Melhor peça de teatro que já li!

Extremely tragic. But inspite of this terrible tragedy the courage of Trojan Women is unparalleled.
Their valour is not in mercilessly killing and attributing the strength of arms as the only glorifying courage, but in the very fact of standing tall and spirited even after losing everything in the war, a war which was never theirs.

Though aware of the story beforehand, I found the play extremely well written, invoking the necessary emotions which definitely overwhelms and tears through one's heart while reading.

The songs, the reactions, the quotes, everything is well weaved for a play of such intensity, also never overdoing the tragedy.

To quote one of my favorite parts,
as Hecuba, the once Queen of Troy, in her lamentations calls out to Gods, but then she quickly checks herself and says 'Alas, why call on things so weak for aid?'
And if there's one thing that can be inferred correctly from this tragic war of Troy, is how humans, brave courageous humans, are nothing but playthings in the hand of the mighty Gods. Power seduces and defies both the divine and kings alike. Yet, the tragedy befalls to these women who are neither Gods/Goddesses, playing through as their own likings, nor the mighty terrible kings who in their arrogance of power can win over everything but kindness and humaneness.

My first Euripides play, this was definitely a perfect start.

"I will not praise your fear, for fear belongs to the ignorant"

Other than Medea I think this is my favourite work by Euripides. Maybe I like it more I can't really tell.
If you like the story of the Iliad I highly recommend reading this, it tells the story of the Trojan women in the aftermath of the Trojan War specifically the royal family, Queen Hecuba, her daughters Cassandra and Polyxena and her daughter-in-law Andromache. I think it is a necessary read for anyone who reads the Iliad and the Odyssey.
Not a huge fan of the demonization of Helen in the play but I understand why it is included.
I borrowed my copy from the library but now I am hoping to get my hands on my own copy because I would love to reread and annotate this because there are plenty of amazing quotes.

tw// mentions of rape, slavery, child murder, sexism, victim-blaming

Bello! Mi ha addirittura fatto venire voglia di (ri)leggere l'Iliade, cosa che non avevo mai contemplato di fare. :)

Excellent play by Euripides. It really highlights the costs of war and tragedy that befalls women and children following a brutal 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?

'Las Troyanas' de Eurípides empieza cuando ya todo ha acabado, cuando la guerra de Troya se ha perdido y las mujeres de Troya esperan que se las repartan los griegos para servirlos como esclavas. Me encanta que sean las mujeres las que hablen sobre el sufrimiento que repercute en ellas (y en todo un pueblo) por culpa de la guerra de los hombres. Me encanta que las protagonistas sean mujeres fuertes, que se quieren vengar o que valientemente aceptan su destino con resignación o que (eliminada ya toda esperanza) sólo desean morir.

Eurípides es modernísimo, por atreverse a hacer una obra sin argumento, por su combativo antibelicismo, pero también por la denúncia implícita que hay sobre el papel de las mujeres: se ven envueltas en guerras que no les van ni les vienen y, muertos sus maridos, ya no son nadie y los enemigos se las reparten como una parte más del botín, como meras propiedades.

La obra es un largo lamento. Pero esto tiene contrapartidas; no siempre se puede mantener la intensidad deseada, los personajes no evolucionan, y se hace algo repetitiva. Pero hay momentos auténticamente brillantes y estremecedores, como el loco y autodestructivo deseo de venganza de Casandra y el dolor sordo de Hécuba.

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.

O wehe, weh! Die Misogynie in diesem Drama ist nicht auszuhalten! Weh mir!

Takes place after the fall of Troy and explores the effect the war had on women. A neat take on Helen and her culpability in the whole thing.

It is difficult to describe a play so rich in ideas and so deep in feeling. What came through to me this time was lament, lamenting the lives of the beloved dead, lamenting the fall of your state, lamenting the life you once had, and lamenting the life now forced upon you. I doubt that Euripides had feminist issues in mind when writing this work, but it is also interesting to read this with feminist ideas of power and powerlessness in my head. Each new reading brings new ways of understanding this superb play, and new ways of understanding my world.

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