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Trojan Women Essay

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Despite the fact that Hecuba, Andromache, and Cassandra are the main characters of the storyline, the chorus also plays an integral role in the dramatic action of Trojan Women. Ultimately, all of the women will suffer the same fate. The Trojan women in the chorus realize this as Hecuba, Andromache, and Cassandra learn of their own from Talbyathas. The Chorus illustrates their realization in lines 684-685 in response to Andromache’s speech of losing Hector, “You suffer what I suffer. Telling your troubles, you teach me to know my own, how deep they are.” The Chorus also focuses on the thoughts and opinion of the captive Trojan women. The chorus alludes to the desertion of the gods in line 859 as they say, “But the gods who loved Troy once love …show more content…

After Helen makes her appeal of innocence to Menelaus, the chorus responds “My queen, protect your children and your homeland from the insidious bewitchment of her words - It’s terrible how well the guilty one can speak” (lines 967-969). This not only captures and illustrates the response to Helen’s speech of the other women in the camp, but also provides a smooth transition to Hecuba’s response. Furthermore, immediately after Hecuba’s response, they actively echo Hecuba’s advice to give Helen justice, and that Menelaus would earn their respect by doing so (lines 1025-1030). Although the Trojan women have nothing left, they can still find some closure and reconciliation knowing that the woman responsible for their pain has paid the price and justice has been served. Shortly after the Helen episode, the Trojan women bitterly express their feelings of betrayal from Zeus in an ode, mourn for their unburied husbands, and pray that Zeus destroys Menelaus’ ship on the voyage back to Greece (lines 1055-1114). The Chorus then informs the audience that Astyanax is dead, thrown from the Trojan walls like a discus which segues into the shield of Achilles (lines

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