Precis on Hecuba

Polyxena’s Plea to Perish

Although Euripides’ Hecuba revolves around Hecuba’s recent misfortunes in life and verbal exchanges between herself and others, her daughter Polyxena actually makes a significant case regarding the status her own life, which helps bring the first agon to a close. Directly before Polyxena takes her stand on the matter of her life or death, Hecuba and Odysseus had argued heatedly about the Achaeans’ decision to sacrifice Polyxena to Achilles—Hecuba arguing reasons not to sacrifice Polyxena and Odysseus explaining why Polyxena must be sacrificed. Following the back-and-forth between Hecuba and Odysseus, Hecuba implores her daughter to beg Odysseus for her life; however, Polyxena does exactly the opposite of what she is advised and instead makes a case on why she wants to end her life.  

            Polyxena first recognizes that she has no other choice but to follow Odysseus to her death. She does not want to show any sign of hesitation in her choice to die, for fear of being seen as a “coward” or scared of the obligation that faces her. She is directly contesting how her mother Hecuba pleaded for Polyxena’s life, which was to pull upon the pathos of killing a child, especially one whose mother has just lost everything. Instead, Polyxena is pleading to die to remain honorable, especially since her life she has just recently changed so dramatically after the fall of Troy.

            Imperative to Polyxena’s plea to die is her explanation of her life’s potential before Troy was destroyed. She describes that she was supposed to have multiple possible suitors, marry a king, and become a queen. Amidst her emotional retelling of what she expected of her life, she even goes so far as to compare herself to a goddess. Further in her argument, she emphasizes how ridiculous it is that she faces such a substandard life when she is the “sister of Hector.” Through all of these claims, Polyxena hopes to convince her mother and Odysseus why and how she so easily made the decision to be sacrificed. Her life, which was so impeccably mapped out for her, has now transformed to become a life she never could have imagined herself leading, which she illustrates in the subsequent section of her argument.

Once Polyxena establishes what her old life would’ve entailed, she moves on to what could be the most crucial part of her argument: what her future will hold if she is not sacrificed. After Polyxena proclaims that she will now be a slave—even the thought of which makes her hope to die—she uses powerful imagery to convey exactly what her life has been reduced to. Polyxena paints a picture of her potential life as a slave, including being purchased by a master, being forced to do common household tasks, and being courted by another slave—which she deems “a life of misery.” From this, Polyxena deduces that she will never again be happy or have any hope for a somewhat fulfilling life, essentially begging Odysseus to take her away so she may be killed.

As Polyxena’s argument draws to a close, she finally addresses her mother, however, not to apologize or allow Hecuba to convince her to change her mind, but rather to persuade Hecuba to die alongside her so neither would have to endure lives which they did not deserve. Throughout the entirety of her argument, Polyxena manages to remain completely truthful about her choice, and never once tries to spare her mother’s feelings, even though Hecuba obviously does not want Polyxena to be sacrificed. She gives emotionally-driven, realistic reasons as to why she is choosing death over her newer, lesser life, and ultimately demonstrates for her mother—and even Odysseus—that she has made the choice for herself and has thought through each reason as to why her choice to die is the right choice for her.