In line 749, Hecuba reveals her resolution to take revenge, timorein It comes as a complete surprise, since there is no mention of such an idea in the Prologue Hecuba's revenge has been acknowledged as an innovation by Euripides and is, indeed, skilfully devised to constitute the culmination of the play and to draw the attention of the audience So it is not unreasonable to regard the revenge as a crucial clue to the interpretation of the play What then drove Hecuba to take revenge? The murder of Polydorus? But that was merely the last straw W Steidle singled out her thymos as the compelling force which brought her to "fruchtbarer, ja grausiger Aktivitat" (cf WSt 74,1966,133-42) But R Mendor's paper (cf AJPh 99,1978, 28-35) has convincingly demonstrated that the revenge, far from being "an odious act of fury performed by a devilish creature", is rather "an official act of justice" counselled and confirmed by contemporary Athenian law It has thrown a new light upon the play and requires due consideration If the revenge is a legal act, how can it be considered tragic? To consider Hecuba's understanding of nomos may be a solution In a desperate plea to Odysseus (251-95), Hecuba appeals to every sort of morality including charts, dike, hiketeia, aidos, phthonos, and finally, nomos (291) Her appeal was in vain but the fact that she did appeal proves the seriousness with which she believes in the values she mentions In supplicating Agamemnon for revenge on Polymestor, she again appeals to nomos (799-805) The reading of nomos in line 800 has been much debated and there are three renderings proposed "convention", "divine order", and, "divine law (as understood by Agamemnon) and/or convention (as understood by the contemporary Athenian audience)" I propose that "divine law" would be the natural rendering here because Hecuba is attempting to persuade Agamemnon, who as king presides over the people It is, therefore, more appropriate for Hecuba to appeal not to "convention", which can be neglected by the ruler, but to "divine law", which he is in charge of administrating in human society Moreover immediately before referring to nomos, she makes an issue of Polymestor's negation of gods below and above (791) and his violation of xenia (793-97) And at lines 802-805, justice in the form of execution under the supervision of Agamemnon is at stake (the relative pronoun at line 802 designates nomos at line 800 "which now comes to you") Therefore if nomos in line 800 means "divine law" and not "convention", this gives her argument a logical continuity But I must add that Hecuba's understanding of nomos must have undergone a drastic change when she found the body of Polydorus She never denied divine nomos but was forced to recognise that it could operate as Blind Chance, Tyche, as hinted at 685-86 by the phrase nomon Baccheion I propose that, uttering these words, she must have decided to acknowledge herself as an agent of Tyche (757, 786, 865) While she believes in the existence of divine nomos, she recognises or, rather, is forced to recognise its precise nature, i e, that it can often be totally indifferent to human happiness Nonetheless, she is required to undertake revenge as a legal duty Is it not tragedy as well as irony? The violent act by an agent of Tyche itself results in a lawful act which, logically, must be completely inoffensive to contemporary Athenians Surely, this is not merely a theatrical surprise but also an astounding impact on the audience's understanding of nomos ? According to my interpretation, the scene in which Hecuba as supplicant appeals to Agamemnon is strongly ironical Hecuba is the self-confessed agent of Tyche while Agamemnon, despite the authority to execute nomos, is in fact a man unable to act at his discretion
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