The Trojan Women (in Greek, Troiades) is a tragedy by the Greek playwright Euripides. Produced during the Peloponnesian War, it is often considered a commentary on the capture of the Aegean island of Melos by the Athenians earlier in 415 BC (see Milos), the same year the play premiered. 415 BC was also the year of the scandalous desecration of the hermai and the Athenians' second expedition to Sicily, events which may also have influenced the author. A statue of Euripides Euripides (Greek: Ευριπίδης) (c. ... Walls of the excavated city of Troy Troy (Ancient Greek Τροία Troia, also Ίλιον Ilion; Latin: Troia, Ilium) is a legendary city, center of the Trojan War, described in the Trojan War cycle, especially in the Iliad, one of the two epic poems attributed to Homer. ... Hecuba (also Hekuba or Hekabe) was a Trojan queen in Greek mythology, daughter of Dymas. ... Painting by Evelyn De Morgan. ... Andromache grieves the loss of Hector In Greek mythology, Andromache was the wife of Hector and daughter of Eetion, sister to Podes. ... In Greek Mythology and epic poetry, Talthybius was a herald in the Greek camp during the Trojan War and a friend of Agamemnons. ... This article is about Menelaus the king of Sparta. ... In Greek mythology Helen () was reputed to be the most beautiful woman in the world. ... Neptune reigns in the city centre, Bristol, formerly the largest port in England outside London. ... Helmeted Athena, of the Velletri type. ... In general usage, a tragedy or tragoedy is a drama, movie or sometimes a real world event with a sad outcome. ... Template:Unsourced A playwright, also known as a dramatist, is someone who writes dramatic literature or drama. ... A statue of Euripides Euripides (Greek: Ευριπίδης) (c. ... Combatants Delian League led by Athens Peloponnesian League led by Sparta Commanders Pericles Cleon Nicias Alcibiades Archidamus II Brasidas Lysander The Peloponnesian War (431 BC–404 BC) was an Ancient Greek military conflict fought by Athens and its empire and the Peloponnesian League, led by Sparta. ... The Aegean Sea. ... Milos (formerly Melos, and before the Athenian genocide Malos) is a volcanic island in the Aegean Sea. ... Athens (Greek: Αθήνα, Athína IPA: ) is the capital and the largest city of Greece. ... Centuries: 6th century BC - 5th century BC - 4th century BC Decades: 460s BC 450s BC 440s BC 430s BC 420s BC - 410s BC - 400s BC 390s BC 380s BC 370s BC 360s BC Years: 420 BC 419 BC 418 BC 417 BC 416 BC - 415 BC - 414 BC 413 BC... Milos (formerly Melos, and before the Athenian genocide Malos; see also List of traditional Greek place names, Greek: Μήλος, not related to the Modern Greek word μήλο = milo for apple which has the same spelling except for the trailing sigma) is a volcanic island in the Aegean Sea. ... In ancient Greece, before his role as protector of merchants and travelers, Hermes was a phallic god, associated with fertility, luck, roads and borders. ... Sicily (Sicilia in Italian and Sicilian, Σικελία in Greek) is an autonomous region of Italy and the largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, with an area of 25,700 sq. ...

The Trojan Women is part of a trilogy of connected tales, along with Alexandros and Palamedes, and they were presented at the Dionysia along with the comedic satyr play Sisyphos. Euripides, however, did not win the competition that year and was beaten by the playwright Xenocles. The four Trojan women of the play are the same that appear in the final chapter of the Iliad lamenting over the corpse of Hector. Taking place near the same time is Hecuba, another play by Euripides. In the description of the plot below, the Greek version of the name Hecuba is Hecabe. The Dionysia was a large religious festival in ancient Athens in honour of the god Dionysus, the central event of which was the performance of tragedies and comedies. ... Satyr plays were an ancient Greek form of comedy, similar to the modern-day burlesque style. ... Xenocles was an Ancient Greek tragedian. ... The Iliad (Ancient Greek , Ilias) is, together with the Odyssey, one of the two principal ancient Greek epic poems. ... Hector brought back to Troy. ... Hecuba is a tragedy by Euripides written c. ...

