtf is this angst fanfiction of the iliad even?! i'm not okay

3.5 stars. I really liked this play. The focus on the women left behind after their husbands were slaughtered and how they each coped with impending slavery or death was done well. Its quite alarming how a play written 2.5 thousand years ago can still be relevant today (in regards to the injustices women suffered and the cons of war).

The city of Troy has been sacked and husbands and sons have been killed or captured as slaves. But what about the women of Troy? What becomes of them? What fate awaits them?

this should be a mandatory read right after finishing the Iliad

Relato corto sobre el destino de las mujeres troyanas despues de la guerra de troya. Bien escrito.

I've studied, reconstructed, and deconstructed 'The Women of Troy' to death at school for my drama course. It's one of the few reading materials at that time and place in my life that I actually liked. I've visualised the setting, took apart its themes, and imagined feeling the devastating emotions of the characters. I also saw it on stage in London with my class, which helps me to understand it better.

'The Women of Troy' is not a happy play. It is a Greek Tragedy to the core. And I love it.

We all know about war and its terrible consequences and revealings of the truths of human nature. But what of hearing about it from women's perspectives? The ones who are deeply affected by it? What about perceiving it from the POV of the wives and daughters of the men who had fought and died in vain?

That is what 'The Women of Troy' by Euripides is about. It's about the women at the fall of Troy losing power and control in their lives. They support one another in such ghastly horrors, or try to in poor Cassandra's case. Jealousy, hatred and fear are rampant. They did not fight or die in the Trojan War like their male loved ones, however the women (queen, princesses and chorus) refuse to lose their identities or their humanity, even when they are shipped off by the Greeks to be sex slaves in other regions at the end of the play.

They would prefer to be dead - to end the suffering - but they don't want to lose hope either. The strength of Queen Hecuba is remarkable yet complex, for she has loved and lost as much as the others. She is at their level now, and must adapt to it.

The Greek herald Talthybius is also a somewhat sympathetic character. You know he must feel for these women, that he is not like the Greek enemies. But he is only a messenger. Another tragic person doomed to live through his assigned role, like the women.

Unlike when I wrote about it in my school exam, typing about 'The Women of Troy' here will not do it justice for me.

Read the play, or watch it on stage. Feel the power. Feel the ungodly suffering the women go through in the enemy's hands - in fate's hands - for being Trojans.

For being women.

Final Score: 5/5

I read this in conjunction with The Literary Life podcast --- https://www.theliterary.life/053/

I highly recommend these podcasts, featuring classicist Thomas Banks, for help in understanding how to read literature of various kinds. The background they give, as well as connections to other works, helps tremendously to bring these stories to life. Don't be surprised if you find yourself in these stories, as ancient as they may be.

"Aguenta a mudança de fortuna!
Ruma por onde puderes passar, ruma de acordo com a sorte,
não voltes a proa do barco da vida
contra as vagas, quando navegas ao sopro do destino."

Depois de Tróia tomada pelos Aqueus, os homens são mortos; as crianças atiradas das muralhas; as mulheres levadas cativas nos barcos gregos.
Cassandra - a enlouquecida princesa de Tróia, vidente e sacerdotisa de Apolo - é destinada a Agamémnon;
Policena, a filha mais nova dos reis de Tróia, é sacrificada junto ao túmulo de Aquiles;
Andrómaca, a mulher de Heitor, vai ser entregue ao filho de Aquiles, depois de se despedir do seu filho, Astianacte, que será atirado do alto das muralhas, por decisão de Ulisses;
Hécuba - rainha de Tróia. Todos os seus dezanove filhos morreram e tem de fazer os ritos fúnebres ao neto. As suas esperanças de um dia Tróia ser vingada, morrem com o menino. É levada como escrava de Ulisses;
Helena vai com Menelau. Talvez seja a única que não sofrerá. O seu poder de sedução e de argumentação é desarmante. Defende-se culpando os outros de todos os males: primeiro Hécuba por ter dado à luz Páris; depois Príamo por não ter morto o filho à nascença; finalmente, culpa os deuses.
Tróia... as suas muralhas desabam submergindo toda a cidade.

Quase gritei de angústia ao ler esta peça. Não será muito racional pois trata-se de ficção (será?), mas é uma realidade que nas guerras - nas de há três mil anos ou nas de agora - as mulheres são as que mais sofrem: com a perda dos que amam e com a violência a que os vencedores as sujeitam. E não recebem "medalhas" de heroísmo... Como diz, a certa altura, Andrómaca: por vezes, o destino de quem morre é melhor do que o de quem fica vivo. E ainda não sabia que lhe iam matar o filho...


