Source edition
Euripides. Euripidis Fabulae, Vol. I. Murray, Gilbert, editor. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1902. (Reprinted 1906-1974)
Source data
Perseus Digital Library · CC BY-SA 4.0
Cloned and adapted by Humanitext, with ongoing edits.
Summary
This Greek tragedy depicts the immense suffering and fierce revenge of Hecuba, the former queen of Troy, in the aftermath of her city's fall. Set on the coast of Thrace, the play begins with Hecuba learning that her beloved daughter Polyxena must be sacrificed to appease the ghost of the Greek hero Achilles. While Hecuba mourns this loss, she is struck by an even crueler blow: the corpse of her youngest son, Polydorus, washes ashore, revealing that their Thracian ally, King Polymestor, murdered him for gold. Overwhelmed by grief and betrayal, Hecuba secures the tacit consent of the Greek leader Agamemnon to exact a brutal vengeance. Under the pretext of revealing hidden treasure, she lures Polymestor and his children into her tent, where she and the captive Trojan women slaughter the sons and blind the king. The play concludes with Agamemnon sentencing the blinded king to exile on a desert island, while Polymestor prophesies a grim fate for Hecuba as the Greeks prepare to sail away.