Hecuba

Roles

• Hecuba - Adult (36-50), Senior (>50), Female

About this piece

Hecuba begs Agamemnon to help her avenge her son

Summary

The story takes place in Troy right after the end of the Trojan war, after the Greeks triumph but before they sail back to Greece. Hecuba used to the the queen of Troy, wife of King Priam and mother of several children including Hector, the warrior killed by Achilles, and Cassandra, who becomes Agamemnon's concubine after the war. The play deals with Hecuba's loss of her daughter Polyxena, who has been chosen as the sacrifice for Achilles' tomb by the Greeks, and Polydorus, her son that had been sent to the court of Polydorus, the Thracian king, along with a large amount of Trojan treasure, to be protected. The Thracian king betrays Troy and kills Polydorus to take possession of the treasure. The first part of the play deals with Hecuba's sorrow after she learns that her daughter will be sacrificed. She pleads to Agamemnon and later Odysseus to save her but to no avail. Polyxena, on the other hand, accepts her fate. This monologue comes in the second episode of the play. Hecuba has just learned that Polydorus' corpse has been found on shore. She laments her grief and in this monologue she tells Agamemnon who killed her son and pleads to him to help her avenge him by killing Polymestor.

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