1.
Alcestis (play)
Alcestis is an Athenian tragedy by the ancient Greek playwright Euripides. It was first produced at the City Dionysia festival in 438 BCE and its ambiguous, tragicomic tone—which may be cheerfully romantic or bitterly ironic—has earned it the label of a problem play. Alcestis is, possibly excepting the Rhesus, the oldest surviving work by Euripides, long before the start of the play, King Admetus was granted by the Fates the privilege of living past the allotted time of his death. The Fates were persuaded to allow this by the god Apollo, Apollo wishes to repay Admetus hospitality and offers him freedom from death. The gift, comes with a price, Admetus must find someone to take his place when Death comes to claim him, the time of Admetus death comes and he still has not found a willing substitute. His father, Pheres, is unwilling to step in and thinks that it is ludicrous that he should be asked to give up the life he enjoys so much as part of this strange deal. Finally, Admetus devoted wife Alcestis agrees to be taken in his place because she not to leave her children fatherless or be bereft of her lover.
At the start of the play, she is close to death and he offers an exposition of the events leading up to this moment. He hails the arrival of Thanatos, dressed in black, Thanatos challenges Apollos apparent defense of Alcestis and accuses him of twisting slippery tricks when he helped Admetus cheat death in the first place. Apollo reassures him and, in a passage of swift stichomythic banter, proposes a postponement of Alcestis death, for once, Thanatos concludes, you may not have what is not yours. Defeated, Apollo leaves angrily, prophesying the arrival of a man who will wrestle Alcestis away from Death. Alone with the audience, Thanatos warns that this was a god of many words, the entry of the chorus, or the parodos sequence, follows, a chorus of fifteen men of Pherae, led by a coryphaeus, enter the orchestra of the theatre. The chorus-leader complains that they are in a state of suspense, the chorus lyrical ode, to which they dance as they sing, consists of two paired stanzas of strophe and antistrophe.
They sing of the silence that greets their search for signs of mourning, when goodness dies, they lament, all good men suffer, too. The chorus-leader concludes by dismissing the chorus search for hope in the situation, the first episode begins with a maidservant, who enters from the palace in tears. When the chorus-leader presses her for news, she gives a confusing response, Alcestis stands, she explains, at this moment on the brink of life and death. The chorus-leader anxiously confirms that all of the customary preparations have been made for her proper burial, the maidservant joins the chorus-leader in praising Alcestis virtue. She describes how Admetus held Alcestis weeping in his arms while her eyes clung to the sight of the last rays of sun she would see, the maidservant welcomes the chorus-leader to the palace and goes inside to inform Admetus of their arrival
2.
Oedipus at Colonus
Oedipus at Colonus is one of the three Theban plays of the Athenian tragedian Sophocles. It was written shortly before Sophocles death in 406 BC and produced by his grandson at the Festival of Dionysus in 401 BC. In the timeline of the plays, the events of Oedipus at Colonus occur after Oedipus Rex and before Antigone, the play describes the end of Oedipus tragic life. Led by Antigone, Oedipus enters the village of Colonus and sits down on a stone and they are approached by a villager, who demands that they leave, because that ground is sacred to the Furies, or Erinyes. The chorus of old men from the village enters, and persuades Oedipus to leave the holy ground and they question him about his identity, and are horrified to learn that he is the son of Laius. Although they promised not to harm Oedipus, they wish to expel him from their city, Oedipus answers by explaining that he is not morally responsible for his crimes, since he killed his father in self-defence. Furthermore, he asks to see their king, saying, I come as someone sacred, someone filled with piety and power, the chorus is amazed, and decides to reserve their judgment of Oedipus until Theseus, king of Athens, arrives.
Ismene arrives on horseback, rejoicing to see her father and sister and she brings the news that Eteocles has seized the throne of Thebes from his elder brother, while Polynices is gathering support from the Argives to attack the city. Both sons have heard from an oracle that the outcome of the conflict will depend on where their father is buried, hearing this, Oedipus curses both of his sons for not treating him well, contrasting them with his devoted daughters. He pledges allegiance with neither of his sons, but with the people of Colonus, who thus far have treated him well. Because Oedipus trespassed on the ground of the Eumenides, the villagers tell him that he must perform certain rites to appease them. Ismene volunteers to go perform them for him and departs, while Antigone remains with Oedipus, the chorus questions Oedipus once more, desiring to know the details of his incest and patricide. After he relates his story to them, Theseus enters. He sympathizes with Oedipus, and offers him unconditional aid, causing Oedipus to praise Theseus and offer him the gift of his burial site, Theseus protests, saying that the two cities are friendly, and Oedipus responds with what is perhaps the most famous speech in the play.
