Hecuba (play)

Transcription

[ Music ] >> Hello. >> Hello. >> Hi. >> Welcome to-- [Inaudible Remark] Welcome to this evening's production of Hecuba, its opening night. We're very glad that you are all here. Thank you for coming. First things first, turn off anything that makes noise. I don't care if it beeps, put it in silence. Inevitably, there's somebody who just got a new phone and doesn't know how it works. So now is a good time to shut that off. If, by some free circumstances, reason for us to get out of here quickly, you exit the way you came in. So just move backwards as fast you can. You might have an actor wrapped around your hand, where should you be going then? [Laughter] So this is a 90-minute show, no intermissions. If you have to get up and leave, please don't use this right here, stay that way and go that way 'cause you may get ran over by an actor and that's no fun. And the last thing is we, here at PCC, depend greatly on your kindness and donations. And we usually have a higher ticket price. You were lucky people. You didn't have to pay very much. If you feel like this production is a great quality production and these students moved you even for one moment, if you would like to make a donation after the show, please find me, I would be happy to redirect that back into the coffers so we can do more work like this. So thank you, that's my little pitch. Enjoy Hecuba. [ Applause ] [ Music ] >> You see Polydorus, Son of Queen Hecuba, son of Priam, from folds of the Underworld I come, from gates of night where Hades rules in exile from the gods. I was a child, too young to shoulder arms or wear a sword. My father's city, Troy, was threatened by great might. He sent me in secret here to Thrace, to an old ally, Polymester who rules these farms, these fields. These people breed horses. Polymester rules, their spear-lord. So here I came, and with me my father smuggled gold, if Troy fell, his sons would still not starve. So far, so good. Troy's tower's survived. My brother, Hector, kept his city safe. I grew up here in Thrace at Polymester's court, grew like a sapling-doomed Greeks snatch the life of Troy, snatch Hector's life, storm the palace, slaughter Priam, my father, at his own altar, blood, butchery, Achilles' son. News reaches Thrace. My father's good old friend kills me for the gold, to keep the gold, and dumps my carcass there on the shore I roll, roll on the tide-line, unwept, unburied. Three days now, my flesh an empty shell, my spirit here, hovering. [Screaming] My mother's here, unhappy Hecuba, a prisoner of war in Thrace. The entire Greek fleet sits here, waiting, here on these beaches. They were dipping oars, stirring the sea for home, when Achilles' ghost appeared there on his grave-mound demanding, demanding his share of honor, blood-sacrifice. He demands Polyxena, my sister, her life-blood. He'll get it. They're his friends, they'll honor him. My sister dies today, it's fate. And Hecuba? Two bodies, two children dead, she'll see, my unhappy mother. Polyxena's first, then mine. They'll find me. A slave woman will find me, flotsam, sea-sodden, they'll bury me. I begged this favor from the powers below, a grave, my own mother's hands to bury me. It's granted, all I asked for, granted. She's coming. There, from Agamemnon's tent. Old, afraid. I appeared to her, she's terrified. [Screaming] Hecuba, how are you fallen! Royal palace then, the dust of slavery now. Some god looked down on you, saw how high your pride, and gave you this. [ Pause ] >> Help me, children. Here, outside. Help the old woman, slave among slaves, who once was queen of Troy. Your arm. Let me lean on you as fast as I can. [ Pause ] Light of day, darkness of night, terrors haunt me. Why? Mother Earth, wing-beats, darkness, keep them away. Night phantoms, I saw, I saw. Gods of the Underworld, keep him safe, my son, our anchor, our future, safe in snowy Thrace. Soon, soon, more tears, eyes drowned in tears. New grief, my heart shakes. Where are they, Helenus, Cassandra, my children, prophets, to tell these dreams? I saw a fawn, dappled, torn from my lap, wolves' jaws, blood. There, above the grave, Achilles' ghost, demanding, demanding honor owed him, blood-sacrifice, woman's blood, royal blood. Oh gods, deny these omens. Keep my daughter safe. >> Hecuba, we hurried here. Slaves, war mother, Agamemnon's share of spear-spoiled Troy, from our master's tents we hurried here to tell you. No good news, more pain. We must tell you pain. [ Pause ] The Greeks, in full assembly, it's decided, your daughter must die to appease Achilles. They were hoisting sail, ropes taut, his ghost appeared in golden armor above his grave, crying, "Greeks! Where are you going? Will you leave my grave unhonored?" At once, among the spearmen, a wave, a storm of argument. "Sacrifice." "No sacrifice." Agamemnon took your side, hot for Cassandra, the mad one, your daughter. Against him, Theseus' sons, princes of Athens, gave different arguments but the same advice, crown Achilles' grave with fresh young blood. "Achilles' fame," they said, "outranks the pleasures of Cassandra's bed." Tense argument, word tug-of-war. Then Odysseus stepped up, subtle Odysseus. Crowd-charmer, honey-tongue, they