Accessed October 2, 2020. https://www.coursehero.com/lit/Andromache/.

"My students can't get enough of your charts and their results have gone through the roof." -Graham S. The timeline below shows where the character Andromache appears in, The Chorus leader, who has been listening to, ...is so great she has been “swamped” by disaster, and was unable to respond to. She worries the existence of the child makes Andromache dearer to Neoptolemus. All your strength is in your spears, not in the mind. Andromache is the titular character of the play, and most of the action focuses on her and her fate. When the play begins, Andromache is sitting by the altar of Thetis in the household of Neoptolemus and his grandfather Peleus, mourning the fact that she has had to send her child away, and that Hermione has treated her badly because she had Neoptolemus‘ child, despite the fact that she has no desire for Neoptolemus and would rather be just left alone.

What were you afraid of, that it made you killthis child so savagely? Instant downloads of all 1360 LitChart PDFs CliffsNotes study guides are written by real teachers and professors, so no matter what you're studying, CliffsNotes can ease your homework headaches and help you score high on exams. Andromache: Sorrows only.

He has come with terrible news, and is reluctant to deliver it. Achaeans! Detailed explanations, analysis, and citation info for every important quote on LitCharts. ...entourage of soldiers. death, brought down Troy’s towers in the arms of a worthless woman; piled at the feet of Pallas the bleeding bodies of our young men. They're like having in-class notes for every discussion!”, “This is absolutely THE best teacher resource I have ever purchased. The name means "man battler" or "fighter of men" or "man fighter" (note that there was also a famous Amazon warrior named "Andromache", probably in this meaning) or "man's battle" (i.e. His absence places Andromache and Molossus in jeopardy. The odious character which the poet attributes to the Spartan king Menelaus has been seen as according with the feeling against Sparta which prevailed in Athens at the time the play was written, during the early years of the Peloponnesian War between the two city-states. So great is the difference between the Orestes of Greek tragedy and Racine’s Orestes that some students are quite disconcerted by it and cannot accept an Orestes who is the victim of an unhappy love affair rather than of a grim and deadly family feud. Do not fight it. Orestes (to whom Hermione had been promised as wife some years ago) consents and Hermione is escorted away by her kinsman. But Euripides wisely picks the relatively safe and distant Trojan War as the subject rather than anything closer to the hearts of his Athenian audience. She is faced by the agonizing choice of marrying Pyrrhus or sacrificing the life of her only son Astyanax. Upload them to earn free Course Hero access!

Let it happen this way.

After all, she was engaged to Orestes first.

You may need to download version 2.0 now from the Chrome Web Store. To the glory of being Pyrrhus' queen, she prefers fidelity to the memory of Hector, the most humane and civilized of all the characters in the Iliad, and her devotion to Astyanax is based not on the pleasure her son gives her, but an enlightened concept of the duty a parent owes to a child.

Her own love for her husband and son is not only unselfish, but is founded on a firm moral basis. "courage" or "manly virtue"), from the Greek stem ἀνδρ- "man" and μάχη "battle". Andromache is a foil to the other three major characters of the play and underlines the immature and selfish nature of their passions. King of Troy and husband of Hecuba, Priam is the father of fifty Trojan warriors, including Hector and Paris. •

He must be hurled down from the battlements of Troy. In a dramatic reversal at the end of the play, Thetis announces Andromache will be restored to royal status.

"Andromache Study Guide." It is, however, full of some unexpected twists. Peleus is a very old man and has suffered a great deal even before the play begins. Hecuba: Child, no. She was born and raised in the city of Cilician Thebe, over which her father ruled. Web. Jean Racine. Think, then.

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Later, Andromache had a child, Molossus, with Neoptolemus, but then Neoptolemus married Hermione, daughter of the Spartan king Menelaus and Helen, who became very jealous of the relationship between Andromache and Neoptolemus. It will be wiser in the end. And yetthis is a brute and speechless beast of burden, notlike us intelligent, lower far in nature’s scale. Listen to me!Your city is gone, your husband. While Neoptolemus is away at the oracle at Delphi, Hermione‘s father Menelaus arrives, claiming to have taken her son, and Andromache resigns herself to his power and lets herself be led away from the safety of the holy altar. At the end of the war, their young child Astyanax was thrown off the Trojan walls by the Greeks for fear that he would grow up and avenge his father and city, and Andromache was made a slave of Achilles‘ son, Neoptolemus (as described in Euripides‘ play “The Trojan Women”). As background to the events of the play, Andromache was the wife of the Trojan hero Hector, who was slain by Achilles during the Trojan War. To the glory of being Pyrrhus’ queen, she prefers fidelity to the memory of Hector, the most humane and civilized of all the characters in the Iliad, and her devotion to Astyanax is based not on the pleasure her son gives her, but an enlightened concept of the duty a parent owes to a child.

