Andromache (play)
Andromache | |
---|---|
Written by | Euripides |
Chorus | Women of Phthia |
Characters | Andromache Maid Hermione Menelaus Molossus Peleus Nurse of Hermione Orestes Messenger Thetis |
Original language | Ancient Greek |
Subject | Andromache's life as a slave |
Genre | Athenian tragedy |
Setting | Phthia in Thessaly (northern Greece) before the temple of Thetis. |
Andromache (
Background
During the Trojan War, Achilles killed Andromache's husband Hector. Homer describes Andromache's lament, after Hector's death, that their young son Astyanax will suffer poverty growing up without a father. Instead, the conquering Greeks threw Astyanax to his death from the Trojan walls, for fear that he would grow up to avenge his father and city. Andromache was made a slave of Achilles' son Neoptolemus.
Years pass and Andromache has a child with Neoptolemus. Neoptolemus weds
Plot synopsis
Clinging to the
A Maid arrives to warn her that Menelaus knows the location of her son and is on his way to capture him. Andromache persuades her to risk seeking the help of the king, Peleus (husband of Thetis, Achilles' father, and Neoptolemos' grandfather). Andromache laments her misfortunes again and weeps at the feet of the statue of Thetis. The párodos of the chorus follows, in which they express their desire to help Andromache and try to persuade her to leave the sanctuary. Just at the moment that they express their fearfulness of discovery by Hermione, she arrives, boasting of her wealth, status, and liberty.
Hermione engages in an extended
When Menelaus arrives and reveals that he has found her son, Andromache allows herself to be led away. The intervention of the aged Peleus (the grandfather of Neoptolemus) saves them. Orestes, who has contrived the murder of Neoptolemus at Delphi and who arrives unexpectedly, carries off Hermione, to whom he had been betrothed before Neoptolemus had claimed her. The murder of Neoptolemus by Orestes and men of Delphi is described in detail by the Messenger to Peleus. The goddess Thetis appears as a deus ex machina and divines the future for Neoptolemus' corpse, Peleus, Andromache and Molossus.
Context
The odious character which Euripides attributes to Menelaus has been seen as according with the feeling against Sparta that prevailed at the time at Athens.[4] He is portrayed as an arrogant tyrant and a physical coward, and his daughter Hermione is portrayed as excessively concerned with her husband's faithfulness, and capable of plotting to kill an innocent child (of Andromache) in order to clear the household of rival sons for the throne; she is also portrayed as wealthy, with her own money, and this is said by some of the characters (notably Andromache and Peleus) to make her high-handed. Peleus curses Sparta several times during the play.
Translations
- Edward P. Coleridge, 1891 – prose, full text at "Andromache". The Internet Classics Archive. 1994. Retrieved 28 November 2013.
- Gilbert Murray, 1901 – prose, 1912 verse
- Arthur S. Way, 1912 – verse
- Moses Hadas and John McLean, 1936 - prose
- Hugh O. Meredith, 1937 – verse
- Van L. Johnson, 1955 – prose
- John Frederick Nims, 1956 – verse: available for digital loan
- David Kovacs, 1987 – prose, full text at "Andromache". Perseus Digital Library. 1994. Retrieved 28 November 2013.
- James Morwood, 1997 – prose
- Robert Cannon, 1997 – verse
- Susan Stewart and Wesley D. Smith, 2001 - verse
- George Theodoridis, 2001 – prose, full text at "Andromache". Bacchicstage – The Ancient Greek Stage. 2001. Retrieved 28 November 2013.
- Bruce Vandeventer, 2012 – verse
- Brian Vinero, 2021: rhymed verse[5]
References
External links
- Andromache public domain audiobook at LibriVox
Sources
- Cannon, Robert, trans. 1997. Andromache. In Plays: V. By ISBN 0-413-71640-6.
- Ley, Graham. 2007. The Theatricality of Greek Tragedy: Playing Space and Chorus. Chicago and London: U of Chicago P. ISBN 0-226-47757-6.
- Walton, J. Michael. 1997. Introduction. In Plays: V. By ISBN 0-413-71640-6.