Hecuba

Animal imagery is used throughout the play to explore character and human nature. Early in the play, for instance, Polyxena’s weakness and vulnerability are emphasized through comparisons with young animals, including “a little doe, a dappled doe” (90) and “a calf, / […] a while mountain beast’s young” (204-05). When Polymestor is blinded, his savage rage expresses itself in a desire to tear apart and devour the Trojan women “like a raging beast” (1058).

The animal symbolism of the play is most apparent in Polymestor’s prediction at the end of the play that Hecuba will be transformed into “a dog, a bitch with blazing eyes” (1265). This transformation can be interpreted as an allegorical or symbolic manifestation of the degeneration undergone by Hecuba’s character as her lamentations and philosophical speculations give way to an animalistic desire for revenge.

Family and blood are important motifs that run throughout the play. Hecuba’s suffering stems first and foremost from the loss of her family when Troy fell—and over the course of the play, she loses two more of her children, Polyxena and Polymestor.

The idea that family and one’s blood, or birth, play a part in determining what kind of person they are also plays a key role in the play.