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

"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)

El teatro griego clásico no está entre mis lecturas habituales; llegué a este libro por un comentario sobre el mismo en El infinito en un junco, de Irene Vallejo en el que se menciona lo "revolucionario" que fue en su momento, pues retrataba la guerra desde la perspectiva de las mujeres, así que no me quedaba otra que leerlo jejeje

Se lee en un momento. Y ciertamente sorprende el alegato contra el impacto de la guerra en las mujeres, que sólo pueden ser esclavizadas o asesinadas después de la derrota, sin compasión. Y no les queda otra que aceptar su destino (algo muy griego, por otra parte).

¿Alguna diferencia con lo que ocurre en las guerras actuales, en las que las mujeres son las víctimas olvidadas/silenciadas: prostituidas, violadas, convertidas en "esposas de guerra"?

Una obra para leer y comentar con profundidad. También en los institutos, no como parte de la clase de Literatura, sino en Historia o en Ética (si sigue existiendo tal asignatura) o en Valores de la ciudadanía (que creo que me la acabo de inventar, pero que es esencial)

La prospettiva dei vinti è sempre affascinante, soprattutto se questi sono le donne che finisco schiave di guerra, concubine del nemico che ha ucciso i loro padri, mariti e fratelli. Qui il lamento di Ecuba si erge su Troia che brucia e fa da collante alla disperazione che lega le superstiti del lungo conflitto, unite dal tremendo destino.

There's something about it. It's a wonderful story, the Iliad, but the scene here is wonderfully captured and each and every line feels right. Loved it, if I'm being honest, I think I like it more than Medea...

sv: Trojanskorna - eng: The Trojan Women

3 stars - ★ ★ ★ ☆ ☆

I read this in Swedish but couldn't find the right edition. *sadface*

This play, The Trojan Women ends my "Ancient-Greek-tragedy-drama-weekend" or what to call it. Yesterday I read Prometheus Bound and the day before that Medea. The Trojan Women takes place after the Greek conquest of Troy. We get to hear from the women of Troy about all of the atrocities the Greeks have done to them, and about the horrible future awaiting them in the claws on their captors.

I liked this short play for its condemnation of war and what war can cause. It was quite emotional and touched some important issues, which are still of importance today to discuss. I've read two works so far by Euripides and so far he hasn't disappointed me when it comes to content! Greek mythology can be quite confusing (everybody's related to everybody and so on) and that was the problem here though. You also have to know the story about the Trojan War to understand some of the play and be able to follow what the characters are saying. But I still think the message of this play can reach everyone.

Wow. This play was stunning. I have so many things I would like to say and yet none of my words or even my thoughts feel sufficient.

The Trojan War is over. The women of the city are waiting to hear which of the Greek warriors will be each one's new master, for they are all going into slavery as prizes of war. Even King Priam's wife Hecuba, the mother of Paris, the man who started it all by bringing Helen to Troy. The play revolves around the women's confusion, their pain, their attempts to understand why their lives have been shattered and how they will face their tragic future.

I remember reading The Odyssey in early school years, but I never managed The Iliad, so I was only vaguely familiar with the story of the war itself. Now I want to go back to Homer, because Odysseus is shown as much more of an utter creep than I ever realized. He was the one who suggested that the young son of Hector, the Trojan prince, be taken from his mother Andromache and thrown to his death from a tower of the city. The saddest part of the play was when the child's body is brought to his grandmother Hecuba so that she can prepare his little body for burial on his father's war shield.

I was close to tears many times: this is an intense work, full of raw emotion that any woman with a heart can feel and understand. On one hand I think seeing a performance of The Trojan Women would be amazing, but I think I would be overwhelmed and not be able to see the stage for my tears. So I will simply re-read it someday. I'm also going to read more Euripides. I have a small volume of three other works of his, but I need to wait a bit before starting with them. I want to let this piece settle first.

Ancient Greek myths and legends are something nearly everyone is familiar with, even without in-depth study. I know some names and stories, get mixed up with many others, and remember reading them much more often in my younger days than I have as an adult. I plan to change that. I want to revisit the marvelous confusion of the Greek myths, because this play has reminded me of the fascination they used to have for me. I want to see what I will discover in them at this point in my life.

Leí la edición de Alianza traducida por Ramón Irigoyen. Muy accesible respetando el original. Me ha encantado

Sad (of course) but very interesting to read in full after Mary Hamil Gilbert’s talk "Hecuba and the Politics of Care in Euripides' Trojan Women" she gave at Bryn Mawr. Gilbert put the play in discussion with a more modern play that engaged with themes of the “chosen family,” emphasizing Hecuba’s mothering of many children and of many people and children after Troy’s fall which were not necessarily related to her through blood.

It might be seen as a minor work of Euripides because its not much of story progress but i rated it highly. Unlike other Greek classic authors he dares to treat war,the women on the losing side of it in a realistic way. What happens to real humans of those days when the legendary battles,wars end, slavery or worse.

Aischylos,Sofocles,Homer for example makes war mostly to be about honor,heroism and other male values.

Esto es una tragedia con todas las letras.
Desde que vi la película Troya tomé partido por los troyanos, aún sabiendo desde el principio lo que pasaba, y después de leer esto me reafirmo y le he cogido más manía aún a los griegos de esta historia.

Como siempre, en las guerras quienes más sufren son los más débiles. Aquí vemos como las mujeres, después de perderlo todo, tienen que seguir sufriendo convirtiéndose en esclavas de los enemigos de los troyanos.

Y Helena...en la película no la pude odiar porque adoro a Diane Kruger, pero aquí, en los dos párrafos que aparece, le he cogido mucha manía.

Hécuba es maravillosa, ojala algun día pueda ver estar obra representada en el teatro porque tiene que ser todo un espectáculo.

Y ahora me han entrado muchísimas ganas de leer más cosas sobre esta guerra, espero poder hacerlo.

The Trojan Women is a very female-based play, which is definitely welcome, considering that a lot of other dramas from this time are all about the guys and the heroism that came from war. Looking at war from a female point of view presents a much more negative standpoint on the usually-praised art of war. While this play is not really action-based, a lot of the dialogue from various female characters, including Cassandra and Helen, reveal some important historical facts about conquest.

The most important element to take from this play, in my opinion, is the fact that women were treated like possessions or trinkets, especially in times of war. In many Greek plays, women can be seen being given as "gifts" or being taken as "prizes" (ex. Aeschylus' Agamemnon), which really gives insight into what real women of the time must have been viewed as. I really appreciate finding a play that criticizes this action and tells it like it is; therefore, I think that although this may not be the most major play of Euripides, it is still a very important one, especially in the historical context.