The Greatest Minds and Ideas of All Time

Fear-conquering, till thy heart as mine be stirred

Without joy.To die is only not to be….

And I—long since I drew my bow

Straight at the heart of good fame; and I know

My shaft hit; and for that I am the more

Fallen from peace.All that men praise us for,

I loved for Hector’s sake, and sought to win,

I knew that always, be there hurt therein

Or utter innocence, to roam abroad

Hath ill report for women; so I trod

Down the desire thereof, and walked my way

In my own garden.And light words and gay

Parley of women never passed my door.

The thoughts of mine own heart—I craved no more—

Spake with me, and I was happy. Constantly

I brought fair silence and a tranquil eye

For Hector’s greeting, and watched well the way

Of living,where to guide and where obey….

O my Hector, best beloved,

That being mine,wast all in all to me,

My prince,my wise one, O my majesty

Of valiance! No man’s touch had ever come

Near me,when thou from out my father’s home

Didst lead me and make me thine….And thou art dead,

And I war-flung to slavery and the bread

Of shame in Hellas, over bitter seas!

Hecuba reproves her, and suggests the hope that Hector’s child, Astyanax, may some day restore his fallen city. But at that moment Talthybius returns to say that the Council of the Greeks, for the security of Hellas, has decided that Astyanax must be flung to his death from the walls of Troy. Andromache, holding the child in her arms, bids it farewell:

Thou little thing

That curlest in my arms,what sweet scents cling

Around thy neck! Beloved, can it be

All nothing, that this bosom cradled thee

And fostered, all the weary nights wherethrough

I watched upon thy sickness, till I grew

Wasted with watching? Kiss me. This one time;

Not ever again. Put up thine arms, and climb

About my neck; now kiss me, lips to lips …

Oh, ye have found an anguish that outstrips

All tortures of the East, ye gentle Greeks!

Quick; take him, drag him, cast him from the wall

If cast ye will! Tear him, ye beasts, be swift!

God hath undone me, and I cannot lift

One hand, one hand, to save my child from death.

Menelaus enters, looking for Helen, and vowing to kill her on sight; but when she appears, proud and unafraid, still dia gunaikon (goddess among women), he is drunk at once with her beauty, forgets to murder her, and bids his slaves place her “in some chamber’d galley, where she may sail the seas.” Then Talthybius returns, bearing the dead body of Hector’s child. Hecuba swathes the mangled baby in burial robes, and speaks to it in lines realistic even in their sentiment:

Ah,what a death has found thee, little one!…

Ye tender arms, the same dear mould have ye

As his….And dear proud lips, so full of hope

And closed forever! What false words ye said

At day-break,when ye crept into my bed,

Called me kind names, and promised,

“Grandmother,When thou art dead, I will cut close my hair

And lead out all the captains to ride by

Thy tomb.” Why didst thou cheat me so? ’Tis I,