fawned on him. They drank his words. "Will you spurn the bravest of all the Greeks to save a slave? When our dead face Persephone, there in the Underworld, must they look her in the eye and say that their comrades ignored them? Did them no honor as they slipped from Troy? Let me go now. I'll fetch her. The mother's old, trembling hands. I'll snatch that child." Go to the temple, the altar, pray to the gods above, below. Only prayers can stop this, stop them tearing your child away. Stop you watching as she slumps on the grave. Gold necklace purpling with blood on white young throat. >> [Crying] Heart breaks. No words. No tears. Wretched. Wretched. Old woman. Slave. [Crying] Who'll protect me now? City, Priam, sons, all gone. Where, now, where? Who'll save me? The gods? The gods? Women, this news, this pain, I'm dead. Life gone. Up. In. go to her. Weary. Go to her. Polyxena, child, come out. Hear you mother's tears, oh, child. >> Mother, mother. Such cries. You scare me like bird from bush. I'm here. >> [Crying] Child. >> What happened? I'm afraid. >> Your life. >> Mother, tell me. Don't hide it. I'm frightened. Don't cry. Mommy. >> My child. My child. Disaster. >> What is it? Speak. >> The Greeks, in council, unanimous. Your death. Achilles' grave. >> Horrible. Horrible. Mommy, tell me. Tell me. >> They say, they say, the Greeks, your death, it's settled. >> Mother. Your grief. Your pain. Outrage. Outrage. Which god? Which? What's left for you now? Who'll share your pain, your slavery, old age? I'm a calf, mountain calf, torn from mother's side, throat cut, dark earth, down, down. Nothing left. Weep, weep. >> Look, Hecuba, Odysseus. Hurrying with news. >> Woman, I think you know. It's decided. Voted. In plain words, the Greeks will sacrifice Polyxena, your daughter, on Achilles' high-heaped grave. I'm here to fetch her by order. Achilles' son, Neopotelemus, will see to the sacrifice. It's decided. Your part is clear. No struggling. No pulling her back. We don't want to see you dragged from her. Accept the situation, your dignity, the need for dignity, even when all is lost. >> I come to the test. Strength. Misery. I should have died then, before. Zeus, why did you spare me for this, for this? They tread on each other's heels. Pain treads on pain. [ Pause ] Lord Odysseus, listen. A free man, a slave but listen. I'll not offend you, not insult you. Let me ask one question then answer me. >> I've time, it's permitted. Ask. >> Do you remember, once, you came to Troy in disguise, a spy? Ragged clothes, filthy, matted blood from eyes to chin? >> I remember. >> And Helen recognized you, told no one else but me. >> A dangerous situation, I remember. >> You knelt at my feet. >> Clutched hard your dress. >> At my mercy. Do you remember what you said? >> Anything, anything at all to save my skin. >> And I spared you, sent you safe away. >> I owe you my life. >> Then aren't you ashamed of these plans of yours? I treated you as you say I treated you. And how do you treat us? With harm, with harm! Loathsome you are, you politicians. Toadies for applause! You betray your friends to gratify the mob. What makes this so clever? Child sacrifice, human sacrifice. Why do they think so? Have they no cattle to grace this grave? Achilles came demanding life for life, then why pick her? What harm has she does him? Helen, he could have marked her for sacrifice. She brought him to Troy, brought him to death. But you want to butcher a prisoner. Fine. Pick her! Helen of Sparta, the prettiest, the guiltiest. [Laughter] So much for justice, as for gratitude, you knelt to me, you touched my hand, my cheek. You begged me. I do the same to you. [ Pause ] Give back to me the kindness I did you then. Leave me my child. Don't kill her. Enough have died. When I see her, I smile, forget my pain. She's my Troy, my god, my staff, my life [cries]. Power brings obligation, not to use that power for harm. And power is fleeting, it flies, it flies. Once, fortune smiled on me, no more. One day, one single day stole all my happiness. Odysseus, I kneel to you. Show mercy, pity. Go to the Greeks, persuade them. How can they kill women they should have killed before then when they dragged them from Troy, and pitied them? You've law in Greece. Murder is murder, be the victim, free, or slave. Tell them, Odysseus. Your reputation, you'll persuade them. Use what words you please, you'll persuade them. When a nobody and a person of reputation use the same arguments, who hears the nobody? >> Who is so hard that when they hear these words, these cries, they will not be moved to tears? >> Hecuba, be told. You're angry. Don't make enemies of those who give you good advice. You saved my life. I'm happy to save yours. I give my word. But I repeat forth what I said to the Greeks in council. Troy is taken. Achilles, noblest of Greeks demands your daughter's life. He must have it. It happens often, too often that we honor heroes, warlords, no more than ordinary men. Achilles died for Greece, as bravely as any man can die. He's earned our honor, earned it. Are we to smile? Are we to make friends when a man's alive and ignore him when he's dead? Disgraceful! Imagine another war, another call up. Who'd