Euripides: Trojan Women

Euripides' Trojan Women is a devastating play, acclaimed throughout the twentieth century as one of theatre's most powerful anti-war statements. Set at the end of the Trojan war, it depicts the women of Troy as they wait for the departure of the Greek ships that will take them into slavery. While choral songs recall the death-throes of the great city, the scenes between the old queen, Hekabe, and the women of her family explore the consequences of the defeat, from the rape of Cassandra, through the triumphant self-exculpation of Helen, to the pitiful death of the child Astyanax, who is thrown from the walls of his ravaged city. Barbara Goff sets the play in its historical, dramatic and literary contexts, and provides a scene-by-scene analysis which brings out the pace and intellectual vigour of the play. The main themes are fully discussed, such as the relations between men and women, Greeks and barbarians, and divine and human, the identity of victory and defeat, and the power of theatre. The book also introduces readers to the issues that have divided critics, such as the extent to which the play responds to the historical events of the Peloponnesian War, including the siege and sack of the island of Melos. The final chapter, which deals with the reception of the play, offers new insights into several modern works.

Barbara Goff is Professor of Classics, University of Reading.