(Georges Rochegrosse - Andromaque)

The Trojan Women: Euripides' Warning on the Futility of War

The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.-Edmund Burke

What does a play presented in 415 BC possibly have to say to us today? Why read it?

Why would Euripides, a Greek dramatist, choose The Trojan Women as the subjects of one of his greatest plays? Did he have a reason in presenting this controversial play to an Athenian audience?

Be patient with me, oh, Reader. Each question has an answer. No question presented here is Rhetorical. I do not engage in the ancient art of classical Oratory. Nor do I engage in the art of Sophistry for I believe Deception to be among the most lowest practices among Men or Gods.

Once, in my youth, I was known as a Scholar of the Classical World. For this I was awarded Prizes. I have Trophies and Books proclaiming my knowledge of the ways of an ancient world. In the naivete of my youth I did not realize how closely the age in which I lived mirrored a world I thought had vanished so long ago. I studied the Greek and Roman Epics. The Arts and Theatrical Productions of both great Classical Societies. I knew the histories of each of these Worlds, and what led to their Downfalls.

Now, in my older years, I look at the events of this World in which we now live. I am dismayed. For I see we have learned little.

You think we live in an Age of Wonders. Oh, yes. In many ways we do. Information is available at our fingertips. We communicate with one another at a pace that satisfies our urges for instant gratification. We have little patience, do we not?

I have lived through wars. I have lived through tensions between great nations. I have lived through a time where we stood on the brink of the destruction of this Planet. Some called it a Cold War. But it became dangerously hot. Wisdom seemed to prevail. For generations. And even the Cold war disappeared. The danger of nuclear war faded into obscurity.

But, Oh, Reader, contemplate the current State of the times in which we live now. The Hubris of the Men who Live in this World of Today. Determine whether you find yourself Comfortable.

I will give you a few moments to consider these things. Then we will consider continuing this discourse.

Have you thought about it?

Of course, I am sure you know of the Trojan War. How the Greeks, the Achaeans, banded together to lay siege to the City of Troy to preserve the honor of Menelaus, a King, who lost his wife Helen to Paris, a son of Troy. How they fought for ten years before breaching the walls of Troy through deception. How Troy fell. How the House of Troy was destroyed, the Trojan Women were enslaved and distributed to the leaders of Greece as slaves, as Concubines. And, how the Greeks offended the very Gods who had supported them in their efforts to bring about the downfall of Troy. How those very Gods then turned upon their favored revenants and sought to destroy them because of their faithlessness.

Why then, would Euripides tell this story to an Athenian audience?

Because Athens was at war with Sparta. Had been at war with Sparta in the Peleponessian War for many years. At this time, the Arrogance of the Athenians had led them to sack the City of Melos. They killed every one of the men of Melos. They sold everyone of the women and children of Melos into slavery.

Euripides chose the Trojan Women as his protagonists in this play to show the Athenians the error of their Hubris when a dominant nation conquers a lesser one for its own prideful purposes. And Euripides knew that as he was presenting this play, the same Athenians were planning a war against the Empire of Syracuse. In his wisdom, Euripides, predicted it would be a disaster that would lead to the downfall of Athens and their subjection forever to their long time enemy Sparta.

Euripides in this tragedy attempted to show his fellow Athenians that war only led to tragedy. That the only result of engaging in War was Futility. That those who suffered the most were the Widows, the Orphans of those who died in War.

Euripides was correct. Athens began its war against Syracuse the very year The Trojan Women was presented. The War was a disaster. The entire Athenian Expedition of two hundred ships and thousands of men were wiped out in a single stroke. In 404 BC, Athens fell to Sparta forever. The wailing of Widows and Orphans was great.

Euripides Message to us Today

On January 2, 2016, President Vladimir Putin signed a Security Document stating that the United States and Nato were a threat to Russia.

On January 6, 2016, North Korea exploded another Nuclear device. North Korea claims it was a Hydrogen device.

This week Middle Eastern nations have severed diplomatic nations with Iran.

In the United States, at no time has the country been more divided between liberal and conservative right wings of the government.

The anonymous faces of ISIS continue to commit terrorist acts about the world.

Gun lobbyists in the United States continue to control resistance to reasonable effots to achieve gun control.

The Innocent continue to cry.

Hubris remains alive and well.

Euripides' message is as relevant today as it was in 415 BC.