go to fight? Who'd not sit safe at home if he saw how little honor we paid our dead? Take me alive, I ask for little, just enough. But when I'm dead, I want a high-heaped tomb for all to see. Those honors last. Unendurable, you say? I should pity you? At home in Greece, we've mothers, fathers too, weeping widows whose husbands are dust in Troy. Endure it. We're Greeks. We honor our dead. If you blame us for that, we'll take the blame. It's your custom here to stop loving those who love? To give no respect to those who died for you? So be it. Greeks, non-Greeks, we'll prosper as we deserve. >> Slavery, pain, we're forced. We bear what can't be borne. >> Polyxena, child, I begged for your life. My words were smoke, thin air. Will he listen to you, where your mother failed? Be a nightingale, sing, sing for dear life down on your knees. Make him listen. He's a father, has children. Make him listen. [ Pause ] >> Do you flinch, my lord? Do you turn away? Don't worry, I won't beg. I won't embarrass you. I'll go with you. I'll die. I must. I want it. Only a coward would struggle now. What use is life to me? My father was king of kings. That was my life. I was a princess, brought up for royal glittering marriages. Kings fought for my hand to make me queen. Look at me. Once, every woman in Troy, old, young, looked up to me. I was a god to them, except that gods don't die. Now, I'm a slave, a slave. I can't bear that. I'd rather die. Who'll buy me now? Pay money for me? A job lot, perhaps? Hector's sister and miscellaneous? Some disciplinarian wanting his money's worth, who'll put me into weaving, bread-making, sweeping floors, and sharing my bed with some bought-in male who'll paddle and paw. What princes fought for? No, die rather. Choose to die. Give myself to death. [Hecuba Crying] Take me away. Do what you have to do. What else have I left? What future? No hope, no joy. Don't stop me, mother. Don't touch. Don't speak. Accept my death, a noble death now, before they soil us. We're not used to this. We could endure the yoke, but not the shame of it, not dishonor. No. Better die. Better die. >> Good breeding gleams like gold among common coins. Miraculous when noble spirit matches noble birth. >> [Cries] Fine words, Polyxena. But the price is pain. Odysseus, do Achilles the honor he demands. Avoid disgrace but leave the child. Take me instead. Let my blood drench his grave. My son it was who shot the arrow and killed him. >> Achilles' ghost demanded her, not you. >> In that case, kill me too beside her. Twice as much blood for Mother Earth, for Achilles' ghost that asks such things. >> It's enough that your daughter dies. We owe one life, I wish it were none. >> I'll die with her, I must. >> I give the orders. >> [Cries] I'll cling as ivy clings to oak. >> Take my advice. >> I'll not let her die. >> I'll not go back without her. [ Crying ] >> Hush mother. Sir, be patient. She is losing her child, be patient. Mother, give way. They're stronger than you. They'll lock you down, they'll drag you, hustle you. Is that what you want? An old woman shamed and bruised by boys? No, accept. >> Accept. >> Be dignified. >> Dignified. >> Mother, darling, hold me, kiss me. I'll never see the sun again, so big, so bright, only darkness now. >> Darkness. >> No more words mother. Mommy, goodbye. >> For your child, pity, for me, tears, pain. > I'll be far away in the Underworld at peace. What can I do? How can I die? >> A princess, I die a slave. >> I'll live a slave. I see the sun, a slave. >> No husband, no marriage. >> All my children, gone. >> What should I tell them? Hector, Priam? >> Tell them my misery, my tears. [ Crying ] >> Dear beasts that gave me life. >> My darling snatched by fate. [ Crying ] >> Farewell. Tell Cassandra farewell from me. >> Others farewell, how shall we farewell? >> And Polydorus, my brother here in Thrace. >> If he's alive. If fate has spared his life-- >> He lives. He'll close your eyes in death. >> I'm dead. I'm alive and look. I'm dead! >> Take me, lord. Veil me. My tears, my mother's tears. Light of day, your name is all I have left. You're mine for a little moment more. And then Achilles' grave, the knife. >> [Cries] Help me, I'm fainting! Polyxena, your hand, hold me. Child, don't go. I'm dead. [ Crying ] >> Winds, winds of the sea, swift ships on racing sea. Where will you take me? Where? Who'll own me? Who'll own these tears? What harbour, where? In the south, there on the plains where Apidanus, father of rivers, makes fertile fields? An island home, perhaps? Is Delos to see my tears? Delos, where palm and bay spread branches made holy shade when Leto bore Apollo, Artemis, twins, children of Zeus on high. Shall I dance? Dance for them, dance? In Athens, shall I weave for Athena? Bright color silk, what patterns then? Mares, yoked to her chariot? Titans, braving the gods, thunder, lightning laid low by father Zeus? No children, no father now, no country. Smoke, ruin, slaves in foreign lands, strangers, they'll call me slave. Torn from the land I love. A slave, a slave, no better than the dead. >> Trojans, where will I find Hecuba who once was queen? >> There, face covered, lying on the ground. >> Oh Zeus, are there gods? Do they see