Oh Theseus, dear friend, only the gods can never age, all else in the world almighty Time obliterates, crushes all to nothing. Theseus makes Oedipus a citizen of Athens, and leaves the chorus to him as he departs. The chorus sings about the glory and beauty of Athens, who is the representative of Thebes, comes to Oedipus and feigns pity for him and his children, telling him that he should return to Thebes. Oedipus is disgusted by Creons duplicity and recounts all of the harms Creon has inflicted on him, Creon becomes angry and reveals that he has already captured Ismene, he instructs his guards to forcibly seize Antigone
3.
The Suppliants (Aeschylus)
The Suppliants, called The Suppliant Maidens, or The Suppliant Women, is a play by Aeschylus. It was long thought to be the earliest surviving play by Aeschylus due to the relatively anachronistic function of the chorus as the protagonist of the drama. However, evidence discovered in the mid-20th century shows it one of Aeschylus last plays, definitely after The Persians, the Danaids form the chorus and serve as the protagonists. They flee a forced marriage to their Egyptian cousins, when the Danaides reach Argos, they entreat King Pelasgus to protect them. He refuses pending the decision of the Argive people, who decide in the favor of the Danaids, Danaus rejoices the outcome, and the Danaids praise the Greek gods. Almost immediately, a herald of the Egyptians comes to attempt to force the Danaids to return to their cousins for marriage, Pelasgus arrives, threatens the herald, and urges the Danaids to remain within the walls of Argos. The play ends with the Danaids retreating into the Argive walls, the remaining plays of the tetralogy have been mostly lost.
However, one significant passage from The Danaids has been preserved and this is a speech by the goddess of love Aphrodite praising the marriage between the sky and the earth from which rain comes, nourishing cattle and fruits. As the plot of the remaining plays has been reconstructed, following a war with the Aegyptids in which Pelasgus has been killed. The marriage is forced upon his daughters, but Danaus instructs them to murder their husbands on their wedding night, all do except for Hypermnestra, whose husband, flees. Danaus imprisons or threatens to kill Hypermnestra for her disobedience, but Lynceus reappears and kills Danaus, Lynceus becomes the new king of Argos, opinions differ as to the ending, although certainly Aphrodite was involved in the denouement. An alternative opinion is that Hypermnestra is put on trial for disobeying her father, the trilogy was followed by the satyr play Amymone, which comically portrayed one of the Danaids seduction by Poseidon. George Thomson, expanding on D. S.
Ridgeway, on the other hand, friis Johansen, H. and Whittle, E. W. Aeschylus, The Suppliants. Garvie, A. F. Aeschylus Supplices and Trilogy. E. D. A. Morshead,1908 - verse, full text Walter George Headlam and C. E. S. Headlam,1909 - prose Herbert Weir Smyth,1922 - prose, full text G. M. Cookson,1922 - verse S
4.
Philoctetes (Sophocles play)
Philoctetes is a play by Sophocles. The play was written during the Peloponnesian War and it is one of the seven extant tragedies by Sophocles. It was first performed at the City Dionysia in 409 BC, the story takes place during the Trojan War. It describes the attempt by Neoptolemus and Odysseus to bring the disabled Philoctetes, when Heracles was near his death, he wished to be burned on a funeral pyre while still alive. Sophocles references the myth in which no one but Philoctetes would light the fire, Philoctetes left with the Greeks to participate in the Trojan War, but was bitten on the foot by a snake while walking on Chryse, a sacred ground. The bite caused him constant agony, and emitted a horrible smell, for this reason he was left by Odysseus and the Atreidai on the desert island Lemnos. Ten years pass, and the Greeks capture the Trojan seer Helenus and he foretells that they will need the master archer Philoctetes and the bow of Heracles to win the war. Odysseus sails back to Lemnos with Neoptolemus to get Philoctetes, the task is not easy, as Philoctetes bitterly hates Odysseus and the Greeks for leaving him there.
