DAUGHTERS OF DIONYSIS INTRO

Transcription

1 DAUGHTERS OF DIONYSIS INTRO LEEANN: He arrived here in the land of Thebes Dionysus, son of Zeus, born to him from Semele, Cadmus' daughter, delivered by a fiery midwife Zeus' lightning flash. MEGHAN: He changed his form from god to human, appearing here at these streams of Dirce, the waters of Ismarus. He sees his mother's tomb for she was wiped out by that lightning bolt. AMINA: It's there, by the palace, with that rubble, the remnants of her house, still smoldering from Zeus' living fire Hera's undying outrage against his mother. But praise be to Cadmus. He's made his daughter's shrine a sacred place. And Dionysus has completely covered it with leafy shoots of grape-bearing vines. STORMIE: We ve left the fabulously wealthy East, lands of Lydians and Phrygians, Persia's sun-drenched plains, walled towns in Bactria. We've moved across the bleak lands of the Medes, through rich Arabia, all Asian lands, along the salt-sea coast, through those towns full of barbarians and Greeks all intermingled. SHELBIE: Now we've come to Thebes, city of Greeks, making known to men the divinity of Dionysus. We women who've left Tmolus, backbone of Lydia, his band of worshippers. He has led us here from barbarian lands, his comrades on the road and when we rest, we take up our drums, first invented by mother Rhea and himself. ALL: Let us go to the clefts of Mount Cithaeron, to the Bacchae, to join the dancing. 1

2 LEEANN: We are the Daughters of Dionysus. And we bring to you tales, but not of the exploits of men. MEGHAN: We bring you tales of women. STORMIE: Women of strength. Women of power. ALL: Tales of the Daughters of Dionysus. 2

3 MEDEA MEDEA NURSE FIRST WOMAN SECOND WOMAN NARRATOR Stormie Leeann Shelbie Meghan Amina NARRATOR: Medea won third prize for Euripides at its first performance in the annual drama festival in Athens. Since 431 BC, the universality of this Greek tragedy has impelled twenty playwrights and uncounted translators to indite repeatedly this protest against woman s status in a patriarchal society. Prior to the play s opening, Jason has returned from his Argosy to Colchis where, with the aid of Medea s sorcery, he stole the Golden Fleece from the serpent-guarded cave. The princess of Colchis saved his life once again when she slew her own brother who pursued them in their flight to Jason s Argo anchored on the Black Sea shore. Jason returned victorious to Corinth and married Medea, who bore him two sons. As the play opens, Jason, driven by ambition, has renounced Medea in order to wed Creusa, the young daughter of King Creon, who exiles Medea from Corinth. But as both Jason and Creon will soon learn, Medea s sense of justice is fused with a furious vengeance. The play opens to the lamenting of Medea s Nurse her faithful servant for many years, and the concerns of the women of Corinth, who are dismayed at her treatment at the hands of Jason. NURSE: I wish the long ship Argo had never passed that perilous channel between the Symplegades, I wish the pines that made her mast and her oars still waved in the wind on Mount Pelion, and the gray fishhawk Still nested in them, the great adventurers had never voyaged Into the Asian sunrise to the shores of morning for the Golden Fleece For then my mistress Medea Would never have seen Jason, nor loved and saved him, or cut herself off from home to come with him Into this country of the smiling chattering Greeks and the roofs of Corinth; over which I see evil Hang like a cloud. For she is not meek, but fierce, and the daughter of a king. Yet at first all went well. 3

4 The folk of Corinth were kind to her, they were proud of her beauty, and Jason loved her. Happy is the house Where the man and the woman love and are faithful. Now all is changed; all is black hatred. For Jason has turned from her; he calls the old bond a barbarian mating, not a Greek marriage; he has cast her off And wedded the yellow-haired child of Creon, the ruler here. He wants worldly advantage, fine friends, And a high place in Corinth. For these he is willing to cast Medea like a harlot, and betray the children That she has borne him. He is not wise, I think. MEDEA: Death. NURSE: Listen! I hear her voice. MEDEA: Death. Death is my wish. For myself, my enemies, my children. Destruction. That s the word. Grind, crush, burn. Destruction. Ai --- Ai --- NURSE: This is my terror: To hear her always harking back to the children, like a fierce hound at fault. O unhappy one, They re not to blame. MEDEA: If any god hears me: let me die. Ah, rotten, rotten, rotten: death is the only Water to wash this dirt. NURSE: Oh, it s a bad thing To be born of high race, and brought up willful and powerful in a great house, unruled. And ruling many: for then if misfortune comes it is unendurable, it drives you mad. I say that poor people Are happier: the little commoners and humble people, the poor in spirit: they can lie low Under the wind and live (Noticing the women) What do you want? FIRST WOMAN: I hear her crying again; it is dreadful. SECOND WOMAN: Her lamentation. She is beautiful and deep in grief: we couldn t help coming. 4

