segal golden armor and servile robes. heroism and metamorphosis in the hecuba of euripides

8/10/2019 Segal Golden Armor and Servile Robes. Heroism and Metamorphosis in the Hecuba of Euripides

1/15

Golden Armor and Servile Robes: Heroism and Metamorphosis in Hecuba of Euripides

Author(s): Charles SegalSource: The American Journal of Philology, Vol. 111, No. 3 (Autumn, 1990), pp. 304-317Published by: The Johns Hopkins University PressStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/295153.

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2/15

GOLDEN ARMOR AND SERVILE ROBES:

HEROISM

AND

METAMORPHOSIS IN

HECUBA

OF

EURIPIDES

A

feeling

of

impermanence

and

instability

pervades

this

play.

Change,

as

often

in

Euripides,

is a central

concern and is

expressed

both

scenically

and

thematically

through

the

motif of

clothing.

The

reversals

conveyed through

this

motif,

I shall

try

to

show,

reflect the

main

themes

of

suffering, mutability,

and

revenge

and also

form

a mi-

crocosm of the play's structure. Change is both individual and social,

and the motif of

clothing

draws the

two levels of

change together.

In

particular,

its role

in

rituals like

supplication,

burial,

and

sacrifice links

psychological

and cultural

degeneration.

On the

individual

level,

change

takes the form

primarily

of the

mutability

of

fortune;

on the social

level,

that of the

degeneration

of

heroic

values

and the

devaluation of civilized norms of

behavior

(e.g.,

aidos and

nomos).

The two

areas of

change

work

together

not

only

to

depict

the

massive scale of moral decline in

this

postwar

world,

but also

to show how a corrupt society and brutalizing conditions deform even a

noble

nature.

Hecuba's

maternal

tenderness

and

concern become

mur-

derous

hatred;

this

pitiable

mater dolorosa

becomes

a monster of

venge-

fulness.

Hecuba's

metamorphosis,

however,

also involves

larger

social

categories

because she is

a

queen

and acts as

the

leader

of a

group

of

women.

Clothing

has

a

special

significance

for

gender

roles because

its

manufacture and care

are

especially

the work of women

and

thus

in-

volve the

functions

of women

in

society.

Here too we see

onstage

a

terrifying transformation as female submissiveness and helplessness

become murderous

fury.

By combining

personal change

and cultural

decline

with the fabu-

lous,

mythical

motif

of

metamorphosis, Euripides

goes

beyond

the fa-

miliar

tragic topos

of

the

mutability

of fortune to

a

psychological

explo-

ration of

personal

identity,

the

question

of

which of the

many

potential

selves one

"really"

is. For

change

in the

society

as a

whole

the

Homeric

poems

and

especially

the heroism

of

the

Iliad

are our constant

points

of

reference

as

we

see

Achilles'

singleness

of

purpose

transmuted

into

the

inexorability of a bloodthirsty ghost and Odysseus' resilient adaptabil-

ity

turned into

treacherous

shiftiness

and

lying.

Though

far from

mere

American

Journal

of

Philology

111

1990)

304-317 ? 1990

by

The

Johns

Hopkins University

Press


HEROISM

AND

METAMORPHOSIS IN

HECUBA

OF

EURIPIDES

A

feeling

of

impermanence

and

instability

pervades

this

play.

Change,

as

often

in

Euripides,

is a central

concern and is

expressed

both

scenically

and

thematically

through

the

motif of

clothing.

The

reversals

conveyed through

this

motif,

I shall

try

to

show,

reflect the

main

themes

of


and

revenge

and also

form

a mi-


and the motif of

clothing

draws the

two levels of

change together.

In

particular,

its role

in

rituals like

supplication,

burial,

and

sacrifice links

psychological

and cultural

degeneration.

On the

individual

level,

change

takes the form

primarily

of the

mutability

of

fortune;

on the social

level,

that of the

degeneration

of

heroic

values

and the


behavior

(e.g.,

aidos and

nomos).

The two

areas of

change

work

together

not

only

to

depict

the


this

postwar

world,

but also


noble

nature.

Hecuba's

maternal

tenderness

and

concern become

mur-

derous

hatred;

this

pitiable

mater dolorosa

becomes

a monster of

venge-

fulness.

Hecuba's

metamorphosis,

however,

also involves

larger

social

categories

because she is

a

queen

and acts as

the

leader

of a

group

of

women.

Clothing

has

a

special

significance

for

gender

roles because

its


are

especially

the work of women

and

thus

in-

volve the

functions

of women

in

society.

Here too we see

onstage

a


become murderous

fury.

By combining

personal change

and cultural

decline

with the fabu-

lous,

mythical

motif

of


goes

beyond

the fa-

miliar

tragic topos

of

the

mutability

of fortune to

a

psychological

explo-

ration of

personal

identity,

the

question

of

which of the

many

potential

selves one

"really"

is. For

change

in the

society

as a

whole

the

Homeric

poems

and

especially

the heroism

of

the

Iliad

are our constant

points

of

reference

as

we

see

Achilles'

singleness

of

purpose

transmuted

into

the


ity

turned into

treacherous

shiftiness

and

lying.

Though

far from

mere

American

Journal

of

Philology

111

1990)

304-317 ? 1990

by

The

Johns

Hopkins University

Press


HEROISM

AND

METAMORPHOSIS IN

HECUBA

OF

EURIPIDES

A

feeling

of

impermanence

and

instability

pervades

this

play.

Change,

as

often

in

Euripides,

is a central

concern and is

expressed

both

scenically

and

thematically

through

the

motif of

clothing.

The

reversals

conveyed through

this

motif,

I shall

try

to

show,

reflect the

main

themes

of


and

revenge

and also

form

a mi-


and the motif of

clothing

draws the

two levels of

change together.

In

particular,

its role

in

rituals like

supplication,

burial,

and

sacrifice links

psychological

and cultural

degeneration.

On the

individual

level,

change

takes the form

primarily

of the

mutability

of

fortune;

on the social

level,

that of the

degeneration

of

heroic

values

and the


behavior

(e.g.,

aidos and

nomos).

The two

areas of

change

work

together

not

only

to

depict

the


this

postwar

world,

but also


noble

nature.

Hecuba's

maternal

tenderness

and

concern become

mur-

derous

hatred;

this

pitiable

mater dolorosa

becomes

a monster of

venge-

fulness.

Hecuba's

metamorphosis,

however,

also involves

larger

social

categories

because she is

a

queen

and acts as

the

leader

of a

group

of

women.

Clothing

has

a

special

significance

for

gender

roles because

its


are

especially

the work of women

and

thus

in-

volve the

functions

of women

in

society.

Here too we see

onstage

a


become murderous

fury.

By combining

personal change

and cultural

decline

with the fabu-

lous,

mythical

motif

of


goes

beyond

the fa-

miliar

tragic topos

of

the

mutability

of fortune to

a

psychological

explo-

ration of

personal

identity,

the

question

of

which of the

many

potential

selves one

"really"

is. For

change

in the

society

as a

whole

the

Homeric

poems

and

especially

the heroism

of

the

Iliad

are our constant

points

of

reference

as

we

see

Achilles'

singleness

of

purpose

transmuted

into

the


ity

turned into

treacherous

shiftiness

and

lying.