Sophocles Philoctetes begins with their arrival on the island, Odysseus explains to Neoptolemus that he must perform a shameful action in order to garner future glory - to take Philoctetes by tricking him with a false story while Odysseus hides. Neoptolemus is portrayed as a boy, and so it takes some persuading to get him to play this part. To gain Philoctetes trust, Neoptolemus tricks Philoctetes into thinking he hates Odysseus as well, Neoptolemus does this by telling Philoctetes that Odysseus has his fathers armor. He tells Philoctetes that this armor was his right by birth, after gaining Philoctetes trust and offering him a ride home, Neoptolemus is allowed to look at the bow of Heracles. Neoptolemus holds the bow while Philoctetes is going into a fit of pain in his foot. Feeling ashamed, Neoptolemus debates giving it back to him, Odysseus appears, and a series of arguments ensue. Eventually Neoptolemus conscience gains the hand, and he returns the bow. After many threats made on both sides, Odysseus flees, Neoptolemus tries to talk Philoctetes into coming to Troy by his own free will, but Philoctetes does not agree.
In the end, Neoptolemus consents to take Philoctetes back to Greece and this appears to be the conclusion of the play—however, as they are leaving, Heracles appears above them and tells Philoctetes that if he goes to Troy, he will be cured and the Greeks will win. When Philoctetes fights in Troy, his foot is healed, the concept of having a moral high ground is a key aspect in this play
5.
Agathon
Agathon was an Athenian tragic poet whose works have been lost. He is best known for his appearance in Platos Symposium, which describes the banquet given to celebrate his obtaining a prize for his first tragedy at the Lenaia in 416 and he is a prominent character in Aristophanes comedy the Thesmophoriazusae. Agathon was the son of Tisamenus, and the companion of Pausanias. Together with Pausanias, he moved to the court of Archelaus, king of Macedon. Agathon was the first playwright to write choral parts which were independent from the main plot of his plays. Agathon is portrayed by Plato as a young man, well dressed, of polished manners, courted by the fashion and wisdom of Athens. In the play Frogs, Aristophanes softens his criticisms, Agathon was a friend of Euripides, another recruit to the court of Archelaus of Macedon. Agathons extraordinary physical beauty is brought up repeatedly in the sources, the most detailed surviving description of Agathon is in the Thesmophoriazousae, in which Agathon appears as a pale, clean-shaven young man dressed in womens clothes.
Scholars are unsure how much of Aristophanes portrayal is fact and how much mere comic invention. Agathon has been thought to be the subject of Lovers Lips, another translation reads, Kissing Agathon, I found my soul at my lips. It went there, hoping--to slip across, although the authenticity of this epigram was accepted for many centuries, it was probably not composed for Agathon the tragedian, nor was it composed by Plato. Stylistic evidence suggests that the poem was written some time after Plato had died, its form is that of the Hellenistic erotic epigram. According to 20th-century scholar Walther Ludwig, the poems were spuriously inserted into a biography of Plato sometime between 250 BC and 100 BC and adopted by writers from this source. Of Agathons plays, only six titles and thirty-one fragments have survived, Fragments in A Nauck, μόνου γὰρ αὐτοῦ καὶ θεὸς στερίσκεται, ἀγένητα ποιεῖν ἅσσ᾽ ἂν ᾖ πεπραγμένα. Even God cannot change the past, as quoted in Aristotle, Nicomachean Ethics, Book VI, sect.
2, 1139b List of speakers in Platos dialogues The Drama, Its History and Influence on Civilization, volume 1,100 Lovers Lips by Plato in the Project Gutenberg eText Select Epigrams from the Greek Anthology by J. W. Mackail. Media related to Agathon at Wikimedia Commons Quotations related to Agathon at Wikiquote Agathon Poems
6.
Hippolytus (play)
Hippolytus is an Ancient Greek tragedy by Euripides, based on the myth of Hippolytus, son of Theseus. The play was first produced for the City Dionysia of Athens in 428 BC, Euripides first treated the myth in a previous play, Hippolytos Kalyptomenos, which is now lost, what is known of it is based on echoes found in other ancient writings. It is thought that the contents to the missing Hippolytos Kalyptomenos portrayed a shamelessly lustful Phaedra who directly propositioned Hippolytus, Euripides revisits the myth in Hippolytos Stephanophoros, its title refers to the crown of garlands Hippolytus wears as a worshipper of Artemis. In this version Phaedra fights against her own desires, which have been incited by Aphrodite. The play is set in Troezen, a town in the northeastern Peloponnese. Theseus, the king of Athens, is serving a voluntary exile after having murdered a local king. His illegitimate son is Hippolytus, whose birth is the result of Theseuss rape of the Amazon Hippolyta, Hippolytus has been trained since childhood by the king of Troezen, Pittheus.
