- - _“The lucky ones are dead”_
- - _“I won’t sleep on a royal mattress anymore”_
-- - _"an old woman fallen flat on her face"_321`
+- - _"an old woman fallen flat on her face"_
- Astyanax, acting as a symbol for innocence and peace, represents the deep hole that is left when these characteristics are absent from society, expressed by Hector and Andromache's responses.
- - _"She’s happier dead than I am living"_
+### Essay
+The play _Women of Troy_ presents many characters who suffer from grief and loss - most significantly, Hecuba, Andromache, and Cassandra. These characters highlight great contrasts in the way that individuals may respond to emotional hardship. This allows Euripides to show that personal losses are undeniably horrible events, but it is the individual's response to it that determines the outcome.
+The sadness and exhaustion of Hecuba represents how one's courage and hope may be enforced by these experiences. Hecuba is the only character in the play who is constantly persistent and hopeful. Even in the worst of times, as the women are "butchered like an animal" by the Greeks, she is able to "lift up [her] head from the dust", pained but accepting that she must push on for herself and for those around her. This spirit is persistent through the play - Hecuba is seemingly the most tired and depressed of the group, but she still manages to fight through the hardships. Her hope seems to dwindle in the final scene of the play, after witnessing the young, innocent body of Astyanax. She is near hopelessness and laments that "she has taken your life, and utterly destroyed your family". However, she is still able to unite the women of Troy and uses her community as an positive outlet for her grief. Thus, the character of Hecuba is an example of how grief and loss causes one to become withered and exhausted, whilst also motivating persistence and courage.
+
+Andromache has a similar reaction to the grief she experiences, but also longs for comfort and protection from others around her. She echoes much of the grieving heard from Hecuba, as the pair takes turns: "What grieving is like mine?" "My suffering". However, Andromache poses an additional element to this expression. Since she is younger, she has not had the "howl of agony" instilled in her so deeply, relying more on the validation and comfort from her family. Andromache desperately calls for late Hector to "protect me now, as you've always done", and almost gives up when she says "No, no more... I can't bear it". She then relies on the validation and affirmation of Hecuba, saying "Dear Mother, listen". In this example, it is clear that Andromache deals with her sorrow by commiserating with those around her, but ultimately this strengthens her in the same way as Hecuba.
+
+Cassandra responds to grief in an unusual way: more passively than Hecuba, but with revenge and whole-hearted irrationality. After she is raped by Ajax, her father Priam murdered, and her hometown of Troy invaded, readers expect her to be mournful, but her "half-crazed state" causes quite the opposite. Cassandra simply wants revenge, as she states that Odysseus will "be shipwrecked more than once" and that Agamemnon "will find [her] more destructive as a wife than ever Helen was!". This shows how Cassandra, regardless of her inherent irrationality, responds to these events with further rash and violent decisions. One factor which may contribute to Cassandra's response is her ability to prophesy - she knows that her enslavement is inevitable, so she accepts it instead of preventing it, and plans subsequent revenge on Agamemnon and Odysseus. This is a great contrast to the reflective state that Hecuba and others adopt, but Euripides presents it as another impact of grief.
+
+_Women of Troy_ shows three distinct impacts of grief: increased persistence, reliance on others, and revenge. Euripides contrasts how these are displayed by different characters, and the prior personality traits that contribute to one's response to trauma. However, it is clear that trauma may be horrendous and perpetual regardless of the situation, and the benefits are never worth the pain.
+
+- Cassandra's revengeful spirit is shown when she commits to be "more destructive a wife than ever Helen was", referring to her desire to get revenge on Agamemnon
+
+
+> Euripides’ The Women of Troy shows the cost of war is widespread – for both the victors and the defeated. Do you agree?
+
+(700 words)
+
+**Plan**
+
+- Astyanax - loss of peace/innocence, hope for Troy
+- graphic/violent passages
+- Talthybius - sacrifice of morality/humanity for victory
+- - “I took the opportunity to wash the body…” (Astyanax)
+- detriment of city Troy, even those not directly involved
+- localised detriment - Hecuba, chorus
+
+In *The Women of Troy*, the universal pain and detriment of war is frequently exemplified. This is shown through the experiences of Talthybius, Hecuba, and Cassandra. Despite these characters approaching the time of war from different backgrounds, they are all worse off for the violence and grief of the Trojan War, regardless of their respective victory or loss.
