Rhetoric as a Tool for Social Elevation

Leslie Koko Gutierrez

Professor Dale Carrico

GSI:  Kuan Hwa

Rhetoric 103 A

8 October 2015

Rhetoric as a Tool for Social Elevation

Euripides’ Hecuba consists of effective rhetorical oratory and how Hecuba used these skills to convince Odysseus that saving her daughter was in accordance with true justice.  Hecuba, is a story that follows Hecuba, Queen of Troy succeeding the aftermath of the Trojan War, where Hecuba is a slave.  In this play, the protagonist, Hecuba does her best to attempt to appeal to the Greek men in power, specifically Odysseus and then Agamemnon, as they force death upon Hecuba’s last living daughter Polyxena, as sacrifice.  

Odysseus confirms to Hecuba that rumors of the Achaeans having taken her daughter Polyxena are true and that he was sent to capture her.  Odysseus tells Hecuba, “Be not forcibly torn from her, nor match thy might ‘gainst mine; recognize the limits of thy strength, and the presence of thy trouble”.  As such, Odysseus demands Hecuba to cease grieving over Polyxena’s death, because he knows that she is subordinate to him in terms of both physical prowess and social status; that is, she has become a slave.

Interestingly, Hecuba accepts her fate of having survived the Trojan War, but is unable to accept the fate of her daughter. Despite the fact that Hecuba is now a slave, her repeated pleas of asking Odysseus to stop Polyxena’s sacrifice subverts her role as a female slave. Thus, Hecuba is a figure of strength. Although she is a female, she refuses to conform to societal dispositions on the manner in which females should act. Hecuba questions male authority, and her ability to do so, strengthens her social status. Hecuba is intelligent; she asks Odysseus if she may question him in order to appear subordinate before his male dominance: “Still if the bond may ask the free of things that grieve them not nor wrench their heart-strings, 'tis well that thou shouldst make an end and hearken to my questioning.”  Yet, she knows that her argument would hinder his authority.

The manner in which Hecuba questions Odysseus is provocative.  Rather than out right state her questions, Hecuba appeals to emotion by retelling an encounter she had as Queen of Troy to garner Odysseus’ pity.  She begins with, “Dost remember” to evoke his memories of the Trojan War, but also of her previous status as queen. Hecuba continues her evocative questioning by describing Odysseus’ physical attributes as, “disguised in rags and tatters, while down thy cheek ran drops of blood” to reveal the shared experience that Odysseus had during the War, and that Hecuba now faces as a slave. Their similar circumstances makes both characters to be a foil of one another, suggesting that Odysseus may behave as she did while in power. However, Hecuba highlights a key difference between them: Odysseus entered Troy via trickery and deception, a very cowardly move; in contrast, Hecuba is never disguised but is shown fully as she is, an attribute that is consistent with the notion of female virtue in a patriarchal society, yet simultaneously challenges traditional gender roles by suggesting that men are cowards but women are courageous.

 Hecuba then centers her rhetoric on the power of compassion. Hecuba asks Odysseus, “What saidst thou then, when in my power?” to differentiate their positions in the past and present. Odysseus’ answer is foolish since he implies that he had many things to say, rather than a sole important argument. Moreover, his point is meaningless because he pleaded for his life at several different times. Prior to her main point, Hecuba inquires, “Was it I that saved and sent thee forth again?” to which Odysseus agrees, “Thou didst, and so I behold the light of day.” Hecuba asks Odysseus if she had saved his life to emphasize that if she had not intervened, Odysseus would have been killed. Hecuba acted with compassion, as she allowed Odysseus to leave Troy unharmed. Further, Hecuba’s self-portrait of humility and compassion indicates the reverse treatment the sexes foster upon each other in this era.    

Demonstrating two different exhibitions of power, Hecuba by Euripides describes the power struggle between the sexes and the temporality of power and how one acts in accordance to said power, within and after the Trojan War.  Although the protagonist, Hecuba is not victorious through her pleas, by saving her daughter Polyxena, she is triumphant in her argument against Odysseus, and therefore elevates her social status in Ancient Greece.