what humans do? Do we believe in vain? Blind chance rules all? Look here, the queen of golden Troy, King Priam's queen, the proud, the prosperous, a slave uncitied, childless, lying on the ground. She's nothing. Grey head, dust-crowned. [Screaming] I had lived a long life but still I'd rather die than to come to this. Poor lady, up, stand up, your grey hairs, up. >> Leave me, let me lie, let me weep. Who are you? >> Talthybitus lady, high steward of the Greeks. Agamemnon sent me. I've to take you. >> To Achilles, grave? To die? Thank you, lead the way. >> She's dead lady, your daughter is dead. I'm fetching to bury her. I speak their will. Agamemnon, Menelaus, the entire Greek army. >> Not die? Not fetch me to die? To tell me this? Polyxena, they snatched you. They murdered you. They took my child. How I can bear it? Tell me how did you finish her? With respect or butchering an enemy? I'll bear it. Tell me. >> Lady, I wept when I watched her die, now you ask me to tell it. I'll weep again. There, gathered at the graveside, the entire Greek army to watch the sacrifice. I was close by. Achilles' son took Polyxena's hand, led her on to the mound, left her. Detachment of men hand-picked in case the victim struggled. Achilles' son took a golden cup, lifted it, poured an offering to his father. Signed to me to call for silence. Up I stepped, "Greeks, be quiet, be calm, be still!" No sound. The entire crowed still. He said, "Achilles, father, accept this offering. Come up from the Underworld, dark blood, virgin blood, drink it, it's yours. Our gift to you, from me, from all Greeks. Smile on us. Watch us and smile on us as we hoist our anchors and set sail for home. Grant us a safe journey. Home!" He finished. The soldiers heard and cheered-- >> Home! He drew his sword, the gold inlay. He signed to the execution party, hold her. She saw what they intended. >> Greeks. >> She said: >> You sacked my city. I die of my own free will. Don't touch me. I won't flinch, won't struggle. Let me die freely, go free to the Underworld. A princess-- don't make me a slave among the dead. Don't shame me. >> The soldiers heard and cheered. [Cheering] Lord Agamemnon told them to let her go. Then, then she took her dress, ripped it from neck to navel. She showed her breasts, her midriff, beautiful as a statue. She slipped to her knees. Achilles' son, she spoke her bravest, saddest words of all. >> Choose, prince. Here, if you will, my heart. Or here, my throat. I'm ready. Stab. >> He pitied her. He felt reluctant, eager, all at once. He cut her windpipe. [ Crying ] [Background Music] Fountain of blood. She was dying. And still she took good care to fall modesty to hide what no man should see. Her soul left her body. At once, bustle. The whole crowd, busy, some gather leaves to strew the body, some fetch logs to build a pyre. Those who stood with empty hands were jeered. For shame, bring gifts, clothes, ornaments. She was noble, brave, a princess unmatched. That is show she dies, lady. No woman on earth could boast a better child or a harsher fate. >> Pain, see how the gods send pain on Priam's children, the land of Troy. [ Crying ] >> Polyxena, where am I to look? How am I to weep? This latest misery, your death, how can I not shed tears? And yet, so royal, so noble to die like that. You take away the sting. It's strange. Poor soil, if the gods send rain, bears fertile crops, belies its nature. Good soil deprived of nourishment grows barren. But human nature never changes. Bad is bad, good good, whatever the blows f fate. Do we inherit this or learn it? Good we can teach, good upbringing shows that and if we know good, we can use it as a yardstick to measure bad. [ Pause ] What am I saying? Talthybius, ask the Greeks, for me, that no one touch my daughter. Soldiers, sailors, a mass of men hotter than fire, they lead each other on indiscipline. Keep them away. And you, take a basin down to the shore and fill it water. I'll wash her the last time. Spoiled virgin, bride no-bride. I'll lay her out as she deserves. [ Pause ] How can I? I've nothing. [ Crying ] I'll ask my fellow captives here in these tents, they'll give what they can, jewels perhaps, snatched up from home, from looter's hands, they'll give them for Polyxena. Troy! Palace! Happiness! Priam, most blest of princes, most blest of fathers, and I, most blest of mothers, gone, all gone. We're old. They've robbed us, robbed our pride. Human arrogance! Pride in possessions! Fame! We preen like cocks on a dunghill. It's nothing. Ambition, eloquence: nothing. What's happiness? A life without suffering, day by careful day. >> That day began it, began disaster, pain. That day when Paris, High on Mound Ida, felled trees, build ships to steal across swelling sea to Helen's bed. Helen, whose beauty warmed golden sun himself. Now misery, now pain, swarms on us, surrounds us. One man's madness brought common pain, destruction for Troy. He herded sheep on the mountain, heard goddesses squabbling, judged, began common misery, brought pain, war, torment, blood in Troy, in Greece, over there by the banks of sweet Eurotas. See how she weeps, young girl, husbandless, how grey-haired mothers beat their heads, tear cheeks, blood-nails