{"id":18774,"date":"2024-03-08T11:01:08","date_gmt":"2024-03-08T16:01:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.philipharland.com\/Blog\/?p=18774"},"modified":"2024-04-02T09:31:49","modified_gmt":"2024-04-02T13:31:49","slug":"phrygians-euripides-cowardly-and-inferior-easterner-via-the-phrygian-slave-in-orestes-408-bce","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.philipharland.com\/Blog\/2024\/03\/phrygians-euripides-cowardly-and-inferior-easterner-via-the-phrygian-slave-in-orestes-408-bce\/","title":{"rendered":"Phrygians: Euripides’ cowardly and inferior easterner via the slave character in Orestes (408 BCE)"},"content":{"rendered":"

Ancient author: <\/em><\/strong>Euripides (late fifth century BCE), Orestes<\/em> 1350-1556 (link<\/a>; link<\/a> to Greek).<\/p>\n

Comments: <\/em><\/strong>As I clarified in the comments on Aeschylus’ Persians<\/em> (link<\/a>), Athenian writers of tragedies and comedies used their plays, in part, to portray foreigners or “barbarians,” and easterners (Persians and Trojans \/ Phrygians) were a principal target. As Edith Hall shows at length, foreigners within older stories and myths (e.g. Trojan war as below) could be recast in new ways as uncivilized “barbarians.” This is illustrated well by the character of the Phrygian \/ Trojan slave in Euripides’ play Orestes<\/em>.<\/p>\n

You can of course click through above to read the entire play, but here in this post I have presented only the portions involving the Phrygian slave character. While the supposed inferior customs and traits of the Phrygian easterner are somewhat subtle at times, the stereotype begins to build up of Phrygians as fearful, cowardly, effeminate (not men, but not quite women), and servile (including the custom of bowing down to superiors). Overall, the point is that Phrygian barbarians are clearly inferior to Greeks (stated blatantly at one point). Naturally, Phrygians are also depicted as devoted to the Mother goddes of mount Ida. To aid in noticing some of these features, I have underlined key phrases.<\/p>\n

\u2017\u2017\u2017\u2017\u2017\u2017\u2017<\/p>\n

Main characters:<\/em><\/p>\n

ELECTRA: daughter of Agamemnon and Klytaimnestra, sister of Orestes.
\nHELEN: wife of Menelaos, sister of Klytaimnestra.
\nHERMIONE: daughter of Menelaos and Helen.
\nCHORUS: young women of Argos.
\nORESTES: son of Agamemnon and Klytaimnestra, brother of Electra.
\nMENELAOS: king of Sparta, brother of Agamemnon, uncle of Orestes and Electra.
\nTYNDAREUS: father of Helen and Klytaimnestra, an old man.
\nPYLADES: prince of Phokis, a friend of Orestes.
\nMESSENGER: an old man.
\nPHRYGIAN: one of Helen\u2019s Trojan slaves, a eunuch.
\nAPOLLO: divine son of Zeus and Leto, god of prophecy.<\/p>\n

[The action of the play takes place in Argos just outside the royal palace a few days after Orestes has avenged the murder of his father by killing his mother, Klytaimnestra, and her lover, Aegisthus. At the opening, Orestes is lying ill on a couch near the doors. Electra is sitting close to him.]<\/p>\n

\u2017\u2017\u2017\u2017\u2017\u2017\u2017<\/p>\n

. . . [omitted 1300 lines of the<\/em> play<\/em>]. . . <\/em><\/p>\n

[Phrygian \/ Trojan slave of Helen enters the narrative]<\/strong><\/p>\n

[Electra enters the house.]<\/p>\n

CHORUS: O friends, begin the rhythmic beat,
\nthe noise and shouts, before the house,
\nso that this murder, once complete,
\nmay not inspire a dreadful fear
\namong the Argives and they run here
\nto help the royal house, not before
\nI see for certain Helen\u2019s dead
\nand lying in blood there in the house
\nor hear the news from her attendant.
\nI know a part of what\u2019s gone on,
\nbut there are things I do not know. [1360]
\nJustice from the gods has rightly come
\nwith retribution now to Helen \u2014
\nbecause she filled all Greece with tears
\nthanks to that accursed destroyer,
\nParis from mount Ida, who led Greeks to Troy.<\/p>\n

CHORUS LEADER: The bolts on the palace doors are creaking.
\nBe quiet. One of the Phrygians
\nis coming out. We\u2019ll find out from him
\nhow things are going inside.<\/p>\n