5 FIRST WOMAN: We are friends of this house and its trouble hurts us. NURSE: You are right, friends; it is not a home. It is broken. A house of grief and of weeping. MEDEA: Hear me, God, let me die. What I need: all dead, all dead, all dead Under the great cold stones. For a year and a thousand years and another thousand: cold as the stones, cold, Crimson-cloaked In the blood of our wounds. FIRST WOMAN: O shining sky, divine earth, Harken not to the song that this woman sings. It is not her mind s music; her mind is not here. She does not know what she prays for. Pain and wrath are the singers. SECOND WOMAN: Unhappy one, Never pray for death, never pray for death, He is here all too soon. He strikes from the clear sky like a hawk, He hides behind green leaves, or he waits Around the corner of the wall. O never pray for death, never pray for death Because that prayer will be answered. FIRST WOMAN: I think you ought to persuade Medea to come from the dark dwelling, and speak with us, before her heart breaks, Or she does harm to herself. She has lived among us, we ve learned to love her, we d gladly tell her so. It might comfort her spirit. NURSE: Do you think so? She wouldn t listen.she is coming! Speak carefully to her: make your words a soft music. MEDEA: I will look at the light of the sun, this last time. I wish from that blue sky the white wolf of lightening Would leap, and burst my skull and my brain, and like a burning babe, cling to these breasts 5

6 Ai! - Ai! Someone is here? I did not know I had visitors. Women of Corinth: If anything has been spoken too loudly here, consider That I believed I was alone; and I have some provocation. You ve come let me suppose With love and sympathy to peer at my sorrow I will show you my naked heart. You know that my lord Jason Has left me and made a second marriage, with the bright-haired child Of wealth and power. I too was a child of power, but not in this country; and I spent my power For the love of Jason. I poured it out before him like water, I made him drink it like wine. I gave him Success and fame; I saved him his precious life; not once, many times. You may have heard what I did for him: I betrayed my father for him, I killed my brother to save him; I made my own land to hate me forever; And I fled west with Jason on the Greek ship, under the thunder of the sail, weeping and laughing, And home to Greek water: his home, my exile. My endless exile. And here I have loved him and borne him sons; and this man Has left me and taken Creon s daughter, to enjoy her fortune, and put aside her soft yellow hair And kiss her young mouth. I do not know what other women I do not know how much a Greek woman Will endure. The people of my race are somewhat rash and intemperate. As for me, I want simply to die. But Jason is not to smile at his bride over my grave, nor that great man Creon Hang wreaths and make a feast-day in Corinth. Or let the wreaths be bright blinding fire, and the songs a high wailing And the wine, blood. FIRST WOMAN: Daughter of sorrow, beware. It is dangerous to dream of wine; it is worse To speak of wailing or blood: For the images that the mind makes Find a way out, they work into life. MEDEA: Let them work into life! FIRST WOMAN: There are evils that cannot be cured by evil. Patience remains, and the gods watch all. MEDEA: Let them watch my enemies go down in blood. 6

7 NARRATOR: Medea makes good on her promises. When Creon comes to confront her and cast her into exile, she appeals to him and asks for a day to put her house in order. He begrudgingly grants her request, and that seals his doom. Invoking her witchcraft, Medea sends her own sons to deliver to Creon s daughter, Creusa, gifts of a golden robe and crown, which when donned, fulfill Medea s prophecy of a fiery vengeance. As the scene opens, Medea awaits the return of the Nurse, so that she might hear the extent of her destructive power. MEDEA: Old friend: Catch your breath; take your time. I want the whole tale, every gesture and cry. I have labored for this. NURSE: Death is turned loose! I ve hobbled and run, and fallen.. MEDEA: Please, Nurse: I am very happy: go slowly. Tell me these things in order from the beginning, As when you used to dress me, when I was little, in my father s house: you used to say One thing at a time; one thing and then the next. NURSE: My eyes are blistered, My throat s like a dry straw- There was a long mirror on the wall, and when her eyes saw it After the children had gone with Jason she put her hands in the case and took those gold things and I Watched, for I feared something might happen to her, but I never thought So horribly she placed on her little head the bright golden wreath, she gathered the flowing gold robe Around her white shoulders, And slender flanks, - And gazed at the girl in the metal mirror, going back and forth On tiptoe almost; But suddenly horror began. I Oh, oh MEDEA: You are not suffering. You saw it, you did not feel it. Speak plainly. NURSE: Her face went white; She staggered a few steps, bending over, and fell Into the great throne-chair; then a serving woman Began to call for water thinking she had fainted, but saw the foam 7

