Author's note: This scene is adapted from Book 6 of Homer's Iliad. I
specifically used Stanley Lombardo's translation (since I have yet to
wrangle a Greek class out of my college). Also: I would rather italicize
the stage actions in parenthesis, but I'm too busy (lazy) to convert this
to an .html file for the moment.
~~~~~~
Frieze 9
Hector and Andromache
ANDRO: (Runs up to catch Hector as he exits, followed by a
member of the CHORUS who is holding a child.) Hector!
HECTOR: Andromache. (Holds out his arms, and she embraces
him tightly.) I was searching for you.
ANDRO: I have been upon these walls these past hours.
HECTOR: And what have you seen?
ANDRO: The Greeks are strong, while we are pressed. (Pause,
and suddenly cries.)
You must be possessed, husband! I beg of you, as your beloved
wife, do not go out there to battle again!
HECTOR: (Pulls her back gently, looking into her face.)
Would you have me dishonored in front of the entire Trojan army?
Would you have everyone in Ilion whisper "coward!" as I pass,
the way they do Paris?
ANDRO: Your courage will kill you! Have you no feelings
for me? I, who will be left a widow, or even for your little
boy? (She turns away from him and steps away, hugging her arms
to herself) It won't be long before the Greeks kill you. And
then what? When I lose you, Hector, there will be nothing left
for me, no one to turn to.only pain. You know very well how
Achilles killed my father when he destroyed Thebes, burned him
and all his armor, and my seven brothers too, all gone down to
Hades in one day. You know how he took my Queen Mother
prisoner, how we paid a fortune in ransom to rescue her, only to
have her die in our house, shot by Artemis' arrows.
Hector, you are not only my dear husband, you are my father, my
mother, my brother. You are all I have.don't make me a widow,
and Astyanax an orphan. Please stay, and station your men near
the wall that the Greeks often try to scale. Where you'll be
safe.
HECTOR: (Gently.) Yes, love.I worry too. But how could I
stay back? How could I face the other men and their wives if I
hung back and let the others die for me? I've been trained
since birth to fight valiantly in the front ranks.it is not
merely my own honor that rests upon it, but that of my father's.
(ANDROMACHE turns away again, burying her face in her hands.)
Andromache!.my Andromache.please try to understand. (He pauses,
then finally says slowly and quietly:) Dearest.I know.in my
heart of hearts, I know that Ilion will fall.along with all of
its people. But the pain I will feel for my father, my mother,
even for my fine brothers who by then will have all died by
Greek swords.that pain is nothing compared to the pain I will
feel for you when some Greek soldier rips our child from your
arms.when some foreign leads you away, weeping, away to be his
slave.when you toil over some other woman's loom in an alien,
faraway land.this I cannot bear. (Fiercely, his voice wrought
with emotion) I would sooner be dead and defiled than helpless
to respond to those cries!
(She turns back and clings to him, weeping softly. HECTOR
holds her close and rests his cheek on her head, turning his
face away from the audience. After a moment, the child makes a
sound, and the both turn and look at him. HECTOR reaches for
him, and the NURSE holds the child out, but before he takes it,
he pauses and removes his helmet, drawing a tearful smile from
both HECTOR and ANDROMACHE. He swings the child up in his arms,
holding him above his head and speaks as if in prayer.)
HECTOR: Zeus and all gods of Olympia, grant me this prayer.
Let my son became like me, first among all Trojans, and let him
surpass me in deed and word, so when the poets speak of the
greatest Trojan, they will say, "Astyanax, son of Hector." (He
looks at Andromache.) And let him return victorious from all his
battles with the glory and spoils of kings, so his mother may
rejoice and take pride.
ANDRO: (She smiles a shaky smile to him as he hands the
child to her and presses him to her chest. They both know what
the future really holds, but both cling to the fantasy.) See
how he clings to his father's armor. He takes to it naturally,
and will be a prop for us both in our old age. (Her voice
trembles, and she looks at Hector, who immediately wraps his
strong arms around them both and kisses her forehead.)