At the opening of the play Aphrodite, Goddess of love, explains that Hippolytus has sworn chastity, instead, he honors the Goddess of the hunt, Artemis. This has led her to initiate a plan of vengeance on Hippolytus, when Hippolytus went to Athens two years previously Aphrodite inspired Phaedra, Hippolytus stepmother, to fall in love with him. Hippolytus appears with his followers and shows reverence to a statue of Artemis, a servant warns him about slighting Aphrodite, but Hippolytus refuses to listen. The chorus, consisting of married women of Troezen and describes how Theseuss wife. Phaedra, appears with her nurse, after an agonizing discussion, Phaedra finally confesses why she is ill, she loves Hippolytus. The nurse and the chorus are shocked, Phaedra explains that she must starve herself and die with her honor intact. However, the nurse quickly retracts her initial response and tells Phaedra that she has a charm to cure her. However, in an aside she reveals different plans, the nurse, after making Hippolytus swear not to tell anyone, informs Hippolytus of Phaedras desire and suggests that Hippolytus consider yielding to her.
He reacts with a tirade and threatens to tell his father, Theseus. After making the chorus swear secrecy, she goes inside and hangs herself, Theseus returns and discovers his wifes dead body. Because the chorus is sworn to secrecy, they cannot tell Theseus why she killed herself, Theseus discovers a letter on Phaedras body, which falsely asserts that she was raped by Hippolytus
7.
Helen (play)
Helen is a drama by Euripides about Helen, first produced in 412 BC for the Dionysia in a trilogy that contained Euripides lost Andromeda. The play has much in common with Iphigenia in Tauris, one of the works. Helen was written soon after the Sicilian Expedition, in which Athens had suffered a massive defeat, the sophists – a movement of teachers who incorporated philosophy and rhetoric into their occupation – were beginning to question traditional values and religious beliefs. Within the plays framework, Euripides starkly condemns war, deeming it to be the root of all evil, about thirty years before this play, Herodotus argued in his Histories that Helen had never in fact arrived at Troy, but was in Egypt during the entire Trojan War. The Archaic lyric poet Stesichorus had made the assertion in his Palinode. The play Helen tells a variant of this story, beginning under the premise that rather than running off to Troy with Paris, the Helen who escaped with Paris, betraying her husband and her country and initiating the ten-year conflict, was actually an eidolon, a phantom look-alike.
Thus, the real Helen has been languishing in Egypt for years, while the Greeks, in Egypt, king Proteus, who had protected Helen, has died. His son Theoclymenus, the new king with a penchant for killing Greeks, intends to marry Helen and her fears are allayed when a stranger arrives in Egypt and turns out to be Menelaus himself, and the long-separated couple recognize each other. At first, Menelaus does not believe that she is the real Helen, the woman he was shipwrecked with was in reality, only a mere phantom of the real Helen. Before the Trojan war even began, a judgement took place and he gave the Goddess Aphrodite the award of the fairest since she bribed him with Helen as a bride. To take their revenge on Paris, the goddesses and Hera. However, Menelaus did not know better, but luckily one of his sailors steps in to inform him that the false Helen has disappeared into thin air. The couple still must figure out how to escape from Egypt, but fortunately, Helen tells Theoclymenus that the stranger who came ashore was a messenger there to tell her that her husband was truly dead.
She informs the king that she may marry him as soon as she has performed a ritual burial at sea, the king agrees to this, and Helen and Menelaus use this opportunity to escape on the boat given to them for the ceremony. Theoclymenus is furious when he learns of the trick and nearly murders his sister Theonoe for not telling him that Menelaus is still alive, however, he is prevented by the miraculous intervention of the demi-gods Castor and Polydeuces, brothers of Helen and the sons of Zeus and Leda
8.