[A Phrygian enters, quite terrified. He chants or sings his first speeches.]<\/p>\n

PHRYGIAN: I\u2019ve fled death from an Argive sword
\nby scrambling in my Asian slippers [1370]
\nover bedroom cedar ceiling beams
\nand the Doric carvings on the frieze
\nRuined! Gone! O earth, earth,
\nin my barbarian flight<\/span>! Alas for me!
\nYou strange ladies, how can I flee \u2014
\nby flying up through the shining sky
\nor out to sea, which bull-headed Ocean,
\nas he rolls in circles round the earth,
\nholds in his arms\u2019 embrace?<\/p>\n

CHORUS LEADER: What\u2019s going on,
\nyou slave of Helen, creature from mount Ida? [1380]<\/p>\n

PHRYGIAN: Ilion [Troy], O Ilion! O woe is me
\ncity of Phrygia, Ida\u2019s sacred hill
\nwith its rich earth, how I lament
\nwith my barbarian cries<\/span> your ruin,
\nfunereal melodies and dirges,
\nbecause the vision of loveliness
\nborn from a swan-feathered bird,
\nLeda\u2019s lion cub, that hellish Helen,
\nthat evil Helen, avenging fury
\nfor Apollo\u2019s polished citadel.
\nAlas! Alas, for these laments, [1390]
\nthese dirges for Dardania,
\nfor the horsemanship of Ganymede<\/span>
\nZeus\u2019 sexual partner in his bed.<\/p>\n

CHORUS LEADER: Tell us what\u2019s happening inside the house,
\nclearly and in detail. Your words so far
\nare difficult for me to understand.<\/p>\n

PHRYGIAN: O Linos, Linos \u2014 as barbarians say
\nin their Asian tongue<\/span>, once death begins,
\nwhenever royal blood spills on the earth
\nfrom iron swords of Hades. They came there, [1400]
\ninside the house \u2013 I\u2019m giving you each detail \u2013
\ntwin lions of Greece, one who was called
\nthe commander\u2019s son, the other one
\nthe son of Stophios, with a wicked mind,
\njust like Odysseus, a silent traitor,
\nbut faithful to his friends, bold in a fight,
\nclever in war, a deadly serpent. Damn him
\nfor his quiet deviousness, the scoundrel!
\nThey came in, up to where she was sitting,
\nthe woman archer Paris married, faces [1410]
\nwet with tears, and humbly crouched down there,
\none on either side, keeping her hemmed in.
\nThey threw their suppliant arms around her knees \u2013
\nboth laid hands on Helen. Then on the run
\nher Phrygian servants came rushing up,
\neach calling to the others in their fear
\nthat it might be a trick. To some of them [1420]
\nit looked all right, but it seemed to others
\nthat the snake who murdered his own mother
\nwas entangling the child of Tyndareus
\nin a devious plot to snare her.<\/p>\n

CHORUS LEADER: Where were you?
\nHad you run off in terror long before that?<\/p>\n

PHRYGIAN: It so chanced that I, as a Phrygian,
\nwas following Phrygian fashions<\/span>
\nand with a circular feathered fan
\nwas wafting breezes, breezes by the curls
\nof Helen, on Helen\u2019s cheeks \u2013 a habit
\nwe barbarians have. She was twisting yarn [1430]
\nwrapping her fingers round the spindle.
\nThe thread was falling down onto the floor.
\nWith those Phrygian spoils she wished to make
\nsome purple clothes, a gift for Klytaimnestra,
\nto adorn her tomb. Orestes then spoke up
\nand called out to the Spartan girl, \u201cChild of Zeus,
\nleave your chair and stand up over here, [1440]
\nby the ancient hearth of Pelops, our ancestor,
\nso you can hear the words I have to say.\u201d
\nHe led her, yes led her, and she followed \u2014
\nshe had no idea what he was planning.
\nHis partner, that evil man from Phokis,
\nmoved off, going about some other business.
\n\u201cYou Phrygian cowards<\/span>, leave \u2014 go somewhere else!\u201d
\nThen he locked them up in different places
\nall through the house \u2014 some in the stables,
\nsome in the porticoes \u2014 some here, some there, [1450]
\nleaving them in various locations
\nsome distance from their mistress.<\/p>\n