8 Start on her lips, and the eyes rolling, and screamed instead. Then some of them Ran after Jason, others ran to fetch Creon: and that doomed girl Frightfully crying started up from the chair; she ran, she was like a torch, and the gold crown Like a comet streamed fire; she tore at it but it clung to her head; the golden cloak Was white-hot, flaying the flesh from the living bones; blood mixed with fire ran down, she fell, she burned On the floor, writhing. Then Creon came and flung himself on her, hoping to choke That rage of flame, but it ran through him, his own agony Made him forget his daughter s. The fire stuck to the flesh, it glued him to her; he tried to stand up, He tore her body and his own. The burnt flesh broke In lumps from the bones. I have finished. They lie there. Eyeless, disfaced, untouchable; middens of smoking flesh No! I have no more. MEDEA: I want all. Had they died when you came away? NURSE: I am not able have mercy No, the breath Still whistled in the black mouths. No one could touch them. Jason stood in their smoke, and his hands tore His unhelmeted hair. MEDEA You have told good news well: I ll reward you. As for those people, they will soon die. Their woes are over too soon. Jason s are not. NARRATOR: The deaths of Creon and Creusa have given Medea a certain sense of justice, but her vengeance is not yet complete. The Nurse and the Women urge her to take her children and flee, telling her that fire and death have done your bidding. Is it not enough? Medea responds: MEDEA: No, Loathing is endless. Hate is a bottomless cup, I will pour and pour.. 8

9 NARRATOR: Her focus now turns to her children. She asks, MEDEA: Would you say this child has Jason s eyes? They are his cubs. They have his blood. As long as they live I shall be mixed with him. Children, It is evening. See, evening has come. Come, little ones. Into the house. Evening brings all things home. It brings the bird to the bough and the lamb to the fold And the child to the mother. We must not think too much: people go mad If they think too much. NARRATOR: The women plead with Medea to spare the children, but it is in vain. Unaware of what has transpired in his own home, Jason rushes in, determined to confront and kill Medea for what she has done to Creon and Creusa. Instead, Medea confronts him, her gown stained with the blood of the precious sacrifice she has made.. MEDEA: What feeble night-bird overcome by misfortune beats at my door? Can this be that great adventurer, The famous lord of the seas and delight of women, the heir of rich Corinth this crying drunkard On the dark doorstep? You ve not had enough. You have come to drink the last bitter drops. I ll pour them for you. The wine I was pouring for you spilled on my hand Dear were the little grapes that were crushed to make it; dear were the vineyards. Hush, your sons are sleeping. Perhaps I will let you look at them: you cannot have them. But the hour is late, you ought to go home to that high-born bride; the night has fallen, surely she longs for you. Surely her flesh is not crusted black, nor her forehead burned bald, nor her mouth a horror. She is very young. But surely she loves and desires you Surely she will be fruitful.. I ll let you Look at your sons. Open the doors that he may see their dead bodies. I have done it: because I loathed you more Than I loved them. I tore my own heart and laughed; I was tearing yours. I would still laugh. I d still be joyful To know that every bone of your life is broken: Give them to you to bury? You would betray even the little bodies. Coin them for silver. Sell them for power. No. They are mine. They are going with me: the chariot is at the gate. Go down to your ship Argo and weep beside it, that rotting hulk on the harbor-beach 9

10 Drawn dry astrand, never to be launched again even the weeds and barnacles on the warped keel Are dead and stink: - that s your last companion And only hope: for some time one of the rotting timbers Will fall on your head and kill you meanwhile sit there and mourn, remembering the infinite evil, and the good That you made evil. 10