+
+Hecuba prominenty displays pain and sorrow in the play, acting as an intimate representation of the "wretched women of Troy". More broadly, Hecuba, a fairly "normal" citizen of Troy, symbolises the society of the city and the widespread grief they experienced as a result of Menelaus' actions. She laments that "the lucky ones are dead", referring to her desire to give up due to the inescapable conflict around her. This emphasises how the effects of the Trojan War are not localised - they permeate the city, "mother of us all", turning it into an "image of death". As a result, Euripides uses the character of Hecuba to personify Troy and represent the indiscriminating effect of war on its society.
+
+Conflict results in the sacrifice of civillians, an unnecessary and gruesome atrocity. This is shown primarily through Astyanax and the loss of innocence, hope, and peace that his death represents. After the graphic depiction of Astyanax being "butchered like an animal", the remaining inhabitants of Troy feel a sense of loss of their future, as the young boy was their last hope for revenge. Clearly his murder was unnecessary and caused severe grief and sorrow for Hecuba and others, expressed by the attack on Talthybius that he was "so frightened of a child [he] had to invent this unheard of savagery". The disgust and shock of the women is further exemplified when they mounr "what a wretched, meaningless death has been meted out to you". Further, despite Astyanax's potential to help "sad Troy" as he grows up, he does not pose an immediate threat to the Greeks. However, they still choose to murder him out of greed and pleasure, a tendency which has been ingrained in them due to their continued success. This is shown by Euripides as one of the greatest sources of detriment in a time of war - the needless and senseless killing of civillians by those in power.
+
+Despite the horrendous effects on the citizens of Troy, the Greek invaders are also affected to some extent by their success. This is not as obvious in the play, but the character of Talthybius consistently shows the regret and detriment of the Greeks after each advancement on their opponent. Showing some remorse for the actions of the society to which he belongs, Talthybius particularly struggles bringing bad news to the members of Troy. Relaying terrible events to those directly affected by them, he struggles to not "degrade the decency of speech" in his messages. However, there are several times at which he regrets "there is no decent way to say an indecent thing". After Astyanax is killed, he "took the opportunity to wash the body", even admitting "I'm not half hard enough". These statements show a glimpse of the more sensitive, sympathetic side of the officer, which is brought out by the remorse for the atrocities of war. This regret and guilt felt by Talthybius is implicitly echoed by other members of the Greek army, since the ubiquity of Talthybius acts as a proxy for the other soldiers. Regret and guilt are posed as negative outcomes of the Trojan war, thus showing the effect of conflict even on those who win it.
+
+Euripides extensively explores the effects of war on individuals and societies, and this results in a clear mesage for readers: war is undesirable and unnecessary irrespective of one's position. The universal pain felt by characters during the Trojan war is an explicit and extreme case which the play urges societies to take heed of and prevent.
+
+> How does Euripides explore the impact that grief has on people and the various reactions?
+
+1. Hecuba - represents women. Grief brings out her perseverence and hope.
+2. Cassandra -
+3. Andromache - mournful (husband, Astyanax)
+4. Chorus - suffering
+
+Euripides shows how grief may bring out further perseverence and hope in individuals in response to horriffic events. This is evident through Hecuba's continued persistence through the "country of forgotten shadows", as she experiences tragedy after tragedy and is "stabed to the brain" by the Greeks.
+
+Grief can also cause horrendous and perpetual suffering for those who experience it. This is
+
+> How does Euripides condemn war?
+
+- violence against women
+- men == bad ????
+- war impacts everyone (incl. women & children)
+- everyone loses
+- graphic imagery (e.g. Astyanax)
+- war challenges morality
+
+The treatment of women is used in *Women of Troy* in order to condemn war.
+
+> How does Euripides explore the power of women?
+
+- powerlessness of women
+- use of sexuality (Helen)
+- rejection of stereotypical roles (Cassandra)
+- leadership to instill hope in others
+
+
+> How does Euripides explore the role of the gods in *The Women of Troy*?
+
+- introduction with Poseidon/Athene
+- - immense power over people
+- Ajax rapes Cassandra
+- - irrational?