CHORUS LEADER: Then what happened?<\/p>\n

PHRYGIAN: Mother of Ida! O sacred mother,<\/span>
\nholy one!<\/span> O the murderous suffering,
\nthe lawless evil I saw there, I witnessed
\nin the royal palace. Their hands pulled swords
\nout from the darkness of their purple robes,
\nrolling their eyes back and forth, here and there,
\nto check that no one else was there. They stood,
\nlike mountain boars, facing the woman there, [1460]
\nand said, \u201cYou\u2019ll die. You\u2019ll die. Your evil mate
\nis the one who\u2019s killing you \u2014 he abandoned
\nhis brother\u2019s family to die in Argos.\u201d
\nShe screamed, she howled, \u201cAlas for me!\u201d
\nand beat her white forearm against her breast
\nand struck her fist against her wretched head.
\nThen she ran off \u2014 on golden-sandaled feet
\nshe rushed off, she fled. But then Orestes,
\njumping ahead in his Mycenaean boots, [1470]
\nshoved his fingers in her hair, bent her neck
\non his left shoulder, and was quite prepared
\nto drive his black sword right into her throat.<\/p>\n

CHORUS LEADER: Where were you Phrygian household servants
\nto defend her?<\/p>\n

PHRYGIAN: We yelled \u2014 then with crowbars
\nbattered the doors and door posts in the rooms
\nwhere we\u2019d been held and ran from every spot
\nto her assistance. One man carried stones,
\none had spears, and one held a drawn sword.
\nBut Pylades came at us without fear,
\njust like Trojan Hector or like Ajax, [1480]
\nwith his triple plumes, whom I saw once \u2014
\nI saw him at Priam\u2019s gate. So we met
\nat sword point. And then the Phrygians showed<\/span>
\nin their full glory how for warlike spirit<\/span>
\nthey were born inferior in fighting strength<\/span>
\ncompared to Greeks<\/span>. One man ran away,
\none man was killed, another wounded,
\nanother pleaded to protect his life.
\nWe ran off, into the shadows, while men
\nwere falling dead. Some would soon collapse,
\nand some were killed already. At that point,
\npoor Hermione came in the palace, [1490]
\njust as her mother, the unlucky one
\nwho\u2019d given birth to her, had fallen down,
\nsprawling on the ground about to die.
\nThe two men, like followers of Bacchos
\nchasing a mountain cub without a thyrsos,
\nran up and grabbed her. Then they turned again
\nto slaughter Zeus\u2019s daughter. But Helen
\nhad vanished from the room \u2014 and from the house \u2014
\nO Zeus, and earth, and light, and darkness \u2014
\neither by poisonings or skills of the Magians (magoi<\/em>)
\nor god\u2019s deceit! What happened after that
\nI\u2019ve no idea. Just like a fugitive,
\nmy legs crept from the house. So Menelaos, [1500]
\nafter going through such painful, painful toil,
\ngot his wife Helen out of Troy in vain.<\/p>\n

[Orestes enters from the house.]<\/p>\n

CHORUS LEADER: Look how one strange sight succeeds another!
\nI see Orestes, sword in hand, coming here,
\nbefore the palace \u2014 his pace is nervous.<\/p>\n

ORESTES: Where\u2019s that man who ran out of the house,
\nto escape my sword?<\/p>\n

PHRYGIAN [throwing himself on the ground]:
\n I bow to you, my lord,<\/span>
\nmaking obeisance, as is the habit<\/span>
\nof we barbarians.<\/span><\/p>\n

ORESTES: We\u2019re not in Troy.
\nWe\u2019re in the land of Argos.<\/p>\n

PHRYGIAN: But everywhere
\nlife is more welcome to wise men than death.<\/p>\n

ORESTES: Those shouts you made \u2014 you weren\u2019t calling out [1510]
\nfor Menelaos to bring up help, were you?<\/p>\n

PHRYGIAN: No, no. I was helping you, the worthier man.<\/p>\n

ORESTES: So it was just for Tyndareus\u2019 daughter
\nto be put to death?<\/p>\n

PHRYGIAN: It was most just,
\neven if she had three throats to slit.<\/p>\n

ORESTES: Your cowardice makes your tongue delightful \u2014
\nthat\u2019s not what you think inside.<\/p>\n

PHRYGIAN: That\u2019s not true.
\nWas she not the one who wiped out Greece
\nand Phrygians, too?<\/p>\n

ORESTES: Swear you\u2019re not just saying this
\nto humour me \u2014 or else I\u2019ll kill you.<\/p>\n

PHRYGIAN: I swear it on my life \u2014 an oath I\u2019ll keep.<\/p>\n

ORESTES [holding up his sword]: Were all the Phrygians at Troy afraid
\nof iron, the way you are?<\/p>\n

