Never did fortune give larger proof on how frail ground stand the proud. Whoever trusts in sovereignty and strongly lords it in his princely hall, who fears not the fickle gods and has given up his trustful soul to joy, on me let him look and on thee, O Troy. And thus the Trojan captives, who have so long endured the pains of war, must suffer still this double tragedy. And Calchas, also, bids that Astyanax be slain, for only thus can Greece be safe from any future Trojan war. All things are ready for the start.īut now the ghost of Achilles has risen from the tomb, and demanded that Polyxena be sacrificed to him before the Greeks shall be allowed to sail away. They await the lot which shall assign them to their Grecian lords and scatter them among the cities of their foes. The victorious Greeks have gathered the rich spoils of Troy upon the shore, among these the Trojan women, who have suffered the usual fate of women when a city is sacked. Her heroic defenders are either slain or scattered, seeking other homes in distant lands. Her stately palaces and massive walls have been overthrown and lie darkening the sky with their still smouldering ruins. The long and toilsome siege of Troy is done. THE TIME is the day before the embarkation of the Greeks on their homeward journey. THE SCENE is laid on the seashore, with the smouldering ruins of Troy in the background. HELENA, wife of Menelaüs, king of Sparta, and afterwards of Paris, a prince of Troy the exciting cause of the Trojan war. HECUBA, widow of Priam, one of the Trojan captives.ĪNDROMACHE, widow of Hector, a Trojan captive.

ULYSSES, king of Ithaca, one of the most powerful and crafty of the Greek chiefs before Troy.ĬALCHAS, a priest and prophet among the Greeks.ĪSTYANAX, little son of Hector and Andromache. PYRRHUS, son of Achilles, one of the active leaders in the final events of the war.

TROADES TROADES, TRANSLATED BY FRANK JUSTUS MILLER DRAMATIS PERSONAEĪGAMEMNON, king of the Greek forces in the war against Troy

Play by seneca the younger