Though

far from

mere

American

Journal

of

Philology

111

1990)

304-317 ? 1990

by

The

Johns

Hopkins University

Press


HEROISM

AND

METAMORPHOSIS IN

HECUBA

OF

EURIPIDES

A

feeling

of

impermanence

and

instability

pervades

this

play.

Change,

as

often

in

Euripides,

is a central

concern and is

expressed

both

scenically

and

thematically

through

the

motif of

clothing.

The

reversals

conveyed through

this

motif,

I shall

try

to

show,

reflect the

main

themes

of


and

revenge

and also

form

a mi-


and the motif of

clothing

draws the

two levels of

change together.

In

particular,

its role

in

rituals like

supplication,

burial,

and

sacrifice links

psychological

and cultural

degeneration.

On the

individual

level,

change

takes the form

primarily

of the

mutability

of

fortune;

on the social

level,

that of the

degeneration

of

heroic

values

and the


behavior

(e.g.,

aidos and

nomos).

The two

areas of

change

work

together

not

only

to

depict

the


this

postwar

world,

but also


noble

nature.

Hecuba's

maternal

tenderness

and

concern become

mur-

derous

hatred;

this

pitiable

mater dolorosa

becomes

a monster of

venge-

fulness.

Hecuba's

metamorphosis,

however,

also involves

larger

social

categories

because she is

a

queen

and acts as

the

leader

of a

group

of

women.

Clothing

has

a

special

significance

for

gender

roles because

its


are

especially

the work of women

and

thus

in-

volve the

functions

of women

in

society.

Here too we see

onstage

a


become murderous

fury.

By combining

personal change

and cultural

decline

with the fabu-

lous,

mythical

motif

of


goes

beyond

the fa-

miliar

tragic topos

of

the

mutability

of fortune to

a

psychological

explo-

ration of

personal

identity,

the

question

of

which of the

many

potential

selves one

"really"

is. For

change

in the

society

as a

whole

the

Homeric

poems

and

especially

the heroism

of

the

Iliad

are our constant

points

of

reference

as

we

see

Achilles'

singleness

of

purpose

transmuted

into

the


ity

turned into

treacherous

shiftiness

and

lying.

Though

far from

mere

American

Journal

of

Philology

111

1990)

304-317 ? 1990

by

The

Johns

Hopkins University

Press


HEROISM

AND

METAMORPHOSIS IN

HECUBA

OF

EURIPIDES

A

feeling

of

impermanence

and

instability

pervades

this

play.

Change,

as

often

in

Euripides,

is a central

concern and is

expressed

both

scenically

and

thematically

through

the

motif of

clothing.

The

reversals

conveyed through

this

motif,

I shall

try

to

show,

reflect the

main

themes

of


and

revenge

and also

form

a mi-


and the motif of

clothing

draws the

two levels of

change together.

In

particular,

its role

in

rituals like

supplication,

burial,

and

sacrifice links

psychological

and cultural

degeneration.

On the

individual

level,

change

takes the form

primarily

of the

mutability

of

fortune;

on the social

level,

that of the

degeneration

of

heroic

values

and the


behavior

(e.g.,

aidos and

nomos).

The two

areas of

change

work

together

not

only

to

depict

the


this

postwar

world,

but also


noble

nature.

Hecuba's

maternal

tenderness

and

concern become

mur-

derous

hatred;

this

pitiable

mater dolorosa

becomes

a monster of

venge-

fulness.

Hecuba's

metamorphosis,

however,

also involves

larger

social

categories

because she is

a

queen

and acts as

the

leader

of a

group

of

women.

Clothing

has

a

special

significance

for

gender

roles because

its


are

especially

the work of women

and

thus

in-

volve the

functions

of women

in

society.

Here too we see

onstage

a


become murderous

fury.

By combining

personal change

and cultural

decline

with the fabu-

lous,

mythical

motif

of


goes

beyond

the fa-

miliar

tragic topos

of

the

mutability

of fortune to

a

psychological

explo-

ration of

personal

identity,

the

question

of

which of the

many

potential

selves one

"really"

is. For

change

in the

society

as a

whole

the

Homeric

poems

and

especially

the heroism

of

the

Iliad

are our constant

points

of

reference

as

we

see

Achilles'

singleness

of

purpose

transmuted

into

the


ity

turned into

treacherous

shiftiness

and

lying.

Though

far from

mere

American

Journal

of

Philology

111

1990)

304-317 ? 1990

by

The

Johns

Hopkins University

Press

This content downloaded from 193.145.39.81 on Wed, 17 Apr 2013 09:16:04 AMAll use subject toJSTOR Terms and Conditions
http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsphttp://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsphttp://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsphttp://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp


3/15

HEROISM AND

METAMORPHOSIS IN

HECUBA

EROISM AND

METAMORPHOSIS IN

HECUBA

EROISM AND

METAMORPHOSIS IN

HECUBA

EROISM AND

METAMORPHOSIS IN

HECUBA

EROISM AND

METAMORPHOSIS IN

HECUBA

political

allegory,

the

play

casts into

mythical

terms

and into

gender

conflicts

the situation

of

moral

disintegration analyzed by Thucydides

in

his celebrated account

of

the

Corcyrean

stasis

(Thuc.

3.82-83).

I

The

action of

Hecuba

is itself of a

temporary

and

transitional

nature,

the enforced

suspension

of the victorious

army's

return from

Troy

to Greece.

As

the

spatial

setting

is in the no-man's-land between

Asia and

Greece,

so

the

temporal setting

is in the interstitial

period

between the capture of Troy and the homeward return, or, in terms of

the

Epic

Cycle,

between the Iliou Persis

and

the

Nostoi.'

To this

setting

too

belongs

another

kind of

change:

the

peak

of heroism is

past,

and

what

remains is the decline. The

great

feat of

Troy's

capture

is over.

Achilles is dead. His

ghost

and his son are

all

that

remain,

and both are

distinctly

marked as

remnants,

traces of

a

lost

grandeur.

It is a

mood

that the

post-Trojan-war

dramas

frequently

cultivate:

we

may

think

of

Euripides'

Andromache,

not

far

removed

in

date from

Hecuba,

his

Tro-

ades,

and

also

Sophocles'

Philoctetes.2

The heroic past makes a spectacular appearance in the play in the

chorus'

account of

Achilles'

ghost

in

the

parode

(109-15,

especially

109-11):

TI[t1OV

6'

?'JL3ag

o(O6' 6TE

XQVOEOLg;

d46avm

oUv

6JTotlg,

xg

JTovTo6QOoug;

'

iaXE

oXe6ia

.

.

.

The

shade of

Polydorus

in the

prologue

had said

merely

that Achilles

"appeared above his tomb,"

JtAQ@

U4tpov

()aveiL (37). The chorus em-

bellishes this

epiphany

with

the visual

detail

of the

"golden

arms."