The Trojan Women
The Trojan Women, known as Troades, is a tragedy by the Greek playwright Euripides. 415 BC was the year of the desecration of the hermai. The Trojan Women was the tragedy of a trilogy dealing with the Trojan War. The first tragedy, was about the recognition of the Trojan prince Paris who had abandoned in infancy by his parents. The second tragedy, dealt with Greek mistreatment of their fellow Greek Palamedes and this trilogy was presented at the Dionysia along with the comedic satyr play Sisyphos. The plots of this trilogy were not connected in the way that Aeschylus Oresteia was connected, Euripides did not favor such connected trilogies. Euripides won second prize at the City Dionysia for his effort, the four Trojan women of the play are the same that appear in the final book of the Iliad lamenting over the corpse of Hector. Taking place near the time is Hecuba, another play by Euripides. Euripidess play follows the fates of the women of Troy after their city has been sacked, their husbands killed, what follows shows how much the Trojan women have suffered as their grief is compounded when the Greeks dole out additional deaths and divide their shares of women.
The Greek herald Talthybius arrives to tell the dethroned queen Hecuba what will befall her and her children, Hecuba will be taken away with the Greek general Odysseus, and Cassandra is destined to become the conquering general Agamemnons concubine. Cassandra, who can see the future, is delighted by this news, she sees that when they arrive in Argos. However, Cassandra is cursed so that her visions of the future are never believed, the widowed princess Andromache arrives and Hecuba learns from her that her youngest daughter, has been killed as a sacrifice at the tomb of the Greek warrior Achilles. The Greek leaders are afraid that the boy grow up to avenge his father Hector. Helen, though not one of the Trojan women, is supposed to suffer greatly as well, Helen begs and tries to seduce her husband into sparing her life. Menelaus remains resolved to kill her, but the audience watching the play knows that he let her live. In the end, Talthybius returns, carrying with him the body of little Astyanax on Hectors shield, andromaches wish had been to bury her child herself, performing the proper rituals according to Trojan ways, but her ship had already departed.
Talthybius gives the corpse to Hecuba, who prepares the body of her grandson for burial before they are taken off with Odysseus. Throughout the play, many of the Trojan women lament the loss of the land that reared them, the Israeli playwright Hanoch Levin wrote his own version of the play, adding more disturbing scenes and scatological details
9.
Oedipus Rex
Oedipus Rex, known by its Greek title, Oedipus Tyrannus, or Oedipus the King, is an Athenian tragedy by Sophocles that was first performed around 429 BC. Originally, to the ancient Greeks, the title was simply Oedipus and it is thought to have been renamed Oedipus Tyrannus to distinguish it from Oedipus at Colonus. In antiquity, the term referred to a ruler. Of his three Theban plays that have survived, and that deal with the story of Oedipus, Oedipus Rex was the second to be written. However, in terms of the chronology of events that the plays describe, it comes first, followed by Oedipus at Colonus and Antigone. Prior to the start of Oedipus Rex, Oedipus has become the king of Thebes while unwittingly fulfilling a prophecy that he would kill his father and marry his mother, Jocasta. The action of Sophocles play concerns Oedipus search for the murderer of Laius in order to end a plague ravaging Thebes, unaware that the killer he is looking for is none other than himself. At the end of the play, after the truth comes to light, Jocasta hangs herself while Oedipus, horrified at his patricide and incest.
Oedipus Rex is regarded by scholars as the masterpiece of ancient Greek tragedy. In his Poetics, Aristotle refers several times to the play in order to exemplify aspects of the genre, many parts or elements of the myth of Oedipus take place before the opening scene of the play. They may be described or referred to in the text, in his youth, Laius was a guest of King Pelops of Elis, and became the tutor of Chrysippus, youngest of the kings sons, in chariot racing. He violated the laws of hospitality by abducting and raping Chrysippus. This murder cast a doom over Laius, his son Oedipus, most scholars are in agreement that the seduction or rape of Chrysippus was a late addition to the Theban myth. A son is born to King Laius and Queen Jocasta of Thebes, after Laius learns from an oracle that he is doomed/To perish by the hand of his own son, he tightly binds the feet of the infant together with a pin and orders Jocasta to kill the infant. Hesitant to do so, she orders a servant to commit the act for her, the servant takes the baby to a mountain top to die from exposure.
A shepherd rescues the infant and names him Oedipus, the shepherd carries the baby with him to Corinth, where Oedipus is taken in and raised in the court of the childless King Polybus of Corinth as if he were his own. As a young man in Corinth, Oedipus hears a rumour that he is not the son of Polybus. He asks the Delphic Oracle who his parents really are, the Oracle seems to ignore this question, telling him instead that he is destined to Mate with own mother, and shed/With own hands the blood of own sire
10.
