Rhesus

Rhesus, a tragedy that has come down among the plays of Euripides although its authorship was doubted in antiquity, is set in the Trojan camp on the night when Odysseus and Diomedes slip in, kill the newly arrived Thracian king Rhesus and steal his horses. It begins at night, with Trojan sentries (the Chorus) waking Hector to say that the Greeks have been kindling fires and torches by their ships (lines 1–51). Hector takes this for flight and wants to attack at once, but Aeneas persuades him to send a spy first (lines 87–148). Dolon volunteers and, after refusing every other prize, asks for the immortal horses of Achilles (lines 154–190); he leaves in a wolf-skin. A shepherd then announces that Rhesus, king of the Thracians, is approaching with a vast army (lines 264–316). Hector receives him with open reproach for coming late, and Rhesus answers that he was held back by a war with the Scythians (lines 388–453). Odysseus and Diomedes, who have killed Dolon, come to the camp looking for Hector, and Athena sends them instead to kill Rhesus and take his white horses (lines 565–626). She deceives Paris by pretending to be Aphrodite (lines 627–667). Rhesus’ wounded charioteer then reports the killing, and accuses Hector of it (lines 728–855). Hector blames Odysseus, and the Muse, Rhesus’ mother, appears with her son’s body and blames Athena (lines 882–982).

Date and Historical Background

The play has come down among the plays of Euripides, but its authorship was already in doubt in antiquity. According to the ancient hypothesis (the introduction in the manuscripts), some suspected that the play was spurious and not by Euripides, because it seemed to them to show rather the character of Sophocles, although the official production records listed it as genuine. The hypothesis adds that two other prologues were in circulation besides the present opening, one of them very prosaic and possibly the work of actors. No ancient source records the date of the play, its festival or the plays produced with it.

The story is taken from the tenth book of Homer’s Iliad, where Odysseus and Diomedes kill the Thracian king Rhesus and take his horses after Dolon has been captured. The play changes some of the details. In Homer Dolon asks for the horses of Achilles as his reward for spying on the Greek ships, and is caught and killed by Odysseus and Diomedes on the way (Iliad 10.319–464); here too he asks for them, but he is killed offstage and the audience hears of his death only in a passing remark by Odysseus (lines 591–593).

Characters and Setting

Characters

• Hector, son of Priam and commander of the Trojans
• Aeneas, a Trojan captain
• Dolon, a Trojan who volunteers as a spy
• A shepherd, who brings news of Rhesus’ arrival
• Rhesus, king of the Thracians, son of the river Strymon and a Muse
• Odysseus and Diomedes, Greek leaders
• Athena, goddess
• Paris, a Trojan prince
• The charioteer of Rhesus
• The Muse, Rhesus’ mother, one of the nine sisters (she is not named)
• Chorus of Trojan sentries, with a Chorus Leader

Setting

The play takes place at night in the Trojan camp outside the walls, near Hector’s couch, in the tenth year of the war (the year is given in Rhesus’ speech, line 444). Dawn is close at the end (lines 527–535, 983–985).

Summary of Rhesus

Parodos (Entrance Song)

The play has no prologue. It opens with the Chorus, who go to Hector’s bed and ask which of his attendants is awake, because they bring news from the sentries of the fourth watch (lines 1–10). Hector wakes and demands the password and why they have left their posts (lines 11–22). The Chorus answers with a call to arms: “To arms! Hector, seek your allies’ sleeping camp!” (line 23). It tells him to rouse the army, bridle the horses, and string the bows (lines 24–33). Hector answers that their words swing between fear and confidence and that they have told him nothing plain (lines 34–40). The Chorus then states the news: all night the Argive army has been lighting fires, the fleet is bright with torches, and the whole army is moving to the tent of Agamemnon (lines 41–50).

First Episode

Hector is pleased: he thinks the Greeks are about to slip away by night (lines 52–56). He complains that his seers made him wait for dawn when he had wanted to attack that night and burn the ships (lines 56–69), and he orders the army to arm so that the Greeks are struck in the back as they leap aboard their ships, “and others shall be fast bound with cords and learn to till our Phrygian fields” (lines 70–75). The Chorus Leader urges caution, since they do not know for certain that the Greeks are leaving (lines 76–84).

Aeneas arrives, wondering why the sentries have woken Hector (lines 85–89). Hector tells him the Greeks are flying and gird on his sword to stop them (lines 90–103). Aeneas answers that Hector is bold, but each man has his own gift, Hector’s being battle and another’s sound counsel (lines 105–108). He points out the dangers of crossing the trench at night, of a rout back across the bridges, and of Achilles; he proposes that the men be left asleep under arms while a volunteer is sent as a spy, and that they attack if the Greeks really are leaving, but think again if it is a trap (lines 109–130). The Chorus approves, and Hector agrees and sends Aeneas to calm the allies (lines 131–148).

