Hecubaand Tragedy

Abstract

HecubaandThe Trojan Womenhave much of their material in common. Both plays have a chorus of captive Trojan women who are waiting at or near Troy just before they sail with their new masters to Greece. Both groups sing at some length about their slave condition, about the question of where precisely in Greece they will be taken and about the night of Troy’s fall. Hecuba is the protagonist of both plays and they are largely concerned with the destruction of her family. InHecubaPolydorus is killed before the play’s opening (though Hecuba does not know this) and the cruel killing of Polyxena engages our attention for a considerable time; in TheTrojan WomenPolyxena is killed before the play’s opening (though Hecuba does not know this) and the cruel killing of Astyanax engages our attention for a considerable time. In both plays Talthybius is the sympathetic announcer of brutal Greek decisions and Odysseus (whether on or off the stage) is the cynical politician whose pressure is held responsible for the deaths of Polyxena and Astyanax respectively.