11 ANTIGONE ANTIGONE ISMENE NARRATOR/CREON GUARD/MESSENGER CHORUS Meghan Shelbie Leeann Amina Stormie NARRATOR: Antigone was written by Sophocles in the fifth century B.C. The story continues the plight of the House of Oedipus. When Antigone s brothers kill each other in brutal civil war, her ruling uncle Creon honors one with a decent burial, but insists, on penalty of death, that the other be left to rot in disgrace on the field. What follows is a daring collision of personal liberty and tyranny, religious conviction and legal oppression, and a sister s heroism against her uncle s stubborn resolve. Ismene, quick, come here! What s to become of us? Why are we always the ones? There s nothing, sister, nothing Zeus hasn t put us through Just because we are who we are The daughters of Oedipus. And because we are his daughters We took what came, Ismene, In public and in private, Hurt and humiliation But this I cannot take. The ones we love Are enemies of the state. To be considered traitors How so? What do you mean? I mean have you not heard? What I heard was enough. Our two brothers are dead, The Argos troops withdrawn And the pair of us left to cope. But what s next, I don t know. 11

12 That s why I came outside. The walls in there have ears. This is for your ears only. What is it? You have me scared. And right you are to be scared. Creon has made a law. Eteocles has been buried As a soldier, with full honours, So he s gone home to the dead. But not Polyneices. Polyneices is denied Any burial at all. Word has come down from Creon There s to be no laying to rest, No mourning, and the corpse Is to be publicly dishonoured. His body s to be dumped, Disposed of like a carcass, Left out for the birds to feed on. If you so much as throw him The common handful of clay You ll have committed a crime. I say, he has put it to us. I say, it s a test you re facing, Whether you are who you are, True to your seed and breed And generation, or whether Antigone Antigone, What do you mean, a test? If things have gone this far What is there I can do? You can help me do one thing. 12

13 And what thing is that? His body Help me to lift And lay your brother s body. And bury him, no matter? But what about Creon s order? What are Creon s rights When it comes to me and mine? Easy now, my sister. Think this through for a minute. Think of the line we come from: We re children of Oedipus Daughters of the man Who fathered us on his mother The king they drove from their city. And now this last thing happens. The doom in our blood comes back And brother slaughters brother The two of them, dead in a day. Are you and I to be next? How do you think they see us? How do you think we d fare If we went against the order? Two women on our own Faced with a death decree Women, defying Creon? It s not a woman s place. In the land of the living, sister, The laws of the land obtain: And the dead know that as well. The dead will have to forgive me. You and the laws of the land! Sister, let me tell you: From now on, and no matter How your mind may change, 13

14 I ll never accept your help. I will bury him my self. And if death comes, so be it. There ll be a glory in it. I ll go down to the underworld Hand in hand with a brother. And I ll go with my head held high. The gods will be proud of me. And how are you going to face them, Ismene, if you dishonour their laws? Dishonour them I do not. But nor am I strong enough To defy the laws of the land. Live, then; and live with your choice. I am going to bury his body. I fear for you, Antigone. Better fear for yourself. You are mad. You don t have a chance. Here and now, Ismene, I hate you for this talk. And the dead are going to hate you. Call me mad if you like But leave me alone to do it. If Creon has me killed, Where s the disgrace in that? The disgrace would be to avoid it. (exit Antigone) Nothing s going to stop you. But nothing s going to stop The ones that love you, sister, From keeping on loving you. (exit Ismene) 14

15 CHORUS (as narrator): Defying Creon s edict, Antigone attempts to bury her brother. When she is caught after her second attempt, she is brought to face Creon s wrath. CHORUS: Now what has happened? Is this The gods at work? Antigone, child of doom, Have you gone and broken the law? GUARD: This is the one. We caught her at it, Attending to the corpse. Where s Creon gone? CHORUS: Creon knows when he s needed. He s coming now. Needed? Why am I needed? GUARD: King Creon. Sir. Here s the one that was covering up the corpse. I was on to her in a flash; my prisoner And mine alone. And now, sir, she is yours. It s up to you to judge her and convict her And let me go. I deserve to be discharged. My job is done. How did you come on her? GUARD: I saw her burying the body you said Nobody was to bury. Will that do? How was she observed and caught? Describe it. GUARD: Oh, I ll describe it. Gladly. I went back and joined the watch. We did what we could do. We approached the corpse again and cleaned it down 15

