Troades

About this book

Troades (or The Trojan Women) is a Latin verse drama by Seneca the Younger. It is partly based on Euripedes' tragedy of the same name. The long and toilsome siege of Troy is done. Her stately palaces and massive walls have been overthrown and lie darkening the sky with their still smouldering ruins. Her heroic defenders are either slain or scattered seeking other homes in distant lands. 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. They await the lot which shall assign them to their Grecian lords and scatter them among the cities of their foes. All things are ready for the start. But 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. And Calchas, also, bids that Astyanax be slain, for only thus can Greece be safe from any future Trojan war. And thus the Trojan captives who have so long endured the pains of war, must suffer still this double tragedy. (Summary by Alan Mapstone and the translator) Cast list Hecuba: WendyKatzHiller Andromache: Agnes Robert Behr Helena: ShrimpPhish Agamemnon: Greg Giordano Pyrrhus: Beeswaxcandle Ulysses: Adrian Stephens Calchas: Algy Pug Talthybius: Larry Wilson Old Man: Alan Mapstone Astyanax: Inkell Messenger: Robert Cheyne Chorus: dc Chorus: Rapunzelina Chorus: Winnifred Assmann Narration: Alan Mapstone Audio Editor: Alan Maptone