+- motivation for war
+- - war is a human concept
+
+**Description of gods**
+
+- manipulative
+- fickle
+- coldhearted, ruthless
+- egotistical
+- demanding worship and respect
+- cavalier
+
+Euripides portrays the gods as manipulative and coldhearted, showing humans' tendency to submit to omnipotent powers. The beginning of the play emphasises how Poseidon and Athene care about little more than their own interests - "there's no longer anything left worth a god's consideration". Despite being dismissive and ignorant of their people, the gods also make their force clear by scheming to "make the Greeks' return home a disaster". This introduces the gods as always watching but unpredictable, giving readers a sense of fear and caution. After setting up this characterisation, Euripides frequently references them as "taking what's theirs", emphasising that "the gods hate Troy". Thus, the persistent and looming presence of the gods adds an element of fear to the play and expresses them in a dominant and powerful light.
+
+> "All our sacrifices, all our offerings, have been quite worthless, a waste of time". Consider the role of the gods in Euripides' *Women of Troy*.
+
+- gods are discriminatory/corrupt/voltaile
+- gods' ignorance is detrimental to Trojans
+- Athene - submits to Poseidon
+
+> In Euripides' *The Women of Troy*, the women are all passive victims
+
+Victims of hardship are typically cautious to fight back and hence are passive to further suffering. However, Euripides emphasises how this is not necessarily true, and exemplifies this through the responses of some of the women. There is a great contrast in the responseses to the d...
+
+### Paragraphs
+
+1. Women have no choice, they are passive by force
+2. They appear passive to outsiders but their rebellion within each other motivates them
+2. Hecuba is not passive
+3. Cassandra is not passive
+
+Hardship and opression inevitably forces individuals into a corner of helplessness and lament, and this is a prominent theme in Euripides' *Women of Troy*. However, despite the grief and loss that the women experience, they express a subtle element of rebellion and rejection of their inhumane treatment. As the women are gruesomely tortured by the Greeks, they have little room to object to their abuse, but Euripides emphasises how they do everything in their power to rebel against it. As a result, the play shows how those who are opressed by inhumane treatment are not necessarily forced into passivism, and that rebellion and activism always has some benefit to the individuals.
+
+The characters in *Women of Troy* are
+
+> Euripides' *Women of Troy* is not only an innovative perspective on the aftermath of the Trojan War, but also a portrayal of the barbaric actions of the Greeks towards the women and children the subjugated in the defeat of Troy. Discuss.
+
+1. Aftermath of war
+2. Barbaric actions of greeks
+
+### Women
+- what happened to them
+- imagery (violent, vivid) - depicts the women as lamenting. Loss of life, uncertain future, devestation
+
+### Innovative perspective
+
+- strength of the women of Troy
+- condemning of Greeks
+- Condemning war
+- actions have consequences.
+- focus on the victims
+- direct reaction to Melos
+- women aren't always passive victims
+
+### Greeks
+
+- journey back to Athens
+- Gods impact on the trip
+- loss of life
+- loss of courage
+- loss of humanity
+
+"After so many sorrows, and in such despair, words mean nothing". Sadness, agony and lament are feelings well-known by the characters in *The Women o Troy*, and by the end of the play, it is evident that the suffering and unfairness that is instigated in wartime is never worthwhile. As Euripides reasons with readers in regard to this sentiment, he presents an novel and innovative opinion on the aftermath of the Trojan War, and more generally, of mass conflict. This reflection focuses largely on the detriment of the Trojan women themselves, with the females dominating the storytelling in the play. This is another way in which Euripides expresses a new and potentially rebellious perspective - that women are unfairly treated, but have the power to rise up together and be more active in their denial of abuse.
+
+Vivid imagery of the Trojans being "butchered like an animal" introduces the painfully realistic theme of violence in times of war. Euripides rejects the idea of women and children being tortured or killed for pleasure, which is exemplified when Astyanax is needlessly killed by the Greeks. This scene brutally depicts the suffering caused for Astyanax, but more perpetually for the women, particularly Hecuba and Andromache. As "the blood [is] still oozing from the broken bones", Hecuba regrets "what a wretched, meaningless death" that Astyanax unnecessarily suffered. The play makes it clear that his death was callous and unnecessary, pointing out that the Greeks were "so frightened of a child". This flippant behaviour is harshly condemned by Euripides through the women's reaction - of all the violence in the play, the death of Astyanax causes the most emotional grief. As a result, after this event, readers begin to realise that Astyanax was a symbol of hope for the Trojans - the only male left who had the potential to turn the tables on the Greeks. Thus, an epiphany is forced upon readers, namely that despite having little status at the time, women and children may give hope and motivation to the society around them. Such a progressive and innovative concept was unheard of at the time, but Euripides' depiction of violence and its subsequent tragedy enables him to weave this message into the play.