HECTOR: Put your heart to rest, dear heart. King or
peasant, coward or hero, fate finds us all when the time comes,
whether it be in the midst of battle or safe in bed. (They kiss
softly. HECTOR dons his helmet, looks once more at Andromache
and his son, then strides resolutely off Left.)
~~~~~~
Frieze 9
Hector and Andromache
ANDRO: (Runs up to catch Hector as he exits, followed by a
member of the CHORUS who is holding a child.) Hector!
HECTOR: Andromache. (Holds out his arms, and she embraces
him tightly.) I was searching for you.
ANDRO: I have been upon these walls these past hours.
HECTOR: And what have you seen?
ANDRO: The Greeks are strong, while we are pressed. (Pause,
and suddenly cries.)
You must be possessed, husband! I beg of you, as your beloved
wife, do not go out there to battle again!
HECTOR: (Pulls her back gently, looking into her face.)
Would you have me dishonored in front of the entire Trojan army?
Would you have everyone in Ilion whisper "coward!" as I pass,
the way they do Paris?
ANDRO: Your courage will kill you! Have you no feelings
for me? I, who will be left a widow, or even for your little
boy? (She turns away from him and steps away, hugging her arms
to herself) It won't be long before the Greeks kill you. And
then what? When I lose you, Hector, there will be nothing left
for me, no one to turn to.only pain. You know very well how
Achilles killed my father when he destroyed Thebes, burned him
and all his armor, and my seven brothers too, all gone down to
Hades in one day. You know how he took my Queen Mother
prisoner, how we paid a fortune in ransom to rescue her, only to
have her die in our house, shot by Artemis' arrows.
Hector, you are not only my dear husband, you are my father, my
mother, my brother. You are all I have.don't make me a widow,
and Astyanax an orphan. Please stay, and station your men near
the wall that the Greeks often try to scale. Where you'll be
safe.
HECTOR: (Gently.) Yes, love.I worry too. But how could I
stay back? How could I face the other men and their wives if I
hung back and let the others die for me? I've been trained
since birth to fight valiantly in the front ranks.it is not
merely my own honor that rests upon it, but that of my father's.
(ANDROMACHE turns away again, burying her face in her hands.)
Andromache!.my Andromache.please try to understand. (He pauses,
then finally says slowly and quietly:) Dearest.I know.in my
heart of hearts, I know that Ilion will fall.along with all of
its people. But the pain I will feel for my father, my mother,
even for my fine brothers who by then will have all died by
Greek swords.that pain is nothing compared to the pain I will
feel for you when some Greek soldier rips our child from your
arms.when some foreign leads you away, weeping, away to be his
slave.when you toil over some other woman's loom in an alien,
faraway land.this I cannot bear. (Fiercely, his voice wrought
with emotion) I would sooner be dead and defiled than helpless
to respond to those cries!
(She turns back and clings to him, weeping softly. HECTOR
holds her close and rests his cheek on her head, turning his
face away from the audience. After a moment, the child makes a
sound, and the both turn and look at him. HECTOR reaches for
him, and the NURSE holds the child out, but before he takes it,
he pauses and removes his helmet, drawing a tearful smile from
both HECTOR and ANDROMACHE. He swings the child up in his arms,
holding him above his head and speaks as if in prayer.)
HECTOR: Zeus and all gods of Olympia, grant me this prayer.
Let my son became like me, first among all Trojans, and let him
surpass me in deed and word, so when the poets speak of the
greatest Trojan, they will say, "Astyanax, son of Hector." (He
looks at Andromache.) And let him return victorious from all his
battles with the glory and spoils of kings, so his mother may
rejoice and take pride.
ANDRO: (She smiles a shaky smile to him as he hands the
child to her and presses him to her chest. They both know what
the future really holds, but both cling to the fantasy.) See
how he clings to his father's armor. He takes to it naturally,
and will be a prop for us both in our old age. (Her voice
trembles, and she looks at Hector, who immediately wraps his
strong arms around them both and kisses her forehead.)
HECTOR: Put your heart to rest, dear heart. King or
peasant, coward or hero, fate finds us all when the time comes,
whether it be in the midst of battle or safe in bed. (They kiss
softly. HECTOR dons his helmet, looks once more at Andromache
and his son, then strides resolutely off Left.)