_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.
+- 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?
+> Euripides’ The Women of Troy shows the cost of war is widespread – for both the victors and the defeated. Do you agree?
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+**Plan**
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- Astyanax - loss of peace/innocence, hope for Troy
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- 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
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+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.
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+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.
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+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.
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+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.
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+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.