The

addition

belongs to the

lyrical style,

obviously;3

but it also marks

this

'This

atmosphere

of

restlessness,

suspension,

and

instability

has led to a low

valuation of the

play

and to the

suggestion

that

the

material

was too diffuse

for the

dramatic

frame. Max

Pohlenz,

Die

griechische

Tragodie (Gottingen

1954)

1.284,

for exam-

ple,

contrasts

Hecuba with "die

grandiose

Geschlossenheit

der Medea" and

goes

on,

"Man hat

das

Gefuhl,

dass durch

langen Krieg aufgestaute Erregung

zur

Ausgestaltung

dessen,

was den Dichter

bewegt,

auch

uber

den kiinstlerischen

Rahmen hinaus treibt."

2Cf.

especially

Phil. 331ff.,410-50. This use of Achilles' heroism as an unattainable

past glory

seen in

retrospective

vision is

already

established

in the

Odyssey:

cf. 24.58-65.

3Simonides'

lyrical

version

was

outstanding:

see

ps.-Longin.,

De Sublim.

15.7.

political

allegory,

the

play

casts into

mythical

terms

and into

gender

conflicts

the situation

of

moral


in


of

the

Corcyrean

stasis

(Thuc.

3.82-83).

I

The

action of

Hecuba

is itself of a

temporary

and

transitional

nature,

the enforced

suspension

of the victorious

army's

return from

Troy

to Greece.

As

the

spatial

setting


Asia and

Greece,

so

the

temporal setting


period


the

Epic

Cycle,


and

the

Nostoi.'

To this

setting

too

belongs

another

kind of

change:

the

peak

of heroism is

past,

and

what


great

feat of

Troy's

capture

is over.


ghost

and his son are

all

that

remain,

and both are

distinctly

marked as

remnants,

traces of

a

lost

grandeur.

It is a

mood

that the

post-Trojan-war

dramas

frequently

cultivate:

we

may

think

of

Euripides'

Andromache,

not

far

removed

in

date from

Hecuba,

his

Tro-

ades,

and

also

Sophocles'

Philoctetes.2


chorus'

account of

Achilles'

ghost

in

the

parode

(109-15,

especially

109-11):

TI[t1OV

6'

?'JL3ag

o(O6' 6TE

XQVOEOLg;

d46avm

oUv

6JTotlg,

xg

JTovTo6QOoug;

'

iaXE

oXe6ia

.

.

.

The

shade of

Polydorus

in the

prologue

had said

merely

that Achilles


JtAQ@

U4tpov


bellishes this

epiphany

with

the visual

detail

of the

"golden

arms."

The

addition

belongs to the

lyrical style,

obviously;3

but it also marks

this

'This

atmosphere

of

restlessness,

suspension,

and

instability

has led to a low

valuation of the

play

and to the

suggestion

that

the

material

was too diffuse

for the

dramatic

frame. Max

Pohlenz,

Die

griechische

Tragodie (Gottingen

1954)

1.284,

for exam-

ple,

contrasts

Hecuba with "die

grandiose

Geschlossenheit

der Medea" and

goes

on,

"Man hat

das

Gefuhl,

dass durch


zur

Ausgestaltung

dessen,

was den Dichter

bewegt,

auch

uber

den kiinstlerischen


2Cf.

especially


past glory

seen in

retrospective

vision is

already

established

in the

Odyssey:

cf. 24.58-65.

3Simonides'

lyrical

version

was

outstanding:

see

ps.-Longin.,

De Sublim.

15.7.

political

allegory,

the

play

casts into

mythical

terms

and into

gender

conflicts

the situation

of

moral


in


of

the

Corcyrean

stasis

(Thuc.

3.82-83).

I

The

action of

Hecuba

is itself of a

temporary

and

transitional

nature,

the enforced

suspension

of the victorious

army's

return from

Troy

to Greece.

As

the

spatial

setting


Asia and

Greece,

so

the

temporal setting


period


the

Epic

Cycle,


and

the

Nostoi.'

To this

setting

too

belongs

another

kind of

change:

the

peak

of heroism is

past,

and

what


great

feat of

Troy's

capture

is over.


ghost

and his son are

all

that

remain,

and both are

distinctly

marked as

remnants,

traces of

a

lost

grandeur.

It is a

mood

that the

post-Trojan-war

dramas

frequently

cultivate:

we

may

think

of

Euripides'

Andromache,

not

far

removed

in

date from

Hecuba,

his

Tro-

ades,

and

also

Sophocles'

Philoctetes.2


chorus'

account of

Achilles'

ghost

in

the

parode

(109-15,

especially

109-11):

TI[t1OV

6'

?'JL3ag

o(O6' 6TE

XQVOEOLg;

d46avm

oUv

6JTotlg,

xg

JTovTo6QOoug;

'

iaXE

oXe6ia

.

.

.

The

shade of

Polydorus

in the

prologue

had said

merely

that Achilles


JtAQ@

U4tpov


bellishes this

epiphany

with

the visual

detail

of the

"golden

arms."

The

addition

belongs to the

lyrical style,

obviously;3

but it also marks

this

'This

atmosphere

of

restlessness,

suspension,

and

instability

has led to a low

valuation of the

play

and to the

suggestion

that

the

material

was too diffuse

for the

dramatic

frame. Max

Pohlenz,

Die

griechische

Tragodie (Gottingen

1954)

1.284,

for exam-

ple,

contrasts

Hecuba with "die

grandiose

Geschlossenheit

der Medea" and

goes

on,

"Man hat

das

Gefuhl,

dass durch


zur

Ausgestaltung

dessen,

was den Dichter

bewegt,

auch

uber

den kiinstlerischen


2Cf.

especially


past glory

seen in

retrospective

vision is

already

established

in the

Odyssey:

cf. 24.58-65.

3Simonides'

lyrical

version

was

outstanding:

see

ps.-Longin.,

De Sublim.

15.7.

political

allegory,

the

play

casts into

mythical

terms

and into

gender

conflicts

the situation

of

moral


in


of

the

Corcyrean

stasis

(Thuc.

3.82-83).

I

The

action of

Hecuba

is itself of a

temporary

and

transitional

nature,

the enforced

suspension

of the victorious

army's

return from

Troy

to Greece.

As

the

spatial

setting


Asia and

Greece,

so

the

temporal setting


period


the

Epic

Cycle,


and

the

Nostoi.'

To this

setting

too

belongs

another

kind of

change:

the

peak

of heroism is

past,

and

what


great

feat of

Troy's

capture

is over.


ghost

and his son are

all

that

remain,

and both are

distinctly

marked as

remnants,

traces of

a

lost

grandeur.

It is a

mood

that the

post-Trojan-war

dramas

frequently

cultivate:

we

may

think

of

Euripides'

Andromache,

not

far

removed

in

date from

Hecuba,

his

Tro-

ades,

and

also

Sophocles'

Philoctetes.2


chorus'

account of

Achilles'

ghost

in

the

parode

(109-15,

especially

109-11):

TI[t1OV

6'

?'JL3ag

o(O6' 6TE

XQVOEOLg;

d46avm

oUv

6JTotlg,

xg

JTovTo6QOoug;

'

iaXE

oXe6ia

.

.

.

The

shade of

Polydorus

in the

prologue

had said

merely

that Achilles


JtAQ@

U4tpov


bellishes this

epiphany

with

the visual

detail

of the

"golden

arms."