16 And peeled away the clothes. It was going off So we stationed ourselves at points around the hill Out of the wind, you know, because of the smell. And then what happens? A whirlwind. Out of nowhere. Leaves whipped off trees. Flying sand and dust, like the sky was Vomiting black air. So we closed our eyes And braced ourselves for whatever plague it was The gods were sending. But then it clears And this one s standing, crying her eyes out. She sees the bare corpse and lets out a screech And starts to curse whoever did the deed. She lifted dust in her hands and let it fall. She poured the water three times from her urn, Taking care to do the whole thing right, And showed no signs of panic when we trapped her, Denied no thing she was accused of doing Then or earlier. You there, studying the ground: hold up your head And tell us: is this true? True. I admit it. (to guard) All right. You re in the clear so now clear off. (guard exits) You then. Tell me And be quick about it: did you or did you not Know that the proclamation forbade all this? I did know. How could I not? Didn t everybody? And still you dared to disobey the law? I disobeyed because the law was not The law of Zeus not the law ordained By Justice, Justice dwelling deep Among the gods of the dead. Was I going to humour you, or honour gods? Sooner or later I ll die anyhow And sooner may be better in my case: This death penalty is almost a relief. 16

17 CHORUS: This wildness in her comes from Oedipus. She gets it from her father. She won t relent. We ll wait and see. The bigger the resistance The bigger the collapse. Get Ismene out here. She was inside, in the house, a while ago, Raving, out of her mind. That s how guilt Affects some people. They simply break And everything comes out. But the barefaced ones, The ones who defy you more when they re found out, They re worse again. Will it be enough for you to see me executed? More than enough. Then why don t you do it quickly? Anything I have to say to you Or you to me only deepens the wound. I never did a nobler thing than bury My brother Polyneices. CHORUS: Ismene, look in tears! For her sister. For herself. Speak, you, now. You helped her, didn t you? Or are you going to claim you re innocent? I helped her, yes, if I m allowed to say so And now I stand with her to take what comes. I don t allow this. Justice won t allow it. You wouldn t help. We cut all ties. It s over. 17

18 But now I m with you. I want to throw myself Like a lifeline to you in your sea of troubles. Too late, my sister. You chose a safe line first. The dead and Hades know who did this deed. Antigone, don t rob me of all honour. Let me die with you and act right by the dead. You can t just pluck your honour off a bush You didn t plant. You forfeited your right. If Antigone dies, how will I keep on living? You can save yourself. That is my honest wish. And be forever shamed in my own eyes? Take heart, Ismene: you are still alive But I have long gone over to the dead. This is incredible: one of these Had the father s madness in her from the start But I never thought to see it in Ismene. My sister is the mainstay of my life. Your sister was there s no is anymore. You mean you d kill your own son s bride to be? I would and will. He has other fields to plough. 18

19 He loves her utterly. For him, there s no one else. No son of mine will take a condemned wife. Oh, poor, poor Haemon! To have you for a father! You and your marriage talk. Too late for that. CHORUS: Do you mean, sir, you ll rob Haemon of this woman? Hades will rob him first. CHORUS: The sentence, though, has been decided on? It has, by me, And I, remember, have your acclamation. Get her away from here. And the other one. Women were never meant for this assembly. From now on they ll be kept in place again And better be Yes, keep an eye on them. Once the end s in sight they all get desperate. Even the bravest will make a run for it. CHORUS: Creon, so adamant in his condemnation of Antigone, is soon to discover the ill-effects of ignoring wise counsel. Is this more bad news for the royal house? MESSENGER: Dead. They are dead. And the living bear the guilt. CHORUS: Who was killed? Who did the killing? Quick! MESSENGER: Haemon was killed 19

20 CHORUS: But by himself or Creon? MESSENGER: By himself. For the blood on his father s hands. I can tell you the whole thing. Right from the start I was at Creon s side, All of us climbing the hill. And sure enough It was still there, Polneices corpse, Or what the dogs had left of it. So we prayed To the goddess of the crossroads and to Pluto To hold their anger back and to ignore The pitilessness of that desecration. Then we washed the remains in purifying water, Gathered sticks and made enough of a fire To burn him decently. And as was right, We piled his home ground over him at last. Then on we went, right up to the cave mouth, And deep in that unholy vault we hear Such terrible howling we have to send for Creon. And when Creon comes, he howls himself and he knows. Oh, hide me, hide me from myself, he cries, For I face the saddest door I ever faced. I hear my son s voice in there. Come on, He shouts. Tumble the stones, break through And look and tell me. Tell me if it s Haemon. So we broke the barrier down as ordered And saw into the gallery. Antigone was there, Hanging by her neck form a linen noose, And Haemon on the ground beside her With his arms about her waist, imploring The underworld, lamenting his dead bride And shouting execrations against Creon. But Creon couldn t help himself and went With open arms to the boy and started pleading, Calling him son, saying he d had a fit And to watch himself. But Haemon spat in his face And made a quick lunge with his two-edged sword And would have got him if Creon hadn t dodged. Then before we knew where we were, he had turned The sword on himself and buried the blade half-way In his own side. And as he was collapsing His arms still clung to the girl and blood came spurting Out of his mouth all over her white cheek 20

