1 EURIPIDES' TROJAN WOMEN PREFACE, TRANSLATION, and ...

The most popular of Euripides’ plays were Medea, Hippolytus, Trojan Women and
Bacchae and they have been revived throughout the ages. Several of the plays of
Euripides were translated into English earlier than those of Aeschylus or Sophocles. The
first translation of Trojan Women into English was by J. Bannister in 1780.
Michael Cacoyannis' filmed trilogy comprised Electra (1961), Trojan Women (1971) and
Iphigenia (1976), all protesting in their own way unjust oppression. In his Trojan Women,
Cacoyannis uses the voices of the women in the chorus in a dramatically effective way,
particularly when they recount the taking of Troy. Their staccato rhythms well convey the
panic of that night. Irene Papas plays a seductive Helen, complete with her convincing a
guard to give her extra water. This was followed by glimpses of her bathing. Papas said
she would have preferred to play Andromache. Vanessa Redgrave brought a British
coolness to that role, and one wonders how Papas would have handled it. Papas realized
the tragic potential in Andromache’s role as a mother who loses her child in contrast with
Helen’s more limited role as a femme fatale. Cacoyannis adds dialogue that shows that
Helen is a mere excuse for this war. Katharine Hepburn creates a moving Hecuba. The
young Geneviève Bujold was a good choice for the innocent and violated Cassandra. The
mixture of accents is startling at times, but the genius of the work overrides this anomaly.
Cacoyannis has a closing statement appear on the screen: “We who have made this film
dedicate it to all those who fearlessly oppose the oppression of man by man.”
McDonald had a version performed in 2000 by the Old Globe Theatre, San Diego,
directed by Seret Scott, and this translation performed in 2009 by Ion Theatre, San Diego,
directed by Claudio Raygoza.
Text in Greek for Euripides
Diggle, James, Euripidis Fabulae, Oxford, Oxford Classical Text, 1981-194 I in three
volumes.
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