The Trojan women; Helen; The Bacchae Book

This is an interesting adaptation of Euripides' Trojan Women. MacEwen definitely revises it to fit more with the theatrical norms of the late 70s--this is more ritualistic than the Euripides, more atheistic, more existentially despairing. There are two things in particular I find interesting about this adaptation. The first is the consistent suggestion that the gods are either dead, or have abandoned Troy/humanity, or some other variation of post-Nietzschean doubt. This is a fairly important departure from Euripides, who, while he was more willing than Aiskhulos of Sophokles to call out and even mock the gods, does not (as far as I can remember from the 16 of his plays I've read) suggest a deity-less universe. Euripides was in many ways a modern playwright, but he was still functioning in a theatrical and cultural context that assumed the existence of gods who affected people's daily lives. This kind of atheistic doubt--which is a fairly major theme in this version--is definitely a modern perspective.

The other interesting change from the Euripides is that Hecuba is much more adversarial, which to me makes it harder to see her as a frail old woman (which is part of her ethical authority in the Euripides, as she struggles not only against the Greeks but against her own physical infirmity). Here Hecuba develops agonistic relationships with virtually every other major character--not only Menelaus/the Greeks and Helen, but with Cassandra and Andromache as well. This is particularly interesting because in the Euripides there is much more undivided sympathy between these Trojan women, whereas here there are major divisions. In fact, I actually find MacEwen's Andromache unlikable, and I side with Hecuba against her. Here, Andromache talks about how she was a perfect wife, and how she only lived for Hector and Asthyanax, and she really doesn't come across as much of a person. Hecuba condemns Andromache's vicarious live, telling her that Hector's life was his life and his death was his death, neither belonged to Andromache. This argument and condemnation are not, I think, present in the Euripides version.