Though little is known for certain of his early life, Euripides was probably born around 460 b.c.e. to the farmer Mnesarchus and his wife Clito, and his studious nature quickly led him to a literary life in Athens. His work sticks out from that of his contemporaries for his attention to the political and social problems around him, although he never held public office. His plays are often ironic, pessimistic, and display radical rejection of classical decorum and rules. ‘The Trojan Women’ is one of Euripides’ anti-war plays, set in Troy just after it has been captured by the Greeks in a bitter, ten-year war. The play is not particularly suspenseful, but instead it relies on passages of lyric lamentation in the form of songs by Hecuba and other women who face cruel servitude in Greece. It is a powerful tragedy that emphasizes the sufferings of the innocent victims of war.
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