The

addition

belongs to the

lyrical style,

obviously;3

but it also marks

this

'This

atmosphere

of

restlessness,

suspension,

and

instability

has led to a low

valuation of the

play

and to the

suggestion

that

the

material

was too diffuse

for the

dramatic

frame. Max

Pohlenz,

Die

griechische

Tragodie (Gottingen

1954)

1.284,

for exam-

ple,

contrasts

Hecuba with "die

grandiose

Geschlossenheit

der Medea" and

goes

on,

"Man hat

das

Gefuhl,

dass durch


zur

Ausgestaltung

dessen,

was den Dichter

bewegt,

auch

uber

den kiinstlerischen


2Cf.

especially


past glory

seen in

retrospective

vision is

already

established

in the

Odyssey:

cf. 24.58-65.

3Simonides'

lyrical

version

was

outstanding:

see

ps.-Longin.,

De Sublim.

15.7.

political

allegory,

the

play

casts into

mythical

terms

and into

gender

conflicts

the situation

of

moral


in


of

the

Corcyrean

stasis

(Thuc.

3.82-83).

I

The

action of

Hecuba

is itself of a

temporary

and

transitional

nature,

the enforced

suspension

of the victorious

army's

return from

Troy

to Greece.

As

the

spatial

setting


Asia and

Greece,

so

the

temporal setting


period


the

Epic

Cycle,


and

the

Nostoi.'

To this

setting

too

belongs

another

kind of

change:

the

peak

of heroism is

past,

and

what


great

feat of

Troy's

capture

is over.


ghost

and his son are

all

that

remain,

and both are

distinctly

marked as

remnants,

traces of

a

lost

grandeur.

It is a

mood

that the

post-Trojan-war

dramas

frequently

cultivate:

we

may

think

of

Euripides'

Andromache,

not

far

removed

in

date from

Hecuba,

his

Tro-

ades,

and

also

Sophocles'

Philoctetes.2


chorus'

account of

Achilles'

ghost

in

the

parode

(109-15,

especially

109-11):

TI[t1OV

6'

?'JL3ag

o(O6' 6TE

XQVOEOLg;

d46avm

oUv

6JTotlg,

xg

JTovTo6QOoug;

'

iaXE

oXe6ia

.

.

.

The

shade of

Polydorus

in the

prologue

had said

merely

that Achilles


JtAQ@

U4tpov


bellishes this

epiphany

with

the visual

detail

of the

"golden

arms."

The

addition

belongs to the

lyrical style,

obviously;3

but it also marks

this

'This

atmosphere

of

restlessness,

suspension,

and

instability

has led to a low

valuation of the

play

and to the

suggestion

that

the

material

was too diffuse

for the

dramatic

frame. Max

Pohlenz,

Die

griechische

Tragodie (Gottingen

1954)

1.284,

for exam-

ple,

contrasts

Hecuba with "die

grandiose

Geschlossenheit

der Medea" and

goes

on,

"Man hat

das

Gefuhl,

dass durch


zur

Ausgestaltung

dessen,

was den Dichter

bewegt,

auch

uber

den kiinstlerischen


2Cf.

especially


past glory

seen in

retrospective

vision is

already

established

in the

Odyssey:

cf. 24.58-65.

3Simonides'

lyrical

version

was

outstanding:

see

ps.-Longin.,

De Sublim.

15.7.

30505050505



4/15

CHARLES

SEGAL

HARLES

SEGAL

HARLES

SEGAL

HARLES

SEGAL

HARLES

SEGAL

event as

something beyond

the reach

of

the

lesser

men

whom

we

en-

counter

in the

play.

We feel

at

once

the

discrepancy

between this sud-

den,

terrible flash of radiance from a

past

era and from

beyond

the

grave

and

the

wrangling

of

the meaner

survivors,

which is here

vividly

de-

scribed

(116ff.).4

As in

Iphigeneia

at Aulis

(1071ff.),

the

golden, god-fashioned

ar-

mor

is the touchstone

by

which

we can

measure

the

unheroic

nature of

this fallen world

(109-11).

It evokes both

the

divine

ancestry

and the

near-divinity

of this

greatest

of the heroes. Achilles' armor also

has the

impenetrability

and

permanence

of the heroized warrior.

In the world

of

this

play,

however,

the chief characters

wear

clothing

that can be torn

and have bodies

that

will

suffer

wounds. We shall return

to the motif

of

clothing

later;

let us first

look more

closely

at the

associations

of

gold.

Aside

from this reference

to Achilles'

armor,

gold

in the

play

is

associated

with the

degeneration

of

heroic

values.

Early

in the

play

it

is

combined

with the horror of

the

slaughter

of

Polyxena,

the

gold

of

whose

necklace

will be stained

with the black blood from

her slit throat

(150-53).

The actual

death-scene

repeats

the same combination

of

black blood

and

gold:

Neoptolemus

pours

a libation of

wine

(Xoag,

529)

from an "all-gold goblet" (6zcrag jzayXQvoov, 527f.) and soon after

pours

the terrible

"libation"

(Xo&g,

535)

of "the

girl's

unmixed black

blood"

(tEkav

/

x6or

'g

axQaCLvS

alJta, 536f.).

Of

gold

too

is the sword

with which

he makes

the sacrificial

slash across

her throat

(a&tPiXQvoov

q6oyavov,

543).

The destructive

radiance of

Helen's

beauty,

illumi-

nated

by

the

sun's

golden

light

(635-37),

and the

golden

mirror

that

the

Trojan

women

use

on

the

night

of

Troy's

fall

(925)

may

also

be

included

in these

inversions.

The

gold

of

Troy

is,

of

course,

the

motive of

Poly-

mestor's

treacherous

deed

(10,

27,

713, 775, 994);

and it

then

serves,

appropriately, to bait the trap that brings his punishment and Hecuba's

revenge

(1002,

1009).

As

the discontinuities

in the

motif

of

gold

indicate,

change

here is

radical,

coerced,

and

irrational.

Its most

visible

and

wrenching

effects

are

the

massive

destruction

of individual

and communal

life. Hecuba

herself

becomes

the

exemplar

of

the

mutability

of

fortune,

a

marker to

sailors

amid the seas'

dangers,

but

also,

as even

the Greek

herald

Talthybius compassionately

observes,

a

warning

to

all men

of

the

event as

something beyond

the reach

of

the

lesser

men

whom

we

en-

counter

in the

play.

We feel

at

once

the

discrepancy

between this sud-

den,


past

era and from

beyond

the

grave

and

the

wrangling

of

the meaner

survivors,

which is here

vividly

de-

scribed

(116ff.).4

As in

Iphigeneia

at Aulis

(1071ff.),

the


ar-

mor

is the touchstone

by

which

we can

measure

the

unheroic

nature of

this fallen world

(109-11).

It evokes both

the

divine

ancestry

and the

near-divinity

of this

greatest


has the

impenetrability

and

permanence


In the world

of

this

play,

however,


wear

clothing

that can be torn

and have bodies

that

will

suffer


to the motif

of

clothing

later;

let us first

look more

closely

at the

associations

of

gold.