21 That was the kiss he gave his bride to be. A wedding witnessed in the halls of death. And one to teach us living witnesses The mortal cost of ill-judged words and deeds. CHORUS: Look. Stand back. It s the king Coming to bury his own. How did the likes of us Foresee this and not him? Behold your king of wrong, Wrong-headed on the throne, Wrong-headed in the home, Wrong-footed by the heavens. And you, dear son, dead son, I was wrong to harry you. CHORUS: Too late, alas, you ve learned. MESSENGER: My lord, you come bowed down with grief enough, But you must brace yourself to suffer more. What can be worse than worst? What has happened now? MESSENGER: The one who brought your son into the world Has taken leave of it. Your queen s life-blood Is on the palace floor. Why am I clamped like prey In the hungry jaws of death? Mother and child both. I have wived and fathered death. MESSENGER: No, my lord. She dealt the stroke herself. The sword was two-edged, and so was her grief. But then as the dark stole down over her eyes, She called you death-dealer and cursed your name. 21

22 Why doesn t somebody take A two-edged sword to me? The dark is on me too. I m at bay in guilt and grief. MESSENGER: Death-dealer, she said, because you and your doings Felled her children And then she raised her hand to do the deed? MESSENGER: When she d listened to how Haemon stabbed She went and took your own sword from its scabbard And buried it in her heart. himselflet every verdict be pronounced Against me. She was guiltless. It was my hand on the hilt, My had that drove the blade. CHORUS: This is right, if right can ever come From wrongs like yours. This is good. When the worst has to be faced, the best thing is To face it quickly. The quicker it comes, the better. I want to hurry death. I want to be free of the dread Of wakening in the morning. Everything I ve touched I have destroyed. I ve nobody to turn to Nowhere I can go. My recklessness and pride I paid for in the end. The blow came quick. CHORUS: Wise conduct is the key to happiness. Always rule by the gods and reverence them. Those who overbear will be brought to grief. Fate will flail them on its winnowing floor And in due season teach them to be wise. 22

23 THE TROJAN WOMEN HECUBA WOMEN Shelbie Amina Leeann Stormie Meghan SHELBIE (as narrator): Aristotle referred to Euripides in passing as the most tragic of the poets. If what Aristotle meant was that Euripides possessed the greatest capacity in general for provoking pity and fear, then The Trojan Women, one of the greatest pieces of anti-war literature ever written, must also rank as one of the the greatest Euripidean tragedies, with it s tale of the destructive nature of war. First performed on the Athenian stage in 416 b.c., its denunciation of the terror and futility of war makes this play from a faraway age amazingly and sadly contemporary. The play has no plot, and almost no action, but it frames the impact of war on all levels of society with a pathos worthy of the poet of the world s grief, as Euripides was called. AMINA (as narrator): Before the ruined walls of ancient Troy, a few days after the battle in which King Menelaus of Sparta, and Agamemnon, general of the Greeks, had taken the city, there appears dimly in the early dawn the mourning figure of the god, Poseidon. Bodies of dead warriors lie before the huts of the captive women who await disposition among the Greek leaders, and a white-haired woman is sleeping on the ground--it is Hecuba, Queen of Troy, the wife of Priam and mother of Hector and Paris. STORMIE (as narrator): Poseidon laments the destruction of the Trojan wall which he and Apollo had built, and cries that Priam lies unburied by his own hearth while the captive women wail and the victors await the winds that will take them to their homes. He reflects that Helen, the wife of Menelaus whom Paris had brought to Troy, also awaits in a hut, a prize of war; that Hecuba's child, Polyxena, has been secretly slain and Priam and his sons are gone, while her daughter Cassandra, the virgin seeress beloved of Apollo, has been marked as the prize of Agamemnon. LEEANN (as narrator): The goddess, Pallas Athena, appears, and with Poseidon conspires to destroy the homegoing Greek ships in revenge. Poseidon cries to the conquerors: "How are ye blind, ye treaders down of cities, ye that cast temples to desolation, and lay waste tombs, the untrodden sanctuaries where lie the ancient dead; yourselves so soon to die!" The dawn comes, and Hecuba awakens to mourn her tragic fate and curse Helen as the cause. The other captive women rise to echo her cries. 23