Oresteia
This trilogy shows how the Greek gods interacted with the characters and influenced their decisions pertaining to events and disputes. The only extant example of an ancient Greek theater trilogy, the Oresteia won first prize at the Dionysia festival in 458 BC, many consider the Oresteia to be Aeschylus finest work. The principal themes of the include the contrast between revenge and justice, as well as the transition from personal vendetta to organized litigation. Orestia originally included a satyr play Proteus following the tragic trilogy, Agamemnon is the first of the three plays within the Oresteia trilogy. It details the homecoming of Agamemnon, King of Mycene, from the Trojan War, after ten years of warfare, Troy had fallen and all of Greece could lay claim to victory. Waiting at home for Agamemnon is his wife, Queen Clytemnestra, who has been planning his murder. The play opens to a watchman looking down and over the sea, reporting that he has been lying restless like a dog for a year and he laments the fortunes of the house, but promises to keep silent, A huge ox has stepped onto my tongue.
The watchman sees a far off in the distance and is overjoyed at the victory. Clytaemnestra is introduced to the audience and she declares that there will be celebrations and sacrifices throughout the city as Agamemnon, upon the return of Agamemnon, his wife laments in full view of Argos how horrible the wait for her husband, and King, has been. After her soliloquy, Clytaemnestra pleads, and convinces Agamemnon to walk on the laid out for him. This is a very ominous moment in the play as loyalties and motives are questioned, the Kings new concubine, Cassandra, is now introduced and this immediately spawns hatred from the queen, Clytaemnestra. Cassandra is ordered out of her chariot and to the altar where, once she is alone, is crying out insane prophecies to Apollo about the death of Agamemnon. Inside the house a cry is heard, Agamemnon had been stabbed in the bathtub. The chorus separate from one another and ramble to themselves proving their cowardice when another final cry is heard, when the doors are finally opened, Clytaemnestra is seen standing over the dead bodies of Agamemnon and Cassandra.
Clytaemnestra describes the murder in detail to the chorus, showing no sign of remorse or regret, suddenly the exiled lover of Clytaemnestra, bursts into the palace to take his place next to her. Aegisthus proudly states that he devised the plan to murder Agamemnon, Clytaemnestra claims that she and Aegisthus now have all the power and they re-enter the palace with the doors closing behind them. Upon arriving, Orestes reunites with his sister Electra at Agamemnons grave, shortly after the reunion, both Orestes and Electra, influenced by the Chorus, come up with a plan to kill both Clytaemnestra and Aegisthus. Orestes heads to the door where he is unexpectedly greeted by Clytaemnestra
11.
Lysimachus
Lysimachus was a Macedonian officer and diadochus of Alexander the Great, who became a basileus in 306 BC, ruling Thrace, Asia Minor and Macedon. Lysimachus was born in 361 BC, to a family of Thessalian Greek stock and his father was a nobleman of high rank who was an intimate friend of Philip II of Macedon, who shared in Philip II’s councils and became a favourite in the Argead court. He was probably appointed Somatophylax during the reign of Philip II, during Alexanders Persian campaigns, in 328 BC he was one of his immediate bodyguards. In 324 BC, in Susa, he was crowned in recognition for his actions in India, after Alexander’s death in 323 BC, he was appointed to the government of Thrace as strategos although he faced some difficulties from the Thracian Dynasty Seuthes. However, he managed to consolidate his power in the east of his territories, in 309 BC, he founded Lysimachia in a commanding situation on the neck connecting the Chersonese with the mainland which formed a bulwark against the Odrysians.
In 306/305 BC, Lysimachus followed the example of Antigonus I and assumed the royal title, which he held until his death at Corupedium in 281 BC. In 302 BC, when the alliance between Cassander, Ptolemy I and Seleucus I was made, reinforced by troops from Cassander, entered Asia Minor. On the approach of Antigonus I he retired into winter quarters near Heraclea, marrying its widowed queen Amastris, Seleucus I joined him in 301 BC, and at the Battle of Ipsus Antigonus I was defeated and slain. Antigonus dominions were divided among the victors, Lysimachus share was Lydia, Ionia and the north coast of Asia Minor. Feeling that Seleucus I was becoming dangerously powerful, Lysimachus now allied himself with Ptolemy I, who had divorced herself from him, returned to Heraclea. Demetrius I subsequently threatened Thrace, but had to due to a sudden uprising in Boeotia. In 287 BC, Lysimachus and Pyrrhus in turn invaded Macedonia, Lysimachus left Pyrrhus in possession of Macedonia with the title of king for around seven months before Lysimachus invaded.