Aside

from this reference

to Achilles'

armor,

gold

in the

play

is

associated

with the

degeneration

of

heroic

values.

Early

in the

play

it

is

combined

with the horror of

the

slaughter

of

Polyxena,

the

gold

of

whose

necklace

will be stained


her slit throat

(150-53).

The actual

death-scene

repeats


of

black blood

and

gold:

Neoptolemus

pours

a libation of

wine

(Xoag,

529)


pours

the terrible

"libation"

(Xo&g,

535)

of "the

girl's

unmixed black

blood"

(tEkav

/

x6or

'g

axQaCLvS

alJta, 536f.).

Of

gold

too

is the sword

with which

he makes

the sacrificial

slash across

her throat

(a&tPiXQvoov

q6oyavov,

543).

The destructive

radiance of

Helen's

beauty,

illumi-

nated

by

the

sun's

golden

light

(635-37),

and the

golden

mirror

that

the

Trojan

women

use

on

the

night

of

Troy's

fall

(925)

may

also

be

included

in these

inversions.

The

gold

of

Troy

is,

of

course,

the

motive of

Poly-

mestor's

treacherous

deed

(10,

27,

713, 775, 994);

and it

then

serves,


revenge

(1002,

1009).

As

the discontinuities

in the

motif

of

gold

indicate,

change

here is

radical,

coerced,

and

irrational.

Its most

visible

and

wrenching

effects

are

the

massive

destruction

of individual

and communal

life. Hecuba

herself

becomes

the

exemplar

of

the

mutability

of

fortune,

a

marker to

sailors

amid the seas'

dangers,

but

also,

as even

the Greek

herald


observes,

a

warning

to

all men

of

the

event as

something beyond

the reach

of

the

lesser

men

whom

we

en-

counter

in the

play.

We feel

at

once

the

discrepancy

between this sud-

den,


past

era and from

beyond

the

grave

and

the

wrangling

of

the meaner

survivors,

which is here

vividly

de-

scribed

(116ff.).4

As in

Iphigeneia

at Aulis

(1071ff.),

the


ar-

mor

is the touchstone

by

which

we can

measure

the

unheroic

nature of

this fallen world

(109-11).

It evokes both

the

divine

ancestry

and the

near-divinity

of this

greatest


has the

impenetrability

and

permanence


In the world

of

this

play,

however,


wear

clothing

that can be torn

and have bodies

that

will

suffer


to the motif

of

clothing

later;

let us first

look more

closely

at the

associations

of

gold.

Aside

from this reference

to Achilles'

armor,

gold

in the

play

is

associated

with the

degeneration

of

heroic

values.

Early

in the

play

it

is

combined

with the horror of

the

slaughter

of

Polyxena,

the

gold

of

whose

necklace

will be stained


her slit throat

(150-53).

The actual

death-scene

repeats


of

black blood

and

gold:

Neoptolemus

pours

a libation of

wine

(Xoag,

529)


pours

the terrible

"libation"

(Xo&g,

535)

of "the

girl's

unmixed black

blood"

(tEkav

/

x6or

'g

axQaCLvS

alJta, 536f.).

Of

gold

too

is the sword

with which

he makes

the sacrificial

slash across

her throat

(a&tPiXQvoov

q6oyavov,

543).

The destructive

radiance of

Helen's

beauty,

illumi-

nated

by

the

sun's

golden

light

(635-37),

and the

golden

mirror

that

the

Trojan

women

use

on

the

night

of

Troy's

fall

(925)

may

also

be

included

in these

inversions.

The

gold

of

Troy

is,

of

course,

the

motive of

Poly-

mestor's

treacherous

deed

(10,

27,

713, 775, 994);

and it

then

serves,


revenge

(1002,

1009).

As

the discontinuities

in the

motif

of

gold

indicate,

change

here is

radical,

coerced,

and

irrational.

Its most

visible

and

wrenching

effects

are

the

massive

destruction

of individual

and communal

life. Hecuba

herself

becomes

the

exemplar

of

the

mutability

of

fortune,

a

marker to

sailors

amid the seas'

dangers,

but

also,

as even

the Greek

herald


observes,

a

warning

to

all men

of

the

event as

something beyond

the reach

of

the

lesser

men

whom

we

en-

counter

in the

play.

We feel

at

once

the

discrepancy

between this sud-

den,


past

era and from

beyond

the

grave

and

the

wrangling

of

the meaner

survivors,

which is here

vividly

de-

scribed

(116ff.).4

As in

Iphigeneia

at Aulis

(1071ff.),

the


ar-

mor

is the touchstone

by

which

we can

measure

the

unheroic

nature of

this fallen world

(109-11).

It evokes both

the

divine

ancestry

and the

near-divinity

of this

greatest


has the

impenetrability

and

permanence


In the world

of

this

play,

however,


wear

clothing

that can be torn

and have bodies

that

will

suffer


to the motif

of

clothing

later;

let us first

look more

closely

at the

associations

of

gold.

Aside

from this reference

to Achilles'

armor,

gold

in the

play

is

associated

with the

degeneration

of

heroic

values.

Early

in the

play

it

is

combined

with the horror of

the

slaughter

of

Polyxena,

the

gold

of

whose

necklace

will be stained


her slit throat

(150-53).

The actual

death-scene

repeats


of

black blood

and

gold:

Neoptolemus

pours

a libation of

wine

(Xoag,

529)


pours

the terrible

"libation"

(Xo&g,

535)

of "the

girl's

unmixed black

blood"

(tEkav

/

x6or

'g

axQaCLvS

alJta, 536f.).

Of

gold

too

is the sword

with which

he makes

the sacrificial

slash across

her throat

(a&tPiXQvoov

q6oyavov,

543).

The destructive

radiance of

Helen's

beauty,

illumi-

nated

by

the

sun's

golden

light

(635-37),

and the

golden

mirror

that

the

Trojan

women

use

on

the

night

of

Troy's

fall

(925)

may

also

be

included

in these

inversions.

The

gold

of

Troy

is,

of

course,

the

motive of

Poly-

mestor's

treacherous

deed

(10,

27,

713, 775, 994);

and it

then

serves,


revenge

(1002,

1009).

As

the discontinuities

in the

motif

of

gold

indicate,

change

here is

radical,

coerced,

and

irrational.

Its most

visible

and

wrenching

effects

are

the

massive

destruction

of individual

and communal

life. Hecuba

herself

becomes

the

exemplar

of

the

mutability

of

fortune,

a

marker to

sailors

amid the seas'

dangers,

but

also,

as even

the Greek

herald


observes,

a

warning

to

all men

of

the

event as

something beyond

the reach

of

the

lesser

men

whom

we

en-

counter

in the

play.

We feel

at

once

the

discrepancy

between this sud-

den,


past

era and from

beyond

the

grave

and

the

wrangling

of

the meaner

survivors,

which is here

vividly

de-

scribed

(116ff.).4

As in

Iphigeneia

at Aulis

(1071ff.),

the


ar-

mor

is the touchstone

by

which

we can

measure

the

unheroic

nature of

this fallen world

(109-11).

