Andromache vs. Hermione: Some Thoughts on Euripides

So, recently I read the play Andromache by Euripides, because you know, I like Greek tragedy because it's just so cheerful. Anyway, this time I made the unusual move of reading the introduction reading a paragraph and a half of the 10 million page introduction and something it said caught my attention.

The introduction was talking about how the play was written on the premise of a the best of women in the worst of circumstances. While that seemed like a valid idea at the time, after I actually read the play, I thought that that was a really weird thing to say.

In case you're not familiar with Andromache, I'll give you a super quick summary. It's the story of Hector's (Hector is the prince of Troy) wife after the fall of Troy. Andromache has been taken prisoner by the Greeks and given to the son of Achilles (Neoptolemos) to be his wife/slave. After a few years, and, importantly, after Andromache has had a son to Neoptolemos, Neoptolemos marries Hermione, the daughter of Helen and Menelaus and, long story short, everything hits the fan. Hermione is jealous of Andromache's relationship with her husband, so, when he goes off on a trip to Delphi, Hermione plots to kill Andromache and her son. Eventually, Achilles' father, Peleus, is able to save her and Hermione runs off with Orestes (the son of Agamemnon and Hermione's first cousin).

Anyway, the introduction was talking about how Andromache represented everything the ideal woman was supposed to be and how she deals with her less-than-stellar circumstances. In this reading of the text, Hermione is the foil. She represents the worst of women, what women are not supposed to do. Even though she, as the daughter of a king and wife of a powerful man, has, supposedly, every advantage, she still behaves, by Greek standards, poorly.

This is what I take issue with. Even though the play does it's best to put you on Andromache's side (and I'm definitely on Andromache's side), you can't help but feel sorry for Hermione too. I know that she's supposed to be the opposite of Andromache, but from where I sit, Hermione and Andromache actually have a lot in common. Even if Andromache is supposed to be the best woman in the worst circumstances, we can hardly say that Hermione is in the best of circumstances. In fact, she too is in the worst of circumstances, albeit in a different way.

Consider her position, Hermione leaves her home, her family, and everything she has ever known to marry Neoptolemos only to find out that not only is he already married (sort of, Andromache and Neoptolemos don't have what you would call a legally binding marriage) but he already has a son by another woman. Naturally this is devastating, especially given the fact that she is basically infertile. Not to mention that her mother has recently abandoned her and run off to Troy (causing a 10 year war that also took her father away from her). That's what I call maladjusted.

No doubt Hermione feels betrayed and scared and wants to lash out. Which, of course, is no reason to commit murder, but it gives you some idea of where she's coming from. She deals with her issues poorly, but you have to admit that she has valid problems. I mean, Hermione is just doing what seems logical to her. She has one line in this play that really gets me:

…Love’s all a woman has to live for.

-Euripides, Andromache, 244

I mean, when you think that her marriage is the most valuable thing Hermione has, you sort of have to see her as a tragic figure. From the start, she never really had a chance with Neoptolemos and nothing she can do can change that. You have to admit that that's just sad. 

On the other hand, Andromache is totally innocent in all of this. She didn't mean to get between Hermione and her husband. In fact, if Andromache had her druthers, she wouldn't even have left Troy. Everything that happens to her is totally out of her control, and yet she is held responsible for the consequences. She articulates this quite well herself:

How cruel a lottery you set before me,

A choice between two lives – when winning wins

Me wretchedness and losing brings ill fate.

Oh you who from small causes takes grand actions,

Why are you killing me? For whose sake? What city

Have I betrayed? What child of yours have I killed?

What house have I set on fire? Against my will,

I mated with my master. And then you kill me,

Not him who was the cause. You overlook

The source as you pursue the end you want.

All these evils! Such misery to me,

Such suffering to my land.

-Euripides, Andromache, 389-90

So who is the most sympathetic character? Obviously, each has her merits and disadvantages. Hermione takes things a little far, but one can't help wondering if, if Andromache was a little more assertive, she wouldn't be in a slightly better situation at the beginning of the play. One thing that can be said for Hermione is that she stands up for herself and fights for what she thinks is hers. Obviously Andromache has a lot less autonomy, but she could still take a leaf out of Hermione's book in that respect.

So who is the most sympathetic character? I don't think you can answer that. Perhaps the best answer is that is that they are both victims, searching for a way to make sense of a conflict that is not of their making. The play becomes a lot more meaningful if you read it that way.

Just readin'