Plot

Euripides' play follows the fates of the women of Troy after their city has been sacked, their husbands killed, and as their remaining families are about to be taken away as slaves. However, it begins first with the gods Athena and Poseidon discussing ways to punish the Greek armies because they condoned Ajax the Lesser for raping Cassandra in Athena's temple. What follows shows how much the Trojan women have suffered as their grief is compounded when the Greeks dole out additional deaths and divide their shares of women. Helmeted Athena, of the Velletri type. ... Neptune reigns in the city centre, Bristol, formerly the largest port in England outside London. ... Ajax (Greek: Αἴας), a Greek hero, son of Oïleus the king of Locris, called the lesser or Locrian Ajax, to distinguish him from Ajax, son of Telamon. ...

The Greek herald Talthybius arrives to tell the dethroned queen Hecabe what will befall her and her children. Hecabe will be taken away with the Greek general Odysseus, and her daughter Cassandra is slated to become the conquering general Agamemnon's concubine. Cassandra, who has been driven partially mad due to a curse by which she can see the future but will never be believed when she warns others, is morbidly delighted by this news: she sees that when they arrive in Argos, her new master's embittered wife Clytemnestra will kill both her and her new master. However, because of the curse, no one understands this response, and Cassandra is carried off. Odysseus and the Sirens. ... A swampy marsh area ... Argos (Greek: Άργος, Árgos, IPA argos) is a city in Greece in the Peloponnese near Nafplio, which was its historic harbor, named for Nauplius. ... Clytemnestra (Greek: Κλυταιμνήστρα Klytaimnéstra, praiseworthy wooing) was the wife of Agamemnon, king of the Ancient Greek kingdom of Mycenae or Argos. ...

The widowed princess Andromache arrives, and Hecabe learns from her that her youngest daughter, Polyxena, has been killed as a sacrifice at the tomb of the Greek warrior Achilles. Polyxena dies by the hand of Neoptolemus on the tomb of Achilles. ... The Wrath of Achilles, by François-Léon Benouville (1821–1859) (Musée Fabre) In Greek mythology, Achilles, also Akhilleus or Achilleus (Ancient Greek ) was a hero of the Trojan War, the central character and greatest warrior of Homers Iliad, which takes for its theme, not the War...

Andromache's lot is to be the concubine of Achilles' son Neoptolemus, but the worst news yet for the royal family is yet to come: Talthybius comes to reluctantly inform her that her young son, Astyanax, has been condemned to die. The Greek leaders are afraid that the boy will grow up to avenge his father Hector, and rather than take this chance, they plan to throw him off from the battlements of Troy to his death. Neoptolemus Kills Priam Neoptolemus Murdered at Delphi In Greek mythology, Neoptolemus, also Neoptólemos or Pyrrhus, was the son of the warrior Achilles and the princess Deidamea. ...

Helen, though not one of the Trojan women, is supposed to suffer greatly as well: Menelaus arrives to take her back to Greece with him where a death sentence awaits her. Helen begs her husband to spare her life and he remains resolved to kill her, but the audience watching the play knows that in the Odyssey, Telemachus will learn how Helen's legendary beauty win her a reprieve. Odysseus and Nausicaä - by Charles Gleyre For other uses, see Odyssey (disambiguation). ...

In the end, Talthybius returns, carrying with him the body of little Astyanax on Hector's shield. Andromache's wish had been to bury her child herself, performing the proper rituals according to Trojan ways, but her ship had already departed. Talthybius gives the corpse to Hecaba, who prepares the body for burial before they are finally taken off with Odysseus.

Throughout the play, many of the Trojan women lament the loss of the land reared them. Hecabe in particular let it be known that Troy had been her home for her entire life, only to see herself as an old grandmother watching the burning of Troy, the death of her husband, her children, and her grandchildren before she will be taken as a slave to Odysseus.

Hecuba: Alas! Alas! Alas! Ilium is ablaze; the fire consumes the citadel, the roofs of our city, the tops of the walls!

Chorus: Like smoke blown to heaven on the wings of the wind, our country, our conquered country, perishes. Its palaces are overrun by the fierce flames and the murderous spear.

Hecuba: O land that reared my children!

