Polyxena

emphasises visual elements such as blood, death and fire. In traditional Roman literary descriptions of warfare, extending pity or clemency towards the defeated was seen as virtuous, but this is subverted by Achilles’ ruthless actions (Hope, V.M. 2007). This subversion of traditional expectations is continued through a simile where he is likened to a reaper cutting down Trojans without mercy. The simile is used to characterise Achilles as simply doing his duty without sympathy or pity, as he kills Trojans as though ‘beneath the burning sun’ which implies his ruthlessness and destructive power. The overall characterisation of Achilles demonstrates how virtus should not be idealised, as it can lead to immense death and –in regards to the death of Polyxena- how competing qualities of amores and virtus are idealised at the expense of…

to bargain for the return of Hector's body. Hecuba has also summoned Iason and Polyxena to accompany the king during the meeting. Iason is there to unload the chests from the wagon, and Polyxena is there to keep an eye on the king. When they get to the greek camp Iason unloads the wagon while Polyxena waits outside Achilles’ tent. While there the wagon driver sits down next to her and starts to tell her everything going on in the tent. Polyxena asks him how he knows all this. He tells her he is…

In the tragedy Hecuba, the Trojan queen becomes a slave to the Greeks after the fall of Troy. Her daughter, Polyxena becomes a sacrifice to the Greek warrior, Achilles. Exacerbating her grief, she discovers that her son, Polydorus, is murdered. Hecuba avenges her son’s death, redeeming herself as a mother. Similarly, in the comedy Lysistrata, Lysistrata cultivates her feminine power to organizes a sex strike to stop the civil war between Sparta and Athens. Hecuba’s vengeance and Lysistrata’s…

On the other hand, Hecuba breaks the traditional ideal of noble women like Penelope and Polyxena, and…

She even announces, “Now that I am a slave, I am infatuated with death,” suggesting that prior to Odysseus’ arrival to collect her, she had already been thinking about the bleakness of her future and the prospect of death as a way out (Hecuba Page 12 Lines 357-358). By abiding by the terms set for her sacrifice, Polyxena takes control of herself and any impulses of anger she could have felt towards the Greeks for wanting to sacrifice her. In the space between her impulse and her capacity for…

their present circumstances.” - Thucydides In the wake of the great chaos of war and the tragic loss of humanity, those who are left behind are often angry and hopeless, craving closure. These feelings of anger and hopelessness, sometimes even propell those who remain, to lose their own humanity in return. Euripides’ Hecuba details the aftermath of the Trojan war, a conflict that emerged from the gods’ need for judgement and the noble Menelaus’ need for retribution. This play centers on two…

In this report you will learn all about Achilles and why one mistake, ultimately costed him his life. You will also learn how he befriends his friend Patroclus, how he killed many men, became invincible and so much more, this is the life of Achilles. To begin with, Achilles was born on the island of Phthia, his parents are King Peleus of Phthia and the minor sea goddess Thetis (who was a sea nymph). Achilles was regarded as the most handsome warrior in the Trojan War, he was also the tallest…

Hecuba’s youngest daughter, Polyxena. Upon first hearing the news, Polyxena shouts, “Such outrage and woe abound,” demonstrating her initial anger and shock that she is to be the victim of the sacrifice (Hecuba Page 7 Lines 198-199). Quickly, however, she works through her anger and decides she is more willing to be sacrificed to the gods than to be taken as a prisoner and a slave for the rest of her life, saying “I’ll follow you to Achilles’ tomb, both out of necessity and because I wish to...I…

Hector, Hectors parents became furious and wanted to punish Achilles for his wrongdoing. While most of the Greeks looked up to him as a role model and a hero, there were still a few haters who despised him and wanted to see him dead. When Peleus received an oracle that his son would die fighting at Troy, he sent him to the court of Lycomedes on Scyros, where he was dressed as a girl and kept among the king's daughters, so he wouldn’t be taken and put in the war (Greekmythology.com). Like stated…

(Waterfield 2011). Also, Poseidon commanded the sea to flood farm land and sent a beast to devastate the remaining land because Laomedon failed to repay him for building the walls of Troy. Laomedon consulted an oracle and was told he had to sacrifice Hesione, his daughter. The common theme in these examples is the fact that each one of these men have to sacrifice their daughter to the god to receive retribution for the land and their people. Many myths mention someone sacrificing a family member…