Course Hero. This lack of a central character has baffled many scholars who have been searching for an Aristotelian dramatic unity, although others have seen it as a note of originality and experimentation on Euripides‘ part. Despite his absence, though, every character in the play is concerned with Neoptolemus.


As soon as Peleus challenges Menelaus, it becomes clear he also lacks courage. Instead they offer opinions on events and remind the audience of mythological background. Read an in-depth analysis of Hector. No longer. Performance & security by Cloudflare, Please complete the security check to access. Teach your students to analyze literature like LitCharts does.

Andromache Study Guide. From time to time, its members attempt to prevent the characters from goading one another but to no avail. However, they worry Hermione will find out. Pyrrhus Son of Achilles and king of Epirus. Character Analysis Andromache. Andromache and Astyanax are living there, enslaved by Pyrrhus, the king of Epirus and the son of the Greek warrior Achilles. Detailed analysis of Characters in Euripides's Andromache. There is a certain amount of misogynistic ranting in the play, as there is in many other plays from the period, but, interestingly, in this play it mainly comes from a woman, Hermione (and even Andromache calls women a plague on mankind).

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Menelaus now threatens both mother and son with death, and they are saved only at the last minute by old Peleus, who defends her and releases Andromache from both death and bondage. Course Hero. Indeed, she is willing never to see him again — to die and let him be brought up by strangers — if this will insure his future. Another main theme is the role and nature of women, as explored through the conflict between the contrasting figures of Andromache and Hermione.

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How about receiving a customized one? I knew when my will must have its wayover his, knew also how to give way to him in turn. She is therefore seeking sanctuary at the altar of the goddess Thetis, having left Molossus with neighbors. Hecuba: O my children….Andromache: …once. Instead of standing his ground against the old man, he abandons the plot and his daughter and returns to Sparta. As is usual in Greek tragedy, the chorus does not affect events. Her own love for her husband and son is not only unselfish, but is founded on a firm moral basis. and any corresponding bookmarks? I keep no secret deception in my heart—sweet though it beto dream—that I shall ever be happy any more.

Andromache's Background and Family Andromache is from Thebes. Because neither Neoptolemus nor Hermione remains in Phthia, it is possible for Andromache and Helenus to marry and for Molossus to become king in his father's place. Andromache, in Greek legend, the daughter of Eëtion (prince of Thebe in Mysia) and wife of Hector (son of King Priam of Troy).All her relations perished when Troy was taken by Achilles.When the captives were allotted, Andromache fell to Neoptolemus, the son of Achilles, whom she accompanied to Epirus and to whom she bore three sons. He is devoted to his wife, Andromache, and son, Astyanax, but resents his brother Paris for bringing war upon their family and city.

He is crafty, rich, and powerful but lacks honor. Andromache. Her active hostility toward Andromache stems from envy.

Be brave, be silent; out of such patience you’ll be surethe child you leave behind will not lie unburied here, and that to you the Achaeans will be less unkind. from your Reading List will also remove any For these reasons, some scholars have suggested Neoptolemus is actually the character who unifies a play often criticized for lack of unity.

No life, no light is any kind of death, since death is nothing, and in life the hopes live still.

Course Hero, Inc. As a reminder, you may only use Course Hero content for your own personal use and may not copy, distribute, or otherwise exploit it for any other purpose. Take your grief nobly, as you were born; give up the struggle where your strength is feeblenesswith no force anywhere to help. Andromache—Neoptolemus's slave and concubine—has borne his child, but Hermione, his wife, is unable to become pregnant. Course Hero. Chorus Leader: You stand where I do in misfortune, and while you mournyour life, you tell me what I, too, am suffering. Give up the passionate contest.

And please—I request you—hurl no curse at the Achaeansfor fear the army, save over some reckless word, forbid the child his burial and the dirge of honor.

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