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.

"O vain is man,
Who glorieth in his joy and has no fears:
While to and fro the chances of the years
Dance like an idiot in the wind! And none
By any strength has his own fortune won."

The Trojan Women is a play quite personal to me. With the fall of Troy and all their men and boys killed by the rampaging Greeks, the women of that doomed city wail their grief and shout into the darkness their anger and limitless pain. Soon to be made slaves by the Greek conquerors, each woman must face the utter desolation with whatever spark of strength their spirit can muster so that they can survive the holocaust. Like all the great Greek playwrights, Euripides' words are unflinching in the searing glare of such suffering and such madness. In the ancient world, the killing of one human by another was face-to-face, intimate, brutal, agonizing. War. Terrible war that feeds upon the innocent without distinguishing them in their thousands and millions from the guilty few.
Why is it personal to me? I witnessed that same fall of Troy repeated in many villages during the Vietnam war, where families who had lived for generations in those villages and hamlets saw their hopes and dreams go up in flames; in napalm and rockets that spewed heat much hotter than Troy experienced. I saw the women go mad with grief. Already having lost their husbands and sons, they now lost their homes and fields and the only means they had to keep the old ones and the children alive. But somehow the women survived and gave what little they had to keep the family going. With what did they have to do that? Nothing. Who are the heroes? At Troy, who were the heroes?

"چگونه زار نگریم در این غمان که مراست
که اینک نه میهنی بر جای و نه سَروَری، نه فرزندی
دریغا، شوکت و مکنت آبایی که سالیان گرد آمده بود
پیش چشم ما به دم زدنی ناچیز شد.
هیهات هیهات
گفتنی‌ها کدام و ناگفتنی کدام است؟"

داستان زنان تروا بعد از پایان جنگ تروا شروع میشه. تروا ویران، مردان، پیران و کودکان کشته و تنها زنان تروا برجای مانند. زنانی که در خیمه خود به انتظار بردگی و زبونی خود شکوه می‌کنند و در غم عزیزان خود می‌گریند.

زنان تروا رو میشه یه مکمل عالی برای کتاب ایلیاد در نظر گرفت. اگه توی اون کتاب شرح دلاوری‌ها و جنگ‌آوری‌ها رو می‌خونیم، اینجا به بخش دیگه جنگ میریم. این تراژی ناگفته‌های جنگ تروا رو میگه. قراره از کشته‌ها، بی‌رحمی‌ها و خوارشدن‌ها بخونیم. از نابودی و به آتش کشیدن شهر، از کشتن یه کودک برای اینکه پدرش تروایی بوده بخونیم.

در کل که صحنه‌های فوق‌العاده زیاد داره و به‌شدت باارزشه. توصیه می‌کنم حتما با ترجمه جناب کوثری بخونید. درخشانه.

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."

n   In times of sorrow it is a comfort to lament,
To shed tears, and find music that will voice our grief.n

In The Women of Troy, not much happens in terms of action or plot; Troy has fallen at the hands of the Greeks, and while the men have been killed, the women await their fate. They will become slaves, this much they know; it only remains to be seen with whom, and in what position, fate (i.e. the Greeks) will place them. Euripides wrote The Women of Troy in part to show his fellow citizens what they had done to Melos; or rather, to show how they had wronged its people after they captured the island, when the Athenians put to death all male inhabitants, sold all women and children as slaves, and then proceeded to colonized its land. The play is poignant and evocative; the state of the women, once proud Trojans, now debased and on the brink of slavery, is touching. What is especially good, I think, is the moral and psychological complexity that Euripides portrays; Hecabe, widow of the fallen Priam, King of Troy, begins the play in the highest of moral grounds, so to speak – as the widow of the slain king and mother of brave Hector. Yet, while she – understandably –laments the sorry state of both Troy and her own life, with a certain amount of dignity, as soon as she is confronted with Helen, whom she blames for the fall of Troy and everyone dear to her, she shows sign of petty vindictiveness and a desire for revenge that seems at odds with her – at least former – royalty. The character of Helen, particular her central speech, is also ambiguous and open to interpretation. The matters of blame and responsibility for the war are left, to a significant extent, open – at least to the audience (do we side with Helen or with Menelaus and Hecabe?). The play, through this complexity, becomes more than a mere lesson to Euripides’ contemporaries, and more than a simple lamentation of the horrors of war (which, to be fair, would be justified in itself).

n  All through these years the gods had but one end in mind,
No other destiny than this for me, and Troy –
The one city they chose for their especial hate.
Our sacrifices and our prayers have all been vain.
Yet, had not heaven cast down our greatness and engulfed
All in the earth’s depth, Troy would be a name unknown,
Our agony unrecorded, and those songs unsung
Which we shall give to poets of a future age.n

At least there's that.

If I was basing my review purely off enjoyment alone, it would probably be 1.5-2 stars no more, as basically was just a bunch of women moping (at least in my eyes) with a few extra bits added in for variety, which were alright.

The main thing I'm personally not a fan of is that it's just like a section of what could be a larger play, as there is no beginning, middle and end. Basically, it's one large scene in a way.

Despite this, it was a well written Greek Tragedy that explores many ideas of the Ancient Greek world and their customs.

En pjäs från antika Grekland, finns inte så mycket mer att säga lol.
Lite svårt med alla namn och gudar. Men den va bättre än jag trodde och man förstod den ändå (typ)
Det va en pjäs på färre än 100 sidor, den gav mig inte jättemycket utom en känsla av att jag officiellt nu är coolare än vad jag va innan: #läsergamlapjäserpåminfritid = tvingades av skolan
Jag vet att den betytt mycket för litteraturen osv, men om någon hade frågat mig vad den handlade om hade jag svarat med tystnad. Samtidigt måste man inte alltid fatta handlingen för att uppskatta en bok though, det är charmigt de med.

