01/30/2024
“The whole crowd of the Achaean army was there en masse before the tomb for the slaughter of your girl. The son of Achilles then took Polyxena by the hand and made her stand on the top of the mound. And I was near by. Picked young men selected from the Achaeans attended, to hold down your poor girl if she struggled. Then Achilles’ son took a full goblet all of gold in his hands and raised on high the libation for his dead father. He signaled to me to call for silence from the whole Achaean army. And I stood up in the middle and said these words : ‘Silence, Achaeans, let the whole host be silent! Silence! Not a word!’ And I hushed the crowd to stillness. and he said, ‘O son of Peleus, my father, receive from me this libation which summons up the dead, and be appeased. Come, so that you may drink a virgin’s pure dark blood which the army and I give to you. Show yourself well disposed towards us and grant that we may untie the ropes which hold our ships’ sterns fast, meet with a favorable return from Troy and, all of us, reach our native land.’ That was what he said, and the whole army prayed after him. Then, seizing his sword of solid gold by the hilt, he started to draw it from its sheath, and with a nod he signaled to the young men picked from the Greek army to take hold of the girl. But when she saw this, she spoke out these words: ‘Argives, you who have sacked my city, I am happy to die. Let no one lay a hand on my body, I shall offer my neck with good courage. By the gods, leave me free when you kill me so that I can die a free woman! I am a princess and it would shame me to bear the name of slave among the dead.’ The host roared their approval and king Agamemnon told the young men to let the maiden go… When she heard this order of the master, she took hold of her dress and tore it from the top of her shoulder to the middle of her waist by the navel. Her lovely breasts and bosom were revealed like a statue’s, and sinking to her knees upon the ground she spoke the most heart-rending words of all : “Look at me! If you are eager to strike this bosom, young Neoptolemus, strike it now – or if you want to cut into my neck, here is my throat all ready.’ In his pity for the girl, he wavered between reluctance and eagerness, but then he cut her windpipe with his sword. Springs of blood welled forth. But even though she was dying, she nonetheless took great care to fall modestly, hiding what should be hidden from men’s eyes.”
~ Euripides | Hecuba