Hector asks who will go. Dolon volunteers, on condition that he is given a fitting reward (lines 149–163). Hector offers any wage except his own sovereignty. Dolon refuses marriage to a daughter of Priam, because he does not want to marry above his station, and he refuses gold, which he already has (lines 165–170). He asks for a gift after the victory; Hector will give anything except the captains of the fleet, and Dolon brushes aside Menelaus, a captive to hold to ransom and the spoils of war, and finally names Achilles’ horses (lines 172–183). Hector says the horses are immortal and were given to Peleus by Poseidon, and that Dolon’s wish clashes with his own, but he promises them (lines 184–190). Dolon says he will put on a wolf-skin, with the head over his own and the fore-feet fastened to his hands, and go on all fours until he reaches a lonely place, where he will walk upright (lines 201–215). He promises to bring back the head of Odysseus or Diomedes (lines 219–222). The Chorus prays to Apollo to guide him, and sings of the reward and of the danger of the road (lines 224–263).

Second Episode

A shepherd arrives and Hector, annoyed, tells him to take his news about sheep to the palace (lines 264–274). The shepherd answers that he brings news of war: a chieftain with a countless army is on his way to join Hector as an ally, from Thrace, and his father is Strymon (lines 275–281). The shepherd explains that the army frightened the shepherds on Mount Ida by marching in at night, and that he spoke with the Thracian scouts in their own language (lines 285–300). He describes Rhesus “mounted like a god upon his Thracian chariot”, with a golden yoke, a golden shield and a bronze gorgon on the horses’ foreheads (lines 300–308), and tells of the many horsemen, shield-bearers and archers (lines 308–316). The Chorus Leader says the tide of fortune runs easily when the gods stand by a city (lines 317–318).

Hector is not pleased. He says that now that fortune smiles and Zeus is on his side he shall find many friends; those who did not share the labour then are not needed now (lines 319–326). The Chorus Leader advises him not to reject an ally and warns him that fortune can turn (lines 327–334). Hector says he hates a friend who comes too late, but that since Rhesus has come, he may come to table as a guest, not as an ally (lines 333–338). The shepherd adds that Rhesus’ mere appearance would cause a panic among the foe, and Hector agrees to admit him (lines 335–340).

The Chorus sings a welcome to Rhesus, the son of the river Strymon and a Muse (lines 342–387). It calls him a god, hopes he will drive Achilles from the field, and hopes that the Trojans will once again feast in peace (lines 355–378).

Third Episode

Rhesus greets Hector and says he has come to help raze the Greek walls and burn their ships (lines 388–392). Hector says he loves to speak plainly and rebukes him for coming too late: Troy sent embassies and rich gifts, but Rhesus left his barbarian brothers to the Greeks (lines 393–405). Hector reminds him that it was he who raised him to lordship over Thrace by defeating the Thracian chiefs around Pangaeum (lines 406–411). He adds that others have been fighting and dying here, while Rhesus drinks on his couch (lines 412–421).

Rhesus answers that he too speaks plainly. Scythians, whose lands border his own, made war on him when he was about to sail, and he subdued them, took hostages and imposed a yearly tribute (lines 422–435). Then he came, he says, not sleeping in gilded palaces as Hector’s jibes imply, but through the freezing winds of the Thracian sea (lines 436–442). He tells Hector that the Trojans have been fighting for ten years and have achieved nothing, and promises to sack the towers and burn the fleet in one day, and then go home (lines 443–453). The Chorus rejoices and fears the jealousy of the gods (lines 454–466).

Rhesus says he will afterward march against Argos and lay Hellas waste, and Hector answers that this is no easy task and that the need of the moment must come first (lines 467–485). Hector offers him any place in the line. Rhesus says he will face the foe alone, or else face Achilles (lines 485–491). Hector tells him Achilles is angry and takes no part in the battles (lines 492–495). He names Ajax and Diomedes as the next best, and Odysseus as the greatest pest of all: a cunning rascal who stole Athena’s image, entered Troy as a beggar and killed the gate sentries (lines 496–509). Rhesus vows that if he catches Odysseus alive he will impale him at the gates for the vultures (lines 510–516). Hector gives him a quarter apart from the main army for the night, gives him the password “Phoebus” and asks him to receive Dolon on his return (lines 518–526).

The Chorus wakes the next watch as the Pleiades climb and the eagle floats in mid-heaven; they name the order of the watches and decide to rouse the Lycians for the fifth watch (lines 527–564). They are uneasy that Dolon has not returned.

Fourth Episode

Odysseus and Diomedes come in the dark, startled by the noise of armour, which proves to be horses’ chains (lines 565–569). Diomedes knows the password, “Phoebus”, because Dolon told it to them (lines 572–573). They find Hector’s couch empty and wonder whether he has gone to set a trap (lines 574–580). Odysseus says some god is saving him and proposes going back to the ships; Diomedes suggests killing Aeneas or Paris, but Odysseus says they cannot find them in the dark (lines 582–588). They are ready to return, having killed Dolon and taken his spoils (lines 589–594).

Athena then stops them. She tells them Rhesus has come, and that if he lives to see dawn, neither Achilles nor Ajax can stop him from destroying the fleet (lines 595–604). She tells them to leave Hector asleep, for he will die by another’s hand, and to kill Rhesus and take his white horses, which shine like river swans (lines 605–621). Odysseus recognises her voice (lines 608–610). Diomedes will