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Delahoyde & Hughes
Orpheus
ANDROMACHE
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Andromache is "primarily a piece of anti-Spartan propaganda, written near the
beginning of the Peloponnesian War, but it is a real tragedy, not merely a political
squib, thanks to Euripides' unfailing sympathy for the oppressed and his passionate
conviction that the war was not merely a quarrel between two cities but a clash between
two ways of life" (Hadas 99).
Andromache, the widow of Hector, is at the altar of Thetis, bemoaning her lot: after
the fall of Troy she became the slave of Achilles' son, Neoptolemus, in Phthia and has
given birth to a son, Molossus. Ever since Neoptolemus married Hermione of Sparta,
Menelaus' daughter, this Spartan woman has been harassing Andromache, accusing her
of causing Hermione's own barrenness. "It is in the nature of woman, when sorrows
surround her, to find joy in giving voice and tongue continually to her griefs....
Call no man happy till he is dead" (103). Andromache has a contentious discussion
with Hermione, after which Andromache herself remarks,
A Nurse reports that Hermione is suicidal, having realized that Neoptolemus will
probably throw her out for attempting to kill Andromache and Molossus. Hermione
indeed runs nearly mad with fretting, until Orestes shows up, to whom she had been
promised as wife years ago. "What misfortune, except trouble with her husband,
could befall a woman who has no children?" (121), he asks. She tells him she was
plotting against Andromache and her son, but blames other women:
Deus ex machina! Thetis appears, giving funeral commands and declaring that
Andromache "must settle in the Molossian country ... united with Helenus, (Hector's
brother,) in proper wedlock" (128-129). She will deify Peleus and the two of them
will live together forever. The Chorus expresses awe at this divine intervention.
It's a strange thing that whereas there are antidotes, revealed to men by some god,
against the venom of fierce serpents, nobody has yet discovered a remedy for a
plague worse than fire or any viper -- the plague of Woman. Such a curse our sex
is to mankind. (108)
The Chorus reflects on the tragedy of Troy and the failure to listen to Cassandra
calling for the murder of the baby Paris. Menelaus comes, threatening Andromache
that if she does not leave the sanctuary of the temple and submit to her death
then they'll kill her kid. Andromache retorts,
Was it really you that led the flower of Greece to war and wrested Troy from
Priam, was it really this poor specimen that is now cajoled by his childish daughter
and, snorting with fury, enters into the lists with a helpless woman, a slave? You
were not worthy of Troy, I tell you. (109)
Menelaus claims that "it is a greater thing for a man to attain the object of the moment
than to capture Troy" (110). "Anything else that happens to a woman is secondary; when
she loses her man she loses her life" (110). Although Andromache says his persecution
is misplaced, since she was forced as a slave to sleep with his now son-in-law,
Menelaus succeeds in tricking her away from the altar. Afterwards he immediately
breaks his promise and declares that Hermione will decide the fate of Andromache's
son. Andromache, justifiably, rails:
O ye inhabitants of Sparta, the whole human race loathes you. Your counsels are full
of treachery. Masters of the lie you are, ever planning wickedness. Your minds are
crooked, hypocritical, always devious. Justice is thwarted by your successes in
Greece. What crimes are not found among you? Where does murder thrive more? Or
sordid greed? ... (111)
Andromache is bound and her murder is prepared for, with Molossus present. But the
kid's great-grandfather, Peleus, who was Achilles' father and husband of Thetis, arrives
and commands Andromache's release, holding his own in debate against Menelaus and
mentioning, "You alone came back from Troy without even a sword-scratch. Your untarnished
armor in its fair coverings returned with you as good as it went" (115). Beyond calling
Menelaus a coward, he offers the unusual perspective that when Helen went "gallivanting"
off with Paris, Menelaus should have written her off instead of starting the war.
Menelaus tries to erode Peleus' defense of Andromache: "She had her share in the
blood of your own son; for Paris, who slew your son Achilles, was the brother of
Hector, and she is Hector's wife" (116). (It seems a desperate stretch.) But Peleus
insults him further: "The ordinary man is a thousand times cleverer" than generals,
"he only lacks their effrontery and ambition" (117). Menelaus withdraws and Peleus
reassures Andromache.
Perhaps you may ask how I came to make this mistake. Listening to bad women was my
ruin.... I, listening to their siren words ... became swollen with folly.... But
never, let me say it again, never should men of sense who have a wife at home, allow
other wives to visit her frequently. They teach mischief. One woman seeks to undermine
her love for some private profit of her own. Another, faithless herself, wants a
companion in wickedness. In many cases it may be merely prurience. There is the
source of all infidelity in men's homes. Therefore, guard your housedoors well, with
bolts and bars. When other women get in, they do no good, and much mischief. (122)
Orestes has planned an ambush on Neoptolemus and runs off with Hermione. Peleus learns
of this but is too late to prevent the cowardly slaughter of his grandson. The corpse
is brought in and the Chorus drives home the notion that Peleus' life is now pointless.
The play contains numerous interesting takes on old familiar material concerning the Trojan War and its key figures. Amid this is something of a thematic focus on women illogically victimizing each other while all under oppressive male idiocy and the overvaluing of breeding. Euripides is clearly critiquing this sociological phenomenon, not mindlessly capturing the ancient Greek value system, since although not only women in the play pronounce the worse condemnations of women, still the other offensive assumptions given voice come from the slimy Orestes ("What misfortune, except trouble with her husband, could befall a woman who has no children?") or are applied to men too (e.g., Peleus having no purpose for living once his grandson is dead).
Euripides. Andromache. Ten Plays. Trans. Moses Hadas and John McLean. NY: Bantam, 1981. 99-129.