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''Troades'' () is a ''
fabula crepidata A ''fabula crepidata'' or ''fabula cothurnata'' is a Latin tragedy with Greek subjects. The genre probably originated in adaptations of Greek tragedy (hence the names, coming from ''crepida'' = ''sandal'' and ''cothurnus'') beginning in the early ...
'' (Roman tragedy with Greek subject) of c. 1179 lines of verse written by
Lucius Annaeus Seneca Lucius Annaeus Seneca the Younger (; 65 AD), usually known mononymously as Seneca, was a Stoic philosopher of Ancient Rome, a statesman, dramatist, and, in one work, satirist, from the post-Augustan age of Latin literature. Seneca was born in ...
.


Characters

*
Hecuba Hecuba (; also Hecabe; grc, Ἑκάβη, Hekábē, ) was a queen in Greek mythology, the wife of King Priam of Troy during the Trojan War. Description Hecuba was described by the chronicler Malalas in his account of the ''Chronography'' as "d ...
, queen of Troy, wife of Priam *Chorus of Trojans * Talthybius, Greek herald *
Agamemnon In Greek mythology, Agamemnon (; grc-gre, Ἀγαμέμνων ''Agamémnōn'') was a king of Mycenae who commanded the Greeks during the Trojan War. He was the son, or grandson, of King Atreus and Queen Aerope, the brother of Menelaus, the hus ...
, Greek king *
Calchas Calchas (; grc, Κάλχας, ''Kalkhas'') is an Argive mantis, or "seer," dated to the Age of Legend, which is an aspect of Greek mythology. Calchas appears in the opening scenes of the ''Iliad'', which is believed to have been based on a war ...
, Greek seer * Helena, "Helen of Troy" * Pyrrhus, son of Achilles *
Andromache In Greek mythology, Andromache (; grc, Ἀνδρομάχη, ) was the wife of Hector, daughter of Eetion, and sister to Podes. She was born and raised in the city of Cilician Thebe, over which her father ruled. The name means 'man battler' o ...
, wife of Hector *''senex'' (old man) * Ulysses, Greek Hero *
Astyanax In Greek mythology, Astyanax (; grc, Ἀστυάναξ ''Astyánax'', "lord of the city") was the son of Hector, the crown prince of Troy, and his wife, Princess Andromache of Cilician Thebe."Astyanax". ''Oxford Classical Dictionary''. Oxford, ...
, son of Andromache and Hector *''nuntius'' (messenger) * Polyxena, daughter of Hecuba and Priam (silent role)


Plot

The siege of Troy is done and the city is now smouldering ruins. The victorious Greeks have gathered the rich spoils of Troy upon the shore, among these the Trojan women who await their lot to be assigned to their Greek lords and taken to the cities of their foes. But now the ghost of Achilles has risen from the tomb, and demanded that Polyxena be sacrificed to him before the Greeks shall be allowed to sail away. And Calchas, also, bids that Astyanax be slain, for only then can Greece be safe from any future Trojan war.


Act I

Hecuba laments with the Chorus of Trojans the destruction of their country and the death of Hector and Priam.


Act II

Talthybius relates that the Ghost of Achilles has appeared, and reproving the Greeks for their ingratitude, demanded that Polyxena, under the pretext of marriage with whom, he was slain, should be sacrificed at his tomb as an offering to the chthonic gods. Otherwise the Greeks will not have a favourable wind for their return. Agamemnon and Pyrrhus quarrel about the sacrifice. Calchas is summoned and he asserts that not only must Polyxena be slain, but Astynax must also be hurled from the tower. The Chorus denies that Achilles appeared as a spirit, and asserts that the soul dies forever with the body.


Act III

Andromache having taken alarm at a vision in her dream, hides away her son in his father's tomb. Ulysses in his cleverness discovers where he is, and drags him forth to meet his death. Andromache mingles curses and threats with her supplications entreating Ulysses, but not prevailing upon him. The Trojans, once allotted to the Greeks, are to be conveyed to various parts of Greece—some to Sparta, some to Mycenae, some to Ithaca, and to the country of Helen, Agamemnon and Ulysses.


Act IV

The plan is discussed as to how the sacrifices to the chthonic gods and manes of Achilles are to be conducted; and in what garments, Polyxena, who is to be sacrificed under the impression of a real marriage, is to be arrayed. Also what part shall be played by Helen, in order that she may cajole Polyxena with the vain hope of marrying Pyrrhus: she at first, keeps up the pretence, but after a time dismisses the deception, having argued with Andromache, she confesses everything and openly recommends the fulfilment of the scheme. The Chorus derives consolation from the misfortune being shared by so many; "as if for the wretched to have companions in sorrow were a solace," and then draws attention to the fact that the solace in question will lose its efficacy, as they will be separated by the allotting that has been going on.


Act V

The Messenger informs the mothers, Hecuba and Andromache, that Astyanax has been hurled from the tower and Polyxena slain at the tomb of Achilles.


Reception

Translator R. Scott Smith wrote that Seneca's attempt in the work to weave two episodes together "means that the play is somewhat dissociated – a 'flaw' that critics have sometimes brought to bear against it", but stated that "in the place of unity, however, there is symmetry."


References


Further reading

*
Elaine Fantham Elaine Fantham (née Crosthwaite, 25 May 1933 – 11 July 2016) was a British-Canadian classicist whose expertise lay particularly in Latin literature, especially comedy, epic poetry and rhetoric, and in the social history of Roman women. Much o ...
, ''Seneca’s Troades: A literary introduction with text, translation, and commentary''. (Princeton University Press: 1982). * Otto Zwierlein (ed.), Seneca ''Tragoedia'' (Oxford: Clarendon Press: Oxford Classical Texts: 1986) * John G. Fitch ''Tragedies, Volume I: Hercules. Trojan Women. Phoenician Women. Medea. Phaedra'' (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press: Loeb Classical Library: 2002) {{Authority control Plays by Seneca the Younger Trojan War literature Tragedy plays Agamemnon