24 HECUBA: Up from the ground O weary head, O breaking neck. This is no longer Troy. And we are not the lords of Troy Endure. The ways of fate are the ways of the wind. Drift with the stream drift with fate. No use to turn the prow to breast the waves. Let the boat ho as it chances. Sorrow, my sorrow. What sorrow is there that is not mine, Grief to weep for. Country lost and children and husband. Glory of all my house brought low. All was nothing nothing always. What did you come for? A woman? A thing of loathing, of shame, To husband, to brother, to home. She slew Priam, the king, Father of fifty sons, She wrecked me upon the reef of destruction. Who am I that I wait here at a Greek king s door? A slave that men drive on, An old gray woman that has no home. Shaven head brought low in dishonor. O wives of the bronze-armored men who fought, And maidens, sorrowing maidens, plighted to shame, See only smoke left where was Troy. AMINA: Your cry, O Hecuba oh, such a cry What does it mean? There in the tent we heard you call so piteously, And through our hearts flashed fear. In the tent we were weeping, too, for we are slaves. HECUBA: Look, child, there where the Greek ships lie LEEANN They are moving. The men hold oars. STORMIE: O God, what will they do? Carry me off over the sea in a ship far from home? HECUBA: You ask, and I know nothing. But I think ruin is here. 24

25 MEGHAN: Oh, we are wretched. We shall hear the summons. Women of Troy, go forth from your home, for the Greeks set sail. HECUBA: But not Cassandra, oh, not her. She is mad she has been driven mad. Leave her within, Not shamed before the Greeks not that grief too. I have enough. AMINA: Out of the Greek king s tent trembling I come, O Queen, to hear my fate from you. Not death They would not think of death for a poor woman. STORMIE: The sailors they are standing on the prow. Already they are running out the oars. LEEANN: It is so early but a terror woke me. My heart beats so. MEGHAN: Has a herald come from the Greek camp? Whose slave shall I be? I bear that? HECUBA: Wait for the lot drawing. It is near. AMINA: My dead sons. I would look at them once more. Never again. STORMIE: Worse to come. A Greek s bed and I LEEANN: A night like that? Oh, never Oh, no not that for me. MEGHAN: I see myself a water carrier, dipping my pitcher in the great Pierian spring. AMINA: The land of Theseus, Athens, it is known to be a happy place. I wish I could go there. 25

26 STORMIE: But not to the Eurotas, hateful river, where Helen lived. Not there, to be a slave to Menelaus who sacked Troy. HECUBA: And I, old gray head, whose slave am I, creeping along with my crutch? LEEANN (as narrator): The crushing news of Hecuba s fate is unwillingly brought by the Greek herald, Talthybius. He informs Hecuba that Cassandra is to be the bride of Agamemnon, hints that Polyxena is dead, and reveals that Andromache, the wife of Hector, is to be the prize of Pyrrhus, Achilles' son; Hecuba herself is fated to be the slave of the despised Odysseus, King of Ithaca. HECUBA: Beat, beat my shorn head! Tear, tear my cheek! His slave vile lying man. I have come to this There is nothing good he does not hurt a lawless beast. Pity me, women of Troy, I have gone. I am lost oh, wretched. An evil fate fell on me, a lot the hardest of all. AMINA: O dear one, O my husband, You are dead, and you wander unburied, uncared for, While over-seas the ships shall carry me, Swift-winged ships darting onward, On to the land the riders love, Argos, where the towers of stone built by giants reach the sky. STORMIE: Children, our children. At the gate they are crying, crying, Calling to us with tears, Mother, I am all alone. They are driving me away to a black ship, and I cannot see you. LEEANN: Where, oh where? To holy Salamis, with swift oars dipping? Or to the crest of Corinth, the city of two seas, Where the gates King Pelops built for his dwelling stand? MEGHAN: Oh, if only, far out to sea, The crashing thunder of God would fall down, 26