PHRYGIAN: That sword of yours,
\nput it away. When it\u2019s so close to me
\nit has a dreadful glint of murder.<\/p>\n

ORESTES: Are you afraid you\u2019ll turn to stone, as if [1520]
\nyou\u2019d seen a Gorgon?<\/p>\n

PHRYGIAN: No, not to a stone,
\nbut to a corpse. I don\u2019t know anything
\nabout the Gorgon\u2019s head.<\/p>\n

ORESTES: You\u2019re just a slave.
\nDo you fear Hades, which will release you
\nfrom your troubles?<\/p>\n

PHRYGIAN: Every man, slave or not,
\nis glad to look upon the light of day.<\/p>\n

ORESTES: Well said. Your shrewd mind is your salvation.
\nGo inside the house.<\/p>\n

PHRYGIAN: You won\u2019t kill me?<\/p>\n

ORESTES: You\u2019re free to go.<\/p>\n

PHRYGIAN: That\u2019s beautiful, what you just said.<\/p>\n

ORESTES: But I am about to reconsider.<\/p>\n

PHRYGIAN: Now your words are not so nice.<\/p>\n

ORESTES: You fool!
\nDo you think I could stand to stain your neck,
\nmake it bloody? You weren\u2019t born a woman<\/span>
\nand don\u2019t belong with men.<\/span> I left the house
\nto stop you making such a noise. Argos [1530]
\nis quick to action once it hears the call.
\nBut still I\u2019m not afraid of matching swords
\nwith Menelaos. Let him come \u2014 the man
\nwho\u2019s so proud of that golden hair of his
\nreaching to his shoulders. If he gathers
\nArgives up and leads them to the palace,
\nseeking to avenge the death of Helen,
\nand will not rescue me and my sister
\nand Pylades, who worked with me in this,
\nhe\u2019ll see two dead, his daughter and his wife.<\/p>\n

[Orestes enters the palace. The Phrygian leaves.]<\/p>\n

CHORUS [different parts speak different sections]:
\nAlas, alas, how things fall out!
\nAnother struggle \u2014 once more the house
\nis plunged into another fearful round
\nafflicting the family of Atreus!
\nWhat do we do? Tell the news in town?
\nOr stay quiet? That\u2019s the safer course, my friends. [1540]
\nLook there, in front of the palace.
\nLook! That smoke rushing up to heaven
\nis telling its own public story.
\nThey\u2019re lighting torches \u2014 they\u2019re going to fire
\nthe house of Tantalus! They won\u2019t stop killing!
\nGod determines how things end for mortal men,
\nwhatever end he wishes.
\nThose demons of revenge have mighty power.
\nThe house has fallen \u2014 fallen through blood,
\nthanks to Myrtilus tumbling from his chariot.<\/p>\n

CHORUS LEADER: But look! I see Menelaos coming \u2014
\nhe\u2019s near the house and moving quickly.
\nHe must have heard what\u2019s happening here. [1550]
\nYou descendants of Atreus in there,
\nhurry now to close and bolt the doors.
\nA man who\u2019s had success is dangerous
\nfor those whose situation is not good \u2014
\nthat means men like you, Orestes.<\/p>\n

[Menelaos enters with an armed escort.]<\/p>\n

. . . [omitted remainder of play<\/em>].<\/p>\n

\u2017\u2017\u2017\u2017\u2017\u2017\u2017<\/p>\n

Source of translation: <\/em><\/strong>Ian Johnston 2010, public domain (link<\/a>).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Ancient author: Euripides (late fifth century BCE), Orestes 1350-1556 (link; link to Greek). Comments: As I clarified in the comments on Aeschylus’ Persians (link), Athenian writers of tragedies and comedies used their plays, in part, to portray foreigners or “barbarians,” and easterners (Persians and Trojans \/ Phrygians) were a principal target. As Edith Hall shows […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[71,224,299,296,588,94,137,485],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-18774","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-02-greek-and-roman-ethnography-on-barbarians","category-d-eastern-peoples","category-ancient-ethnography-ethnographic-culture","category-ethnicity-ancient-world","category-euripides-greek","category-persians-iranians-magians","category-phrygians","category-trojans"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.philipharland.com\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18774","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.philipharland.com\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.philipharland.com\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.philipharland.com\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/12"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.philipharland.com\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18774"}],"version-history":[{"count":19,"href":"https:\/\/www.philipharland.com\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18774\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":19568,"href":"https:\/\/www.philipharland.com\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18774\/revisions\/19568"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.philipharland.com\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18774"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.philipharland.com\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18774"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.philipharland.com\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18774"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}