A new take on the wrath of the Aeacids in a 21st century Portuguese rewriting of The Trojan Women

Portuguese novelist and playwright Hélia Correia’s quest for understanding “the Greece within herself” had already led to three theatrical “Exercises” about major tragic protagonists – Antigone, Helen and Medea – when she focused on the Trojan Women, this time together with Jaime Rocha. The play As Troianas (2018) follows trends of the previous plays, like the denunciation of the horrors of war and its heroic framework. Following Euripides’ The Trojan Women and Hecuba, the central events are the distribution of female trophies and the human sacrifices demanded by the merciless winners. However, to the aristocratic resolve of Euripides’ Polyxena, As Troianas adds a feminist stance that gives her a wider reach. Furthermore, the prominence of the two Aeacids, whose wrath and cruelty stand out in successive scenes, suggests a parallel with Seneca the Younger's Troades. The colloquial tone of As Troianas, typical of our times, differs from Seneca's solemn and philosophic rhetoric, but both plays underline the brutality and hypocrisy of human deeds. In addition to the analysis of how As Troianas took advantage of and innovated the creations of Antiquity, the present relevance of past reflections on the impact of war on women will be highlighted in this paper.