For a short while the two ruled jointly but in 285 BC Lysimachus expelled Pyrrhus, seizing complete control for himself, domestic troubles embittered the last years of Lysimachus’ life. Amastris had been murdered by her two sons, Lysimachus treacherously put them to death, on his return, Arsinoe II asked the gift of Heraclea, and he granted her request, though he had promised to free the city. This atrocious deed by Lysimachus aroused great indignation, many of the cities of Asia Minor revolted, and his most trusted friends deserted him. The widow of Agathocles and their children fled to Seleucus I, in 281 BC, Lysimachus crossed the Hellespont into Lydia and at the decisive Battle of Corupedium was killed. After some days his body was found on the field, protected birds of prey by his faithful dog. Lysimachus body was given over to another son Alexander, by whom it was interred at Lysimachia, Lysimachus was married three times and his wives were, First marriage, Nicaea a Greek noblewoman and daughter of the powerful Regent Antipater
12.
Hecuba (play)
Hecuba is a tragedy by Euripides written c.424 BC. It takes place after the Trojan War, but before the Greeks have departed Troy, the central figure is Hecuba, wife of King Priam, formerly Queen of the now-fallen city. It depicts Hecubas grief over the death of her daughter Polyxena, in the plays opening, the ghost of Polydorus tells how when the war threatened Troy, he was sent to King Polymestor of Thrace for safekeeping, with gifts of gold and jewelry. But when Troy lost the war, Polymestor treacherously murdered Polydorus, Polydorus has foreknowledge of many of the plays events and haunted his mothers dreams the night before. The events take place on the coast of Thrace, as the Greek navy returns home from Troy, the Trojan queen Hecuba, now enslaved by the Greeks, mourns her great losses and worries about the portents of her nightmare. The Chorus of young slave women enters, bearing fateful news, one of Hecubas last remaining daughters, Polyxena, is to be killed on the tomb of Achilles as a blood sacrifice to his honor.
Greek commander Odysseus enters, to escort Polyxena to an altar where Neoptolemus will shed her blood, Odysseus ignores Hecubas impassioned pleas to spare Polyxena, and Polyxena herself says she would rather die than live as a slave. In the first Choral interlude, the Chorus lament their own doomed fate, the Greek messenger Talthybius arrives, tells a stirring account of Polyxenas strikingly heroic death, and delivers a message from Agamemnon, chief of the Greek army, to bury Polyxena. Hecuba sends a girl to fetch water from the sea to bathe her daughters corpse. After a second Choral interlude, the body of Polydorus is brought on stage, upon recognizing her son whom she thought safe, Hecuba reaches new heights of despair. Hecuba rages inconsolably against the brutality of such an action, Agamemnon enters, and Hecuba, tentatively at first and boldly requests that Agamemnon help her avenge her sons murder. Hecubas daughter Cassandra is a concubine of Agamemnon so the two have some relationship to protect and Agamemnon listens, Agamemnon reluctantly agrees, as the Greeks await a favorable wind to sail home.
The Greek army considers Polymestor an ally and Agamemnon does not wish to be observed helping Hecuba against him and he inquires about Hecubas welfare, with a pretense of friendliness. Hecuba reciprocates, concealing her knowledge of the murder of Polydorus, Hecuba tells Polymestor she knows where the remaining treasures of Troy are hidden, and offers to tell him the secrets, to be passed on to Polydorus. Hecuba convinces him and his sons to enter an offstage tent where she claims to have more personal treasures, enlisting help from other slaves, Hecuba kills Polymestors sons and stabs Polymestors eyes. He re-enters blinded and savage, hunting as if a beast for the women who ruined him, Agamemnon re-enters angry with the uproar and witnesses Hecubas revenge. Polymestor argues that Hecubas revenge was an act, whereas his murder of Polydorus was intended to preserve the Greek victory and dispatch a young Trojan. The arguments take the form of a trial, and Hecuba delivers a rebuttal exposing Polymestors speech as sophistry, Agamemnon decides justice has been served by Hecubas revenge
