- 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