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Hecuba and other plays

Chapter 9: Hercules Distracted.
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About This Book

The volume collects several tragedies drawn from the Trojan cycle and related legends, staging the suffering of conquered families, sacrifices demanded by fate, and the corrosive pursuit of vengeance. One play follows an elderly queen through loss, enslavement, and a quest for retributive justice; others probe the moral cost of filial duty, the strain between human law and ancient curses, and the fragile boundary between piety and brutality. Choral odes and divine pronouncements punctuate the action, highlighting tragic irony, rhetorical speeches, and intense emotional conflict.

Hercules Distracted.

PERSONS OF THE DRAMA.

  • Amphitryon.
  • Megara.
  • Chorus of Theban Old Men.
  • Hercules.
  • Lycus.
  • Iris.
  • A Fiend.
  • Messenger.
  • Theseus.

SCENE.—Before the Altar of Jupiter, at the Entrance of the House of Hercules in Thebes.