for slaughtered sons. >> Women, where's Her Majesty? Hecuba, of all men, all women, most miserable. Hecuba, queen of tears? >> What is it? Such cries, such omens, unsleeping pain, what is it? >> Unsleeping pain for Hecuba [cries]. How can I bring the news I bring, and smile? >> She's heard you. She's coming. There. >> Majesty, how can I speak you pain? You're alive, you see the sun. But what else is left for you? Your city, your husband, children, all gone. >> Old wounds. You tell us nothing new. Polyxena's body, who told you to bring it here? [Screaming] The Greeks were to bury her or so they said. >> She doesn't know. She weeps for Polyxena. She hasn't heard. >> What is it? Cassandra dead, the mad one? Is it her you bring? >> She's alive, lady. Save your tears for him. It's a man we bring. I'll uncover his face. You never expected this. [ Crying ] >> Polydorus, my son, dead. He was safe with that Thracian. Fate crushes me. I'm dead. [ Crying ] Polydorus. I knew this. Weep, oh weep. >> You knew, you knew your son was dead? >> I didn't believe it. Now I see, I see. O, misery, tears on tears, is no day free of pain? >> Lady, lady, we, we suffer, we suffer! >> Polydorus, child of my misery, child. Who killed you, who? Some god, some mortal? >> I don't know lady. I found him on the shore. >> Drowned, there on the sand, or murdered? >> Sea waves carried him to the shore. [ Pause ] >> Now I understand. My dream. Dark vision. Wings. You were dead, child. Gone from daylight. >> Who killed him? Did the dream tell that? >> His Thracian majesty, our friend. He was to hide Polydorus here to keep him safe. >> And to get gold, he killed? >> Unspeakable! Unholy! Unendurable! We trusted him. He butchered my son. He took a sword and hacked my son. Look here, look here! I spit on him. >> Who else on Earth ever suffered so? God presses you down. Shh, friend, Agamemnon, our master comes. >> Hecuba, why this delay? You were to bury your daughter. You sent Talthybius to ask that no one touch her. We did as you asked, we left her and still you're here. I'm astonished. Go quickly. We've been scrupulous so far, under sad circumstances, scrupulous. [ Pause ] What body's that? There. A Trojan? Those are Trojan wrappings. Who is it? >> Hecuba, what shall I do? Say nothing, or fall on my knees to him? >> Why tears? Why turn away? Say what's happened. Who is this? >> Perhaps he won't listen to a slave, an enemy. I couldn't bear it. >> What is it? I can't read your mind. If you want me to know, then tell me. >> And perhaps I'm wrong. Perhaps he'll listen. Perhaps, he'll be kind. >> As you choose. If you'd rather I didn't know, if you don't want to speak, I won't force you. >> I need him, for their sakes, for revenge, I need him. Don' hesitate, talk to him. Risk it. Agamemnon, I'm on my knees. I beg you please. >> What is it? Are you begging for freedom? It's granted. >> Freedom. Punishment! For him, for him. To see him punished, I'd live a slave forever. >> I don't understand. >> I ask your help, lord. >> For what? >> For him. That corpse. The one I weep for. >> I still don't understand. >> I carried him in the womb. I bore him, my son. [ Pause ] >> Poor lady. Which son? You've had many sons. >> None of those who died at Troy. >> What are you saying? You've other sons? >> No longer. This was my other son. >> Where was he when Greeks took Troy? >> His father sent him away to save his life. >> Just him? No other royal prince? Where to? >> Here lord, to Trace where we found him dead. >> To Polymestor's court you mean? >> He came with gold. It brought him death. >> How, death? How? How did he die? >> His Thracian Majesty, our friend. >> You're telling me to get the gold? >> As soon as he heard that you Greeks held Troy. >> Where did you find him? Who brought him here? >> On the shore, this woman found him. >> Was she there looking for him or for something else? >> Fetching water to wash my daughter's corpse. >> So he was killed and thrown into the sea. >> Butchered. Flesh hacked, then thrown. >> How can you bear it? >> I'm dead, lord. I feel nothing. >> What woman on Earth was ever so misused? >> None. I am all misused. But now lord, listen. I kneel at your feet. If you think what I suffer is the will of God, I'll bear it. But if not, then help me punish him. That friend, no friend who snapped his fingers at the gods and did this deed. How often we welcomed him. A favored guest. We smiled on that murderer who killed my son and tossed him to the waves. We're slaves. We're powerless. The gods have power. Law governs them, and by that law we live. We believe in them. We distinguished right from wrong. That law, my lord. If you scorn it now, if you leave unpunished friends who murder friends, who plunder the god's prerogative, then justice dies. What he did was crime. Take pity on me. I'm the picture of misery. Stand back like a painter and drink me in. I was a queen, I'm now your slave. Blessed with children once, now cursed. Old, cityless, friendless, desolate. Do you turn away? Am I wasting words? Won't you listen? [ Sobbing ] What fools are we. We lavish our time, learning all kinds of skills, we practice them. But that one skill we should beggar ourselves to learn. Persuasion, the