The Trojan Women in Modern Times

Greek director Michael Cacoyannis used Euripides' script as the basis for his 1971 film The Trojan Women. The movie starred American actress Katharine Hepburn as Hecuba, British actors Vanessa Redgrave and Brian Blessed as Andromache and Tathybius, French-Canadian actress Geneviève Bujold as Cassandra, Greek actress Irene Papas as Helen, and Patrick Magee, an actor born in Northern Ireland as Menelaus. Michael Cacoyannis (born June 11, 1922 in Limassol, Cyprus, under the name Mikhalis Kakogiannis) is a filmmaker. ... 1971 (MCMLXXI) was a common year starting on Friday (the link is to a full 1971 calendar). ... Katharine Houghton Hepburn (May 12, 1907 – June 29, 2003) was an iconic four-time Academy Award-winning American star of film, television and stage, widely recognized for her sharp wit, New England gentility and fierce independence. ... Vanessa Redgrave during the 2004 season of Nip/Tuck. ... Blessed (centre) as Exeter in Henry V Brian Blessed (born October 9, 1937) is an English actor. ... Motto: Latin: A Mari Usque Ad Mare (English: From Sea to Sea) Anthem: O Canada Royal anthem: God Save the Queen Capital Ottawa Largest city Toronto Official language(s) English, French Government Federal constitutional monarchy  - Monarch Queen Elizabeth II  - Governor General Michaëlle Jean  - Prime Minister Stephen Harper Independence From... Geneviève Bujold (born July 1, 1942 in Montréal, Quebec) is a Canadian actress. ... Irene Papas (Greek Ειρήνη Παππά, born September 3, 1926 in Corinth) is a Greek-born actress who has starred in over seventy films in a career spanning more than fifty years. ... Motto: (French for God and my right)2 Anthem: UK: God Save the Queen Regional: (De facto) Londonderry Air Capital Belfast Largest city Belfast Official language(s) English (De facto), Irish, Ulster Scots 3 Government Constitutional monarchy  - Queen Queen Elizabeth II  - Prime Minister Tony Blair MP  - First Minister Office suspended...

Another movie based on the Euripides play came out in 2004. The film was directed by Brad Mays.

Jean-Paul Sartre wrote a version that remains largely faithful to the original text. It adds veiled references to European imperialism in Asia and minor emphasis on common existentialist themes. Jean-Paul Charles Aymard Sartre (June 21, 1905 – April 15, 1980), normally known simply as Jean-Paul Sartre (pronounced: ), was a French existentialist philosopher, dramatist and screenwriter, novelist and critic. ... Imperialism is a policy of extending control or authority over foreign entities as a means of acquisition and/or maintenance of empires. ... Existentialism is a philosophical movement that is generally considered a study that pursues meaning in existence and seeks value for the existing individual. ...

Translations

Wikisource has original text related to this article:

The Trojan Women

• Edward P. Coleridge, 1891 - prose: full text
• Gilbert Murray, 1911 - verse: full text
• Edith Hamilton, 1937 - verse
• Richmond Lattimore, 1947 - verse
• I. K. Raubitschek and A. E. Raubitschek, 1954 - prose
• Philip Vellacott, 1954 - prose and verse
• unknown translator - prose: full text
• Nicholas Rudall, 1999 - prose
• James Morewood, 2000 - prose

Image File history File links Wikisource-logo. ... Wikisource – The Free Library – is a Wikimedia project to build a free, wiki library of source texts, along with translations into any language and other supporting materials. ... Gilbert Murray (or George Gilbert Aime) (January 2, 1866 - 1957) was a British classical scholar and diplomat. ... Edith Hamilton (August 12, 1867 - May 31, 1963) was a classicist and educator before she became a writer on mythology. ... Richmond Alexander Lattimore (May 6, 1906 - February 26, 1984) was an American poet and translator known for his translations of the Greek classics, especially his versions of the Iliad and Odyssey. ... D. Nicholas Rudall is Professor of Classical Languages and Literatures, Committees on General Studies in the Humanities and Ancient Mediterranean World, and the College at the University of Chicago, where he has taught since 1966. ...

Additional resources

• Mortal Women of the Trojan War Information on each of the Trojan Women

	Plays by Euripides Cyclops | Alcestis | Medea | Heracleidae | Hippolytus | Andromache | Hecuba | The Suppliants | Electra | Heracles | The Trojan Women | Iphigeneia in Tauris | Ion | Helen | Phoenician Women | Orestes | Bacchae | Iphigeneia at Aulis | Rhesus (spurious)