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sif's review against another edition
challenging
dark
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
livvywivvy's review against another edition
2.0
Not the worst Greek play i've ever read but certaintly not the best, and i know this may not be a popular opinion but Helen is a bitch - the Trojan war would have never even started if she wasnt selfish in deciding to run away with Paris
sapphichaos's review against another edition
dark
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
stgpetrovic's review against another edition
5.0
It is simultaneously amazing and depressing that war and its consequences have not changed in 2500 years. It is also sad that this book remains topical.
It takes some effort to get into the mood of the epic but then i flows beautifully.
It takes some effort to get into the mood of the epic but then i flows beautifully.
polijus1's review against another edition
4.0
“No life, no light is any kind of death, since death is nothing, and in life the hopes live still.”
This play by Euripides is one of the play that evokes your emotion. The Trojan Women— left by the ruins of the 10 years long Trojan War was set in trial for their lives. No men of Troy was spared, even the still baby Astyanax. The women of Troy laments their fates, first, Hecuba who is to be given to Odysseus, and then her daughter, Cassandra who Agamemnon picks, as she reveals the oncoming disaster that will happen to the Greeks. Andromache, Hector’s widow, sadly have to give up her son to the hands of the Greeks. And then there’s Helen— who pleads with her life that the events that lead to the war was not of her doing, but rather a will that the Goddess Aphrodite has made, and she cannot escape. For me, I love how Hecuba denies Helen of her plead, she later saying that Helen came to Troy on her own and not by Aphrodite’s will. Hecuba’s statement as the Greeks set fire upon Troy is chilling and beautiful. Truly one of the most memorable Greek plays.
This play by Euripides is one of the play that evokes your emotion. The Trojan Women— left by the ruins of the 10 years long Trojan War was set in trial for their lives. No men of Troy was spared, even the still baby Astyanax. The women of Troy laments their fates, first, Hecuba who is to be given to Odysseus, and then her daughter, Cassandra who Agamemnon picks, as she reveals the oncoming disaster that will happen to the Greeks. Andromache, Hector’s widow, sadly have to give up her son to the hands of the Greeks. And then there’s Helen— who pleads with her life that the events that lead to the war was not of her doing, but rather a will that the Goddess Aphrodite has made, and she cannot escape. For me, I love how Hecuba denies Helen of her plead, she later saying that Helen came to Troy on her own and not by Aphrodite’s will. Hecuba’s statement as the Greeks set fire upon Troy is chilling and beautiful. Truly one of the most memorable Greek plays.
_kaylinconn's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
3.5
Much less plot than I was expecting. It was my first Greek play, so it’s entirely possible they’re all like this and I don’t know.
I appreciate the attempt to tell the women’s story, and it captured the grief and tragedy they were facing during this time period. Though it felt that there was nothing they were doing with those emotions aside from expressing them, while perhaps has their own power.
This line was such an interesting idea to me:
“What fools these mortals are, to sack a city / with shrines and holy tombs of the departed. / leaving ruin, they are lost themselves.”
While Poseidon is referring to actual ruin, as they’re plotting to basically kill them, when it comes to the psychological effects of harming others, it’s very advanced. The Greeks were both very advanced and very behind in different ways, and I think when there’s a play that shows some of the most backwards ways of life (slavery, sexism, rape, war crimes), having that line of clarity and advancement is a breath of fresh air. And it gives a strange feeling of justice to the horrors being committed to our main characters.
This line was beautiful too:
“Child, death isn’t the same as seeing the light. / Death means nothing; where there’s life, there’s hope.”
Hecuba, who says this, has just had multiple children murdered. Children who instigated this entire war, children who were raped and tortured, children who were brutalized, and yet she still finds a hope in living. It’s remarkable.
But the quote a few lines later from her daughter in law is also beautiful:
“Death is better, far, than painful life. / Their pains are gone, the dead feel no more pain.”
It’s depressing yet uplifting, and ultimately true that the dead feel nothing. It’s a sad sort of consolation for those they lost.
All in all, I enjoyed this play. It had some beautiful lines and concepts, even if nothing truly happened
I appreciate the attempt to tell the women’s story, and it captured the grief and tragedy they were facing during this time period. Though it felt that there was nothing they were doing with those emotions aside from expressing them, while perhaps has their own power.
This line was such an interesting idea to me:
“What fools these mortals are, to sack a city / with shrines and holy tombs of the departed. / leaving ruin, they are lost themselves.”
While Poseidon is referring to actual ruin, as they’re plotting to basically kill them, when it comes to the psychological effects of harming others, it’s very advanced. The Greeks were both very advanced and very behind in different ways, and I think when there’s a play that shows some of the most backwards ways of life (slavery, sexism, rape, war crimes), having that line of clarity and advancement is a breath of fresh air. And it gives a strange feeling of justice to the horrors being committed to our main characters.
This line was beautiful too:
“Child, death isn’t the same as seeing the light. / Death means nothing; where there’s life, there’s hope.”
Hecuba, who says this, has just had multiple children murdered. Children who instigated this entire war, children who were raped and tortured, children who were brutalized, and yet she still finds a hope in living. It’s remarkable.
But the quote a few lines later from her daughter in law is also beautiful:
“Death is better, far, than painful life. / Their pains are gone, the dead feel no more pain.”
It’s depressing yet uplifting, and ultimately true that the dead feel nothing. It’s a sad sort of consolation for those they lost.
All in all, I enjoyed this play. It had some beautiful lines and concepts, even if nothing truly happened
helgamharb's review against another edition
4.0
The city of Troy has been sacked and husbands and sons have been killed or captured as slaves. But what about the women of Troy? What becomes of them? What fate awaits them?