power to get what we want, to influence. We ignore it. Why? What's left? What hope? My children are dead. I'm carried off a price. My city's smoke. There's one thing still, one argument unexpected but possible. The power of love, my lord. At your side in bed, my daughter sleeps. Cassandra, Apollo's mouth. Do they mean anything to you, my lord. Those nights of love? When she kisses you, embraces you, my daughter, have you gratitude for that? The joy of dark? Then listen, this corpse, do you see it? My son, her brother, your bedmate's brother. Do this for him. [ Pause ] There's one thing more. If I'd a thousand tongues, if some craftsman, son god, gave tongues to feet, hands, hair, they'd kneel to you, they'd cry my cause. Agamemnon, Majesty, light of all Greece, do it. >> Do it. >> Do it. >> Do it. >> Help me. An old woman, it's nothing, do it. >> Do it. >> You're a good man, serve justice as good men should. See that criminals everywhere are punished as they deserve. >> It happens. Opposites change. Necessity forces them. Old friends become enemies, old enemies make friends. >> Up, Hecuba. Your plight, your son, your words. I'm moved. For the gods' sake, for justice, I say he should be punished, your friend, no friend. But how can it be done? Army discipline, I won't have them say I plotted with you to kill His Majesty of Thrace for Cassandra's sake. [Laughter] It's serious. They think this man an ally, your son an enemy. So you love him why should that affect them? Think what to do. I'll help, but I won't offend the Greeks. >> Feoo. Slaves, lord. All mortals alive are slaves. To money, fate, the people's voice, a city's laws, not one of us can do exactly as we choose. You're afraid of your soldier's army discipline. Well, I give you your freedom. I'll do it. I'll hurt the man who killed my son. Say yes to that, and keep your hands unstained. But if they run to help him, when he faces what he has to face, hold them. Don't say it's done for me. Agree to that. Leave all the rest to me. >> What rest? What have you in mind? A sword, those trembling hands lift sword to strike him down? Poison? And will you act alone? Who'll help? [ Pause ] >> The women of Troy will help me, here in these tents. >> Our prisoners of war you mean? Our loot? >> They'll help me punish him. >> How? Women? Overcome a man? >> We're many. We're cunning. >> You're women. >> And was it not women who took Aegyptus' sons? Was is not women who wiped all Lemnos clean of men? No more argument. Grant these women here safe-conduct. Go to His Thracian Majesty. Say to him Hecuba, who once ruled Troy needs you, important matters, vital to you both. Up, up. Come with your sons. They'll need to know as well. Agamemnon, my daughter's funeral, make more delay. I want them together, my two darlings, brother and sister. One pyre, one grave. [ Pause ] >> It's granted. If the weather had been good for Greece I'd had refused. But the gods send storms, we have to wait. Patience. God send good luck. It's understood that for states, for private individuals that the good shall prosper and the wicked fail. >> Troy. Home. My Troy, destroyed. A cloud of Greeks, a storm of spears. Stolen, your crown of towers, fire-stormed. I weep for you. I leave you. Weep and leave. Night. Death. Sleep charmed my eyes. Supper, singing, dancing, all done a feast of joy. They gone. Greeks gone. Men, ships, all gone. My husband rested, slept. I was putting up my hair, for bed, for sleep, under its cap. Gold mirror gleamed. Soft bed. Blankets. Outside, a shout. Men of Greece, it's now. Sack Troy, the towers of troy. Sail home! [Screaming] I left the marriage-bed I loved. In a shift I sat, like some Greek girl, suppliant. The temple. They murdered my husband, shipped me away. I looked back at my Troy, and wept. I cursed her then, Helen of Sparta, Hell to Troy, cursed Paris, her mate, our fate. They came together, made a marriage, no marriage, made a household, uprooted me from mine. >> Death they were. >> Death they were. >> Death they were. >> Death they were. >> Death they were. >> Plague they were. >> Plague they were. >> Plague they were. >> Plague they were. >> Helen. Drown! >> Helen. Drown! >> Helen. Drown! >> Helen. Drown! >> Helen. Drown. >> Come never home. [ Pause ] >> O Priam, dearest of men. [ Pause ] O Hecuba, your city gone, your daughter dead, I weep for you. Nothing lasts. Fame? Rank? They pass. God blurs our lives, jumbles them. We see no pattern, we worship God. But these are empty tears. No help. Hecuba, I should have been here before. Don't blame me. When they brought you to Thrace, I was faraway, up-country. As soon as I came home, I was setting out to see you, foot out the door, when she arrived, your servant. She spoke, I'm here. >> Polymestor, I can't look you on the face. I'm ashamed. I flounder in misery. You knew me before, you see me now. I'm ashamed. I can't look at you. Don't blame me. Not just you, Polymestor, any man. From men, women veil their eyes. >> Quite right. But you sent for me. "Come at once," you said. What is it? >> Something private, for your ears only. Have the guards withdraw. >> Leave us. We're safe. There's no one here. No quarrel with the Greeks, and none with