27 Down on Menelaus ship, He it was drove me from Troy. He is driving me in tears over to Greece to slavery. AMINA (narration): Cassandra appears, bearing a torch and walking as in a dream in her bridal garlands. She chants dire prophecies of the Greeks' empty victory, with death for Agamemnon and "the dark wanderings" of mother-murder that shall destroy the house of Atreus. She becomes conscious of the awed Talthybius, and, tearing off her garlands, goes to "the house of Death to lie beside my bridegroom," with a final word of comfort for her city and for Hecuba, who collapses to the ground, broken in grief. MEGHAN (narration): A chariot approaches from the town, laden with spoils and bearing a mourning woman who holds a child in her arms--andromache, the widow of Hector, and her baby. Andromache, crying her grief to Hecuba, calls down God's wrath on Paris "who sold for his evil love Troy and the towers thereof." She confirms to the agonized Hecuba that Polyxena has been slain at Achilles' tomb. STORMIE (narration): Andromache asks how she can become the wife of Achilles' son without shame to herself and her beloved Hector, but Hecuba counsels that she honor her new lord and thus, perhaps, be permitted to rear her son as a future saviour of Ilion. But the gentle Talthybius returns with news that Odysseus has prevailed in council, and ordered that the child is to be dashed to death from the wall; if Andromache casts a curse upon the Greek ships, the baby is to have no burial. The stricken mother, calling a curse upon Helen, addresses her baby: AMINA (as Andromache): "Go, die, my best-beloved, my cherished one, In fierce men's hands, leaving me here alone... Weepest thou? Nay, why, my little one? Thou canst not know. And father will not come; he will not come... How shall it be? One horrible spring... deep, deep Down. And thy neck... Ah, God, so cometh sleep!... And none to pity thee!... Thou little thing That curlest in my arms, what sweet scents cling All around thy neck; now, kiss me, lips to lips... Quick! Take him: drag him: cast him from the wall... To the bridal... I have lost my child, my own!" STORMIE (narration): Andromache, half swooning, is driven to the ships, and a soldier bears the child to his death. HECUBA: When Hector fought and thousands at his side, we fell beneath you. 27

28 Now, when all is lost, the city captured and the Trojans dead, A little child like this has made you afraid. The fear that comes when reason goes away Myself, I do not wish to share it. Poor little one. How savagely our ancient walls, Apollo s towers, have torn away the curls your mother s fingers wound and where she pressed her kisses here where the broken bone grins white Oh no I cannot Dear hands, the same dear shape your father s had, how loosely now you fall. And dear proud lips forever closed. False words you spoke to me when you would jump into my bed, call me sweet names and tell me, Grandmother, when you are dead, I ll cut off a great lock of hair and lead my soldiers all to ride out past your tomb. Not you, but I, old homeless, childless, Must lay you in your grave, so young, So miserably dead Child, they have taken all that was your father s, but one thing, for your burying, you shall have, the bronze-barred shield. It kept safe Hector s mighty arm, but now it has lost its master. Come, Bring such covering for the pitiful dead body as we still have. God has not left us much to a make a show with. Everything I have I give you, child. Go: lay our dead in his poor grave, with these last gifts of death given to him. I think those that are gone care little how they are buried. It is we, the living, our vanity. STORMIE: Oh, terrible! The fire lights the whole town up. The inside rooms are burning. The citadel it is all flame now. LEEANN: Troy is vanishing. War first ruined her. And what was left is rushing up in smoke, the glorious houses fallen. First the spear and then the fire. HECUBA: My knees are stiff, but I must kneel. Now, strike the ground with both my hands AMINA: I too, I kneel upon the ground. I call to mine down there. Husband, poor husband. 28

29 HECUBA: They are driving us like cattle taking us away. STORMIE: Pain, all pain. LEEANN: To a slave s house, from my country. HECUBA: Priam, Priam, you are dead, And not a friend to bury you. The evil that has found me Do you know? MEGHAN: No. Death has darkened his eyes. He was good and the wicked killed him. HECUBA: O dwellings of the gods and O dear city, The spear came first and now only the red flame lives there. AMINA: Fall and be forgotten. Earth is kind. STORMIE: The dust is rising, spreading out like a great wing of smoke. I cannot see my house. LEEANN: The name has vanished from the land, and we are gone, One here, one there. And Troy is gone forever. MEGHAN (narration): With a great crash, the city wall is lost in smoke and darkness, signaling the fall of Troy. AMINA: Earthquake and flood and the city s end HECUBA: Trembling body old weak limbs, You must carry me on to the new day of slavery. 29

30 STORMIE: Farewell, dear city. Farewell, my country, where once my children lived. LEEANN: On to the ships.. ALL: There below, the Greek ships wait. 30