It evokes both

the

divine

ancestry

and the

near-divinity

of this

greatest


has the

impenetrability

and

permanence


In the world

of

this

play,

however,


wear

clothing

that can be torn

and have bodies

that

will

suffer


to the motif

of

clothing

later;

let us first

look more

closely

at the

associations

of

gold.

Aside

from this reference

to Achilles'

armor,

gold

in the

play

is

associated

with the

degeneration

of

heroic

values.

Early

in the

play

it

is

combined

with the horror of

the

slaughter

of

Polyxena,

the

gold

of

whose

necklace

will be stained


her slit throat

(150-53).

The actual

death-scene

repeats


of

black blood

and

gold:

Neoptolemus

pours

a libation of

wine

(Xoag,

529)


pours

the terrible

"libation"

(Xo&g,

535)

of "the

girl's

unmixed black

blood"

(tEkav

/

x6or

'g

axQaCLvS

alJta, 536f.).

Of

gold

too

is the sword

with which

he makes

the sacrificial

slash across

her throat

(a&tPiXQvoov

q6oyavov,

543).

The destructive

radiance of

Helen's

beauty,

illumi-

nated

by

the

sun's

golden

light

(635-37),

and the

golden

mirror

that

the

Trojan

women

use

on

the

night

of

Troy's

fall

(925)

may

also

be

included

in these

inversions.

The

gold

of

Troy

is,

of

course,

the

motive of

Poly-

mestor's

treacherous

deed

(10,

27,

713, 775, 994);

and it

then

serves,


revenge

(1002,

1009).

As

the discontinuities

in the

motif

of

gold

indicate,

change

here is

radical,

coerced,

and

irrational.

Its most

visible

and

wrenching

effects

are

the

massive

destruction

of individual

and communal

life. Hecuba

herself

becomes

the

exemplar

of

the

mutability

of

fortune,

a

marker to

sailors

amid the seas'

dangers,

but

also,

as even

the Greek

herald


observes,

a

warning

to

all men

of

the

40n

the ironical

treatment of Achilles'

heroism see

Katherine

Callen

King,

Achil-

les

(Berkeley

and Los

Angeles

1987) 88ff.,

especially

91-94.

40n

the ironical


heroism see

Katherine

Callen

King,

Achil-

les

(Berkeley

and Los

Angeles

1987) 88ff.,

especially

91-94.

40n

the ironical


heroism see

Katherine

Callen

King,

Achil-

les

(Berkeley

and Los

Angeles

1987) 88ff.,

especially

91-94.

40n

the ironical


heroism see

Katherine

Callen

King,

Achil-

les

(Berkeley

and Los

Angeles

1987) 88ff.,

especially

91-94.

40n

the ironical


heroism see

Katherine

Callen

King,

Achil-

les

(Berkeley

and Los

Angeles

1987) 88ff.,

especially

91-94.

30606060606



5/15

HEROISM

AND

METAMORPHOSIS

IN HECUBA

EROISM

AND

METAMORPHOSIS

IN HECUBA

EROISM

AND

METAMORPHOSIS

IN HECUBA

EROISM

AND

METAMORPHOSIS

IN HECUBA

EROISM

AND

METAMORPHOSIS

IN HECUBA

uncertainty

of

prosperity:

this

queen

of

the

"gold-rich

Phrygians"

(avacooa

TCOv

rokvXQoo(v

oQUycOv)

is now a

homeless,

childless

old

slave-woman

prostrate

on the earth

(491-96).5

In the

prologue

the

shade

of her son

Polydorus places

her

present

misfortunes

under

the

familiar

sign

of

the

ef(jetQ

og,

the

creature

whose life is defined

by

the

vicissitudes

that a

single

day

can

bring.6

These are

the last

words

that

the son

addresses

to his mother in the

prologue

(55-58):

t)

TIlTEQ ITl;

EX

TUQOaVVLX)v 66O6C0V

6olXElOV

lact

Ed&l6,

be

JEQatooTEg

caxCo

OOOVJTEQ

EU JTox'

aTLO(TqXCcLaS

6e

oE

(0t9EL

OE?CG

TV

Tlg

tr(

ia@ot' E0rcJQCaLag.

In the

cycle

of

good

and bad

fortune

or

the

counterbalancing

of

happi-

ness

by

misfortune

(as

Polydorus'

avTLoTYqX)acg

uggests),

Hecuba has

passed

from

happiness

to

becoming

"the most

wretched

of

mortals,"

joXVktovcoT)l

c

3

PQOTCoV,

as the chorus will call

her

later

(720f.).

This

reversibility

of

happiness

is writ

large

in

the

transformation of

Troy

from a

great city

to a

heap

of

smoldering

ashes,

a

change

of which the

play

reminds us

again

and

again.

The motif of

smoke

in

particular

calls

attention to this reduction

of solid

substance to the

ethereal,

evanescent

trace that

survives.7

With the

destruction of their

city,

the

women of

Troy

are

changed,

collectively,

from free

to

slave.

Of the individual

changes,

the harshest

is

Polyxena's

exchange

of the

expected

bed of a

prince

for that of a

slave

(349-66;

cf.

551f.).

Yet

by

her

voluntary

death she will

retain

"always"

the

stability

of her inward

nobility

and

thus

prove

the truth of

her

royal

birth and

nurture.

Such

is

the

constancy

of the

truly

noble

person,

as

5Cf.

also

Hecuba's

own lament at

619-28

and

also her

shame at

appearing

as

a

slave

in

551f. In

Ovid's

version of

the

myth

she is

also

explicitly

the

exemplar

of the

uncertainty

of human

fortunes

(Metamorphoses 13.508-13).

60n the

ephemeros

in

Greek

poetry

see

Hermann

Frankel,

"Man's

'Ephemeros'

Nature

According

to

Pindar and

Others,"

TAPA

77

(1946)

131-45;

also

Antonio

Garzya,

Euripide,

Ecuba

(Rome

1955)

ad

55-58.

Pindar,

01.

2.30ff.

and

Nem.

6.6f.

are

noteworthy

examples.

7For

the

smoking

ruins

see

476-78, 823,

1215. For

the

remnants of

the

destroyed

city see also 11,16f., 619,905-13, 1209-10. For the importance of this non-scenic

space

to

the

play

see

Nicolaos C.

Hourmouziades,

Production and

Imagination

in

Euripides

(Ath-

ens

1965)

121f.

uncertainty

of

prosperity:

this

queen

of

the

"gold-rich

Phrygians"

(avacooa

TCOv

rokvXQoo(v

oQUycOv)

is now a

homeless,

childless

old

slave-woman

prostrate

on the earth

(491-96).5

In the

prologue

the

shade

of her son

Polydorus places

her

present

misfortunes

under

the

familiar

sign

of

the

ef(jetQ

og,

the

creature


by

the

vicissitudes

that a

single

day

can

bring.6

These are

the last

words

that

the son

addresses


prologue

(55-58):

t)

TIlTEQ ITl;

EX

TUQOaVVLX)v 66O6C0V

6olXElOV

lact

Ed&l6,

be

JEQatooTEg

caxCo

OOOVJTEQ

EU JTox'

aTLO(TqXCcLaS

6e

oE

(0t9EL

OE?CG

TV

Tlg

tr(

ia@ot' E0rcJQCaLag.