you. Now, tell me. If a man's blessed by fate, he should help unluckier friends. I'm yours. >> First, tell me my son, Polydorus, the child I sent you, his father sent you. Is he alive? No other questions first. >> He's fine. Don't worry. >> You speak like a friend you are. >> What other questions? Ask. >> Does he speak of me? Remember me? >> He wants to come to you, here, in secret. >> And the gold he brought from Troy? It's safe? >> Safe in my palace. Guarded. >> Look after it. Beware of greed. >> My dear, I have what I have. I'm satisfied. >> So, what I have to say, to you and your sons. >> I'm waiting to hear. >> It's a secret. You're such a trusted friend. >> You can tell us, myself, my sons. >> Ancestral gold. Priam's. Hidden. >> I'm to tell your son? >> Whom else can I trust? >> All his children. Do they need to hear? >> In case you die. They'd need to know. >> Ah. I hadn't thought of that. >> In Troy, where Athena's temple stood-- >> It's there, the gold? Is there a marker? >> A black rock jutting from the ground. >> I'll remember. Anything else? >> I want you to have the things I brought. >> What things? Are you carrying them? Inside? >> Inside, with all of the other plunder. Safe. >> Safe? Here? The Greek ships' loading point? >> The tents of the female prisoners are out of bounds. >> And safe? No guards inside? No men? >> No Greeks. Just women. Just us. Come inside. The Greeks are panting to sail. They long for home. Once you've got what's yours you and the boys, you can go where you left my son. >> It's coming soon. You'll pay. You're' in the rapids, you're drowning, swept from your heart's desire because of the life you stole. There's a debt to pay, to the gods, to justice and that price is pain, is pain. You're lost, on the road to Hell, no warriors' hand will cut you down. [ Screaming ] Ladies, was that His Majesty? Such shrieks. [Screaming] >> The children. Blood. [ Laughter ] >> Ladies, inside, unspeakable, unheard-of. >> Run, run, you won't escape. I'll tear every corner, I'll smash, I'll smash. >> Should we go in? Is this the time? Hecuba, her women does she need us now? >> Tear. Smash. [Laughter] You won't smash back your sight, won't splinter back your sons, won't see them alive again. I killed them. >> Majesty. It's done? You tripped him, the Thracian? You've done it? You've done it? >> See for yourself. He's coming a blind, stumbling. His sons, we killed them. My women, I. He's paid. [Noise] He's here. Thracian fury. Raging. I'll stand aside. [Laughter] [ Grunting ] >> Where shall I go? What rest? What lair? Four legs, a beast, crawling? I sniff them out, here, or here, murderers, Trojans, women. I'm dead. They killed me, Trojans, women. Die! Die! Where are you hiding? Where? Help me, my eyes, light of the Sun, O give me back my eyes. [Laughter] A! A! Something's moving. Women. I'll jump on them, I'll munch them, flesh, bones, I'll feast on them [laughs]. They'll pay. They hurt me. Pay. [ Laughter ] Where shall I go? Shall I leave my sons? To be butchered, torn, dog meat. Where are they? I'm a ship skimming the sea, sail billowing, beached, furled, here in the lair of death to save my sons. >> Poor wretch. They've hurt you so. You killed. They've punished you. Gods' work. >> [Screams] Argh! Mean of Thrace! Bring spears, shields, horses. Oh, Greeks. Oh, Agamemnon, Menelaus! [Screams]. In gods' name, help me. Now, I'm begging. Help! They've killed me, your women, your blunder, they've spoiled me. [Cries] Ohh. For shame. Where go? Where turn? Up, up, sky-vault, dazzle, burning eyes, or down, dark corners, the deeps of Hell? >> To suffer so! How can he bear it? If he cast loose from his life, who'd blame him now? [laughter] >> I came at once. Echo ran from the hills, ran through the camp, uproar. If we'd not known Troy was ours, its towers rubble, there might have been panic. >> Agamemnon, your voice. My dear. Did you see? Did you see what they've done to me? >> Eah, Polymestor. Who hurt you? What happened? Your-- the eyes, the blood. Your sons, dead. Who killed them? What rage is this we see? >> Hecuba. Her women. They killed me. They did. >> I don't believe it. Hecuba? What he said? What made you do such a terrible thing? >> Argh! She's here. Somewhere. Show me. I'll tear her. I'll crimson her. >> Be still. >> I want her. Give her in the name of God. These hands. I want her. Here! >> Control yourself. You're like a wild animal. Speak sensibly, calmly. I'll hear you. Your suffering, what caused it? Then she can speak. I'll hear. I'll judge. >> Listen. There was a child, Polydorus, their youngest son, hers and Priam's. Priam set him from Troy to me, suspected that Troy would fall, sent him to me for safety. I killed him. I'll tell you why. Good reasons, common sense. If he lived, your enemy. If he survived, he'd gather Troy, rebuild it. You Greeks would hear that one of Priam's sons still lived. You'd make another expedition, land here in Thrace, plunder. Disaster for Troy's neighbors. We had it before. Agamemnon? >> Uh-huh. >> She heard he was dead. She sent for me some tale of gold, Priam's gold, a hoard of it in Troy. No one else was to know. She took me in there. My sons. I sat on a couch. Lay back. The women beside me, this