Review of The Trojan Women (1971) by David C — 13 Jul 2013

Playwright Euripides' barrier-crossing sympathy for women on the losing side of the mythic Trojan war could have been written over two millennia later as a sword-and-sandal allegory of some contemporary conflict.

The obvious relevance was not lost on adapter/producer/director/editor Michael Cacoyannis, who includes a dedication to those who would resist oppression. Yet Euripides' play begins after resistance has come and gone and all is truly lost.

All that is left is to discover how insidious and inescapable total defeat is. Try as they might to deny the end of their culture, to comfort themselves through religion, to remember that they were once great, to find some small triumph in the ability to stand upright, the Trojan women may not retain even a shred of their past dignity.

It is not that the Greeks gloat: the Greek soldier who speaks the most is apologetic and respectful in response to powerful speeches delivered by women of such presence as Katharine Hepburn, Vanessa Redgrave, and Irene Papas, but in the end he is the victor and with that comes the obligation, distasteful though he may find it, to play the part.