In the

cycle

of

good

and bad

fortune

or

the

counterbalancing

of

happi-

ness

by

misfortune

(as

Polydorus'

avTLoTYqX)acg

uggests),

Hecuba has

passed

from

happiness

to

becoming

"the most

wretched

of

mortals,"

joXVktovcoT)l

c

3

PQOTCoV,


her

later

(720f.).

This

reversibility

of

happiness

is writ

large

in

the

transformation of

Troy

from a

great city

to a

heap

of

smoldering

ashes,

a

change

of which the

play

reminds us

again

and

again.

The motif of

smoke

in

particular

calls


of solid

substance to the

ethereal,

evanescent

trace that

survives.7

With the


city,

the

women of

Troy

are

changed,

collectively,

from free

to

slave.

Of the individual

changes,

the harshest

is

Polyxena's

exchange

of the

expected

bed of a

prince

for that of a

slave

(349-66;

cf.

551f.).

Yet

by

her

voluntary

death she will

retain

"always"

the

stability

of her inward

nobility

and

thus

prove

the truth of

her

royal

birth and

nurture.

Such

is

the

constancy

of the

truly

noble

person,

as

5Cf.

also

Hecuba's

own lament at

619-28

and

also her

shame at

appearing

as

a

slave

in

551f. In

Ovid's

version of

the

myth

she is

also

explicitly

the

exemplar

of the

uncertainty

of human

fortunes


60n the

ephemeros

in

Greek

poetry

see

Hermann

Frankel,

"Man's

'Ephemeros'

Nature

According

to

Pindar and

Others,"

TAPA

77

(1946)

131-45;

also

Antonio

Garzya,

Euripide,

Ecuba

(Rome

1955)

ad

55-58.

Pindar,

01.

2.30ff.

and

Nem.

6.6f.

are

noteworthy

examples.

7For

the

smoking

ruins

see

476-78, 823,

1215. For

the

remnants of

the

destroyed


space

to

the

play

see

Nicolaos C.

Hourmouziades,

Production and

Imagination

in

Euripides

(Ath-

ens

1965)

121f.

uncertainty

of

prosperity:

this

queen

of

the

"gold-rich

Phrygians"

(avacooa

TCOv

rokvXQoo(v

oQUycOv)

is now a

homeless,

childless

old

slave-woman

prostrate

on the earth

(491-96).5

In the

prologue

the

shade

of her son

Polydorus places

her

present

misfortunes

under

the

familiar

sign

of

the

ef(jetQ

og,

the

creature


by

the

vicissitudes

that a

single

day

can

bring.6

These are

the last

words

that

the son

addresses


prologue

(55-58):

t)

TIlTEQ ITl;

EX

TUQOaVVLX)v 66O6C0V

6olXElOV

lact

Ed&l6,

be

JEQatooTEg

caxCo

OOOVJTEQ

EU JTox'

aTLO(TqXCcLaS

6e

oE

(0t9EL

OE?CG

TV

Tlg

tr(

ia@ot' E0rcJQCaLag.

In the

cycle

of

good

and bad

fortune

or

the

counterbalancing

of

happi-

ness

by

misfortune

(as

Polydorus'

avTLoTYqX)acg

uggests),

Hecuba has

passed

from

happiness

to

becoming

"the most

wretched

of

mortals,"

joXVktovcoT)l

c

3

PQOTCoV,


her

later

(720f.).

This

reversibility

of

happiness

is writ

large

in

the

transformation of

Troy

from a

great city

to a

heap

of

smoldering

ashes,

a

change

of which the

play

reminds us

again

and

again.

The motif of

smoke

in

particular

calls


of solid

substance to the

ethereal,

evanescent

trace that

survives.7

With the


city,

the

women of

Troy

are

changed,

collectively,

from free

to

slave.

Of the individual

changes,

the harshest

is

Polyxena's

exchange

of the

expected

bed of a

prince

for that of a

slave

(349-66;

cf.

551f.).

Yet

by

her

voluntary

death she will

retain

"always"

the

stability

of her inward

nobility

and

thus

prove

the truth of

her

royal

birth and

nurture.

Such

is

the

constancy

of the

truly

noble

person,

as

5Cf.

also

Hecuba's

own lament at

619-28

and

also her

shame at

appearing

as

a

slave

in

551f. In

Ovid's

version of

the

myth

she is

also

explicitly

the

exemplar

of the

uncertainty

of human

fortunes


60n the

ephemeros

in

Greek

poetry

see

Hermann

Frankel,

"Man's

'Ephemeros'

Nature

According

to

Pindar and

Others,"

TAPA

77

(1946)

131-45;

also

Antonio

Garzya,

Euripide,

Ecuba

(Rome

1955)

ad

55-58.

Pindar,

01.

2.30ff.

and

Nem.

6.6f.

are

noteworthy

examples.

7For

the

smoking

ruins

see

476-78, 823,

1215. For

the

remnants of

the

destroyed


space

to

the

play

see

Nicolaos C.

Hourmouziades,

Production and

Imagination

in

Euripides

(Ath-

ens

1965)

121f.

uncertainty

of

prosperity:

this

queen

of

the

"gold-rich

Phrygians"

(avacooa

TCOv

rokvXQoo(v

oQUycOv)

is now a

homeless,

childless

old

slave-woman

prostrate

on the earth

(491-96).5

In the

prologue

the

shade

of her son

Polydorus places

her

present

misfortunes

under

the

familiar

sign

of

the

ef(jetQ

og,

the

creature


by

the

vicissitudes

that a

single

day

can

bring.6

These are

the last

words

that

the son

addresses


prologue

(55-58):

t)

TIlTEQ ITl;

EX

TUQOaVVLX)v 66O6C0V

6olXElOV

lact

Ed&l6,

be

JEQatooTEg

caxCo

OOOVJTEQ

EU JTox'

aTLO(TqXCcLaS

6e

oE

(0t9EL

OE?CG

TV

Tlg

tr(

ia@ot' E0rcJQCaLag.

In the

cycle

of

good

and bad

fortune

or

the

counterbalancing

of

happi-

ness

by

misfortune

(as

Polydorus'

avTLoTYqX)acg

uggests),

Hecuba has

passed

from

happiness

to

becoming

"the most

wretched

of

mortals,"

joXVktovcoT)l

c

3

PQOTCoV,


her

later

(720f.).

This

reversibility

of

happiness

is writ

large

in

the

transformation of

Troy

from a

great city

to a

heap

of

smoldering

ashes,

a

change

of which the

play

reminds us

again

and

again.

The motif of

smoke

in

particular

calls


of solid

substance to the

ethereal,

evanescent

trace that

survives.7

With the


city,

the

women of

Troy

are

changed,

collectively,

from free

to

slave.

Of the individual

changes,

the harshest

is

Polyxena's

exchange

of the

expected

bed of a

prince

for that of a

slave

(349-66;

cf.

551f.).

Yet

by

her

voluntary

death she will

retain

"always"

the

stability

of her inward

nobility

and

thus

prove

the truth of

her

royal

birth and

nurture.