side, that side. Conversation, politeness. "Such wonderful weave, your cloak. May we see it against the light? And these are Thracian spears?" So they stripped me of both. Unarmed. Others picked up my sons, dandled them, passed them to one another, away from their father. Then, suddenly, politeness ends. Daggers, where from? Their clothes? They stab the boys. I'm held. Arms, legs. They grip me like an octopus. I try to get up, to help the children. They grab my hair. My arms, held to my sides. Outnumbered. Then, horrible, horrible. They take pins, brooches. They stab my eyes, blood, pulp. Oh [crying], they hide. They run away. I'm a wild beast, springing, scrabbling after them, wild dogs, a hunter, battering, smashing. That's what they did. I helped you, Agamemnon. I killed your enemy and that's what they did to me. I've one thing more to say. Whatever names men find for women, now, in the past, in future time, come down to this, they're monsters, unheard-of, unique on land, on sea. Who sees them, knows it. >> Outrageous! You're hurt, you lash out, you condemn all women equally. Outrageous! >> [Grunts] Argh! >> Agamemnon. >> [Grunts] Argh! Argh! >> What people say and what they do. If only goodness shone in all good people said, if only criminals betrayed themselves instead of using words to twist their wickedness to good. It's a skill, you can learn it, but it doesn't last. In the end you trip yourself. No one avoids it. You trip and fall. So be it. I'll answer him. You say you killed my son to save the Greeks, a second expedition, for Agamemnon's sake. You're lying. In the first place, how could you, Barbarians, ever see eye to eye with Greeks? Oil and water. Impossible. Something else made you so eager, so hot for them. Did you want-- you can't have wanted-- some kind of royal marriage? Was it really to save your crops being trampled, if they came again? Are we to believe such lies? It was gold, greed for gold that killed my son. I'd you'd wanted to gratify the Greeks, this man, you could have taken the child you were rearing and killed him years ago while Troy still stood, while Priam still ruled, while Hector lived. You could have delivered my son to them alive. Instead, you waited and when the city fell, when fires blazed its end, you took him then, an ally, a guest in your house and murdered him. A second betrayal. You say you love the Greeks. And yet when they were desperate, far from home, in want, did you take the gold-- his gold, you admit it-- and give it to them? You hugged it for your own. Locks, strongrooms, you hug it still. If you have kept my son as you should, looked after him, the whole world would have praised you as a loyal friend-- not in good times when friends are cheap but in bad when true friendship shows itself. As it is, you've nothing, no ally, no hope in the gold, no sons, no eyes. >> [Grunts] Argh! >> Agamemnon, if you help this traitor, liar, thief, false friend, you'll share his vileness. Pitch, my lord, I say it respectfully, slave to lord. Pitch sticks. >> True cause, true words. It's always so. >> [Grunts] Argh! Argh! >> This-- [ Pause ] -- vileness you speak of, nothing to do with me. I am not involved. It weighs on me to settle it. But I agreed. I'll do it. My view is this. You killed the man not for my sake, not for the Greeks, but for gold, to keep his gold. Now, you're trapped, you wriggle. Fair-seeming lies. You people here may think it's nothing to murder guests. In Greece, it's a crime. If I declare you innocent I condemn myself. You did it. You didn't flinch. Don't cover now you're caught. >> She's a woman, a slave. Am I to submit to this? >> You killed. It's just, you suffer. >> My sons. My eyes! >> Tears for your child like mine, for mine? >> Murderer. You smile? >> Avenger, I smile. >> Not for long. The sea-- >> Will float me away to Greece? >> Will drown you! From the mast you'll fall. >> They'll make me walk the mast? >> You'll climb there. >> Will I have wings, or what? >> A dog you'll be. Hyena. Crimson eyes. >> I'm to change my shape? Who told you? >> Our oracle here in Thrace. >> Told you that and nothing about yourself? >> If it had, do you think you'd have tricked me so? >> And when I've changed, am I to die or live? >> You'll die. Your monument-- >> Called after my new changed shape? >> "Bitch Grave!" >> I'll bear it. I've made you pay. >> And Cassandra, your daughter. She must die. >> Spit on you. You die! >> His wife will murder her. The Fury awaits. >> His wife? God turn away such madness. >> She'll kill him too. She'll lift the axe-- >> That's enough. Are you mad? Do you want more pain? >> Oh, kill me. In Argos, you'll bathe in blood. >> Take him. No mercy. >> You can't bear to hear? >> Gag him. >> Too late! It's said. >> Find a desert land. Maroon him. Such insolence. Hecuba, lady, go now. Bury your children. Women, return to your owner's tents. The wind is rising to speed us home. God grant us safe voyage, a happy homecoming, after so much turmoil here. [Gong sounds] >> Go! >> Go. >> Go! >> Go. >> Go! >> Go! >> Go! >> Go! >> Go! >> Go! >> Go to the tents, the ships, my dears. Learn your new duties, your slavery. It's fate. It's hard. [Gong sounds] [ Applause & Cheering ] [ Silence ]