”Get up there
You Trojan widows, Trojan virgins, all mated
to the dead.
Have the guts to look down upon these
smoldering ruins
For the last time
And articulate your grief.
~Hecuba

”Lift up your heads: be proud,
Leave your revenge to me;
He who embraces me will be destroyed by me.”
~Cassandra

”Nothing is more deceptive than happiness.
Joy is a cheat which covers up for the misery
stalking behind the grin.”
~Leader of the Chorus

”Idiots!
Can’t you see
War
Will kill you:
All of you?
~Poseidon

The nihilism of this play is so stark that it’s little wonder that Sartre was attracted to adapt it. Euripides wrote it as an anti war play, and Sartre’s adaptation remains just that for another age and another audience.

The just ended war in the The Trojan Women brings doom to all. The Trojan men all lie dead, the Trojan Women bewail their fate as they wait to be carried away. The victorious Greeks will soon face destruction on the seas and murderous intrigue at home. Even the fickle gods are unhappy - Poseidon to see the ruins of his city, and Pallas piqued for the defilement and destruction of her temple by her Greek champions. The great conflict that was the Trojan War was the doom of all who participated.

Cassandra is the greatest horror of this play. Hecuba and the Trojan women believe her mad, yet she still sees clearly with the god’s prophetic gift. She is to be carried off to be Agamemnon’s concubine, and goes rejoicing to his bed, even asks Hecuba her mother to celebrate and be glad for her. Cassandra, with her prophetic site, sees that she will be the cause, not only of Agamemnon’s brutal murder, but of the destruction of his entire house. The smile on her lips as she goes to her fate that will end in vengeance is stone cold chilling.

This adaptation of the play by Sartre has been adjusted to speak to a modern audience. It contains an introduction where Sartre explains his purpose and methods. Also, in a note from Ronald Duncan who translated Sartre’s French to English, he explains that it is a free adaptation rather than a direct translation, and why. So Euripides had quite a bit of help in this rendition of his ancient play.

Let’s give the final words to song writer Edwin Starr:
War, huh, yeah
What is it good for?
Absolutely nothing!

The fact that the whole story was comprised in just 1 scene/landscape and the lack of a plot was a bit boring and bleak. I feel like I should’ve read more of the background info and historical relevance this play had during Ancient Greek society, so I could better grasp some sorta connection between the two.

I can’t believe they killed bby anaphylaxisn (idk how to spell it). But I guess his death kinda cemented to the audience what the plays moral was (it did for me at least).

Overall the story was quite morbid, but I guess there’s has to be some more significance within it, otherwise it wouldn’t be assigned for VCE English :,)

misoginia
(mi·so·gi·ni·a)
1. Aversão ou desprezo pelos indivíduos do sexo feminino.

Origem etimológica:grego misogunía, -as.

https://dicionario.priberam.org/misog....

Não restam dúvidas do motivo da origem etimológica da palavra, mas no caso de restarem, esta tragédia esclarece-as. O espanto consiste no facto de ter sido um homem a escrevê-la. Acredito que devia ser obrigatório ler As Troianas após ler A Íliada - para não restarem mesmo dúvidas que o nome da épica de Homero é claramente o cantar da queda de Tróia, ou Ílion, e não unicamente o cantar dos feitos dos Argivos. Quem o achar contemplou apenas a ponta do iceberg quando leu o poema. Posers.

According to Greek mythology, Helen was married to Menelaus. However, Helen runs off with Prince Paris of Troy. This sparks the 10-year epic battle of Troy. This story is set at the very end of the 10-year war. Achilles has killed the mighty warrior Hector, and Paris has killed Achilles. Hector leaves behind a wife, Andromache. There is also the Queen of Troy, Hecuba, who is the mother of Hector. Now, what will happen to Andromache, Hecuba, and Helen?

If you read The Song of Achilles, this essentially picks up where that book ended. For the first time, we finally get to meet Helen (who is supposed to be the most beautiful woman in the world). We find out what the women of Troy really think about Helen. Are they awed by her beauty? What will Menelaus think of Helen? Is he still in love with her? Will he restore her as his wife and queen? Did Paris capture Helen by force or did she run off of her own free will? All of these questions will be answered.

No matter what, no one will take any personal responsibility. It is always, always someone else’s fault in Greek mythology. Also, when you do someone a favor, they are never happy and grateful but are hoping for the favor-granters downfall.

This play was written by Euripides in 415 BC. The language is a bit archaic and even though the play itself is only about an hour read aloud, I spent far longer reviewing the reference materials. For this, I used James Mustich 1,000 Books to Read Before You Die (this book is forever at my side) and litcharts.com. Is this a little tedious? Yes. However, Thomas Paine said, “What we obtain too cheap, we esteem too lightly.”

This is a book from James Mustich’s 1,000 Books to Read.

2024 Reading Schedulet
JantMiddlemarch
FebtThe Grapes of Wrath
MartOliver Twist
AprtMadame Bovary
MaytA Clockwork Orange
JuntPossession
JultThe Folk of the Faraway Tree Collection
AugtCrime and Punishment
SeptHeart of Darkness
OcttMoby-Dick
NovtFar From the Madding Crowd
DectA Tale of Two Cities

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