Such

is

the

constancy

of the

truly

noble

person,

as

5Cf.

also

Hecuba's

own lament at

619-28

and

also her

shame at

appearing

as

a

slave

in

551f. In

Ovid's

version of

the

myth

she is

also

explicitly

the

exemplar

of the

uncertainty

of human

fortunes


60n the

ephemeros

in

Greek

poetry

see

Hermann

Frankel,

"Man's

'Ephemeros'

Nature

According

to

Pindar and

Others,"

TAPA

77

(1946)

131-45;

also

Antonio

Garzya,

Euripide,

Ecuba

(Rome

1955)

ad

55-58.

Pindar,

01.

2.30ff.

and

Nem.

6.6f.

are

noteworthy

examples.

7For

the

smoking

ruins

see

476-78, 823,

1215. For

the

remnants of

the

destroyed


space

to

the

play

see

Nicolaos C.

Hourmouziades,

Production and

Imagination

in

Euripides

(Ath-

ens

1965)

121f.

uncertainty

of

prosperity:

this

queen

of

the

"gold-rich

Phrygians"

(avacooa

TCOv

rokvXQoo(v

oQUycOv)

is now a

homeless,

childless

old

slave-woman

prostrate

on the earth

(491-96).5

In the

prologue

the

shade

of her son

Polydorus places

her

present

misfortunes

under

the

familiar

sign

of

the

ef(jetQ

og,

the

creature


by

the

vicissitudes

that a

single

day

can

bring.6

These are

the last

words

that

the son

addresses


prologue

(55-58):

t)

TIlTEQ ITl;

EX

TUQOaVVLX)v 66O6C0V

6olXElOV

lact

Ed&l6,

be

JEQatooTEg

caxCo

OOOVJTEQ

EU JTox'

aTLO(TqXCcLaS

6e

oE

(0t9EL

OE?CG

TV

Tlg

tr(

ia@ot' E0rcJQCaLag.

In the

cycle

of

good

and bad

fortune

or

the

counterbalancing

of

happi-

ness

by

misfortune

(as

Polydorus'

avTLoTYqX)acg

uggests),

Hecuba has

passed

from

happiness

to

becoming

"the most

wretched

of

mortals,"

joXVktovcoT)l

c

3

PQOTCoV,


her

later

(720f.).

This

reversibility

of

happiness

is writ

large

in

the

transformation of

Troy

from a

great city

to a

heap

of

smoldering

ashes,

a

change

of which the

play

reminds us

again

and

again.

The motif of

smoke

in

particular

calls


of solid

substance to the

ethereal,

evanescent

trace that

survives.7

With the


city,

the

women of

Troy

are

changed,

collectively,

from free

to

slave.

Of the individual

changes,

the harshest

is

Polyxena's

exchange

of the

expected

bed of a

prince

for that of a

slave

(349-66;

cf.

551f.).

Yet

by

her

voluntary

death she will

retain

"always"

the

stability

of her inward

nobility

and

thus

prove

the truth of

her

royal

birth and

nurture.

Such

is

the

constancy

of the

truly

noble

person,

as

5Cf.

also

Hecuba's

own lament at

619-28

and

also her

shame at

appearing

as

a

slave

in

551f. In

Ovid's

version of

the

myth

she is

also

explicitly

the

exemplar

of the

uncertainty

of human

fortunes


60n the

ephemeros

in

Greek

poetry

see

Hermann

Frankel,

"Man's

'Ephemeros'

Nature

According

to

Pindar and

Others,"

TAPA

77

(1946)

131-45;

also

Antonio

Garzya,

Euripide,

Ecuba

(Rome

1955)

ad

55-58.

Pindar,

01.

2.30ff.

and

Nem.

6.6f.

are

noteworthy

examples.

7For

the

smoking

ruins

see

476-78, 823,

1215. For

the

remnants of

the

destroyed


space

to

the

play

see

Nicolaos C.

Hourmouziades,

Production and

Imagination

in

Euripides

(Ath-

ens

1965)

121f.

30707070707



6/15

CHARLES SEGALHARLES SEGALHARLES SEGALHARLES SEGALHARLES SEGAL

Hecuba

says

in her

eulogy

over her

(592-602):

oi6e

ov4u

oQ@g

rTo /

('U6ov

tle()e0?Q',

akkta

xerlo'6;

EO'

aEl

(597f.;

cf.

58;

also

579-82).8

Just

this resistance

to

change through fidelity

to an

innate

nobility

of nature is

the foil

to the

change

that we

see

taking place

in

Hecuba,

as

she

moves from maternal tenderness to fearful

vengefulness.9

Yet the

contrast

between

mother and

daughter,

change

and

fixity, may

enhance

rather than

mitigate

the sense of

degeneration.

As

Polyxena

herself

says,

death

is

perhaps

the easier fate

(349ff.).

The

price

of

staying

alive

is brutalization.

As Kenneth Reckford

observes,

"Hecuba's own

fate

illustrates

exactly

what

she

denies

for

Polyxena:

namely

the

power

of

time and

chance

to alter

the

nobility

of the

soul."'0

This

inner,

spiritual change

in

Hecuba has

its

objective

correlative

in

the

external,

physical

change

that

Polymestor

prophesies

in

the

clos-

ing

scene: she will become a

bitch with

fiery eyes

and

then will be

fixed

in

the sea as

a

marker for

sailors

(1265-73).l

Hecuba herself

calls this

fate "a

transformation

of

(her)

shape,"

[oQ(if;g

Trg

?tCfl5g

ETcGoTao

V

(1266);

and a few

lines later

she stresses

its

magical

nature,

using

the

striking

phrase,

?o@)fSig

?jrTCp66v

. .

Trig

Eldig

(1272).

The

word

ETcc-

otcaogl

here is

relatively

rare in

tragedy.

It

occurs

only

five

times in the

80n

the

stability

of noble

nature

in

Polyxena

and its

importance

in

the

play

see,

inter

alia,

Martha C.

Nussbaum,

The

Fragility of

Goodness

(Cambridge

1986)

399f.,

405ff.;

also Kenneth J.

Reckford,

"Concepts

of Demoralization

in

the

Hecuba,"

in Directions

in

Euripidean

Criticism:A

Collection

of

Essays,

ed. P. Burian

(Durham,

N.C.

1985)

115ff.;

Ann

N.

Michelini,

Euripides

and the

Tragic

Tradition

(Madison,

Wisc.

1987)

135ff.

We

should

not,

however,

allow

Polyxena's

heroism to obscure

the

horror

and

degradation

of

her

death. On the

ambiguity

of this kind of female

tragic

heroism see Nicole

Loraux,

Faqons

tragiques

de tuer

une

femme

(Paris

1985)

31ff.,

55ff.,

81f.

9The

change

within Hecuba

has been a

major

focus of

interpretation.

See,

for

instance, Pohlenz (note 1above) 281; G. M. Kirkwood, "Hecuba and Nomos," TAPA78

(1947) 61ff.;

G.

M. A.

Grube,

The

Drama

segal golden armor and servile robes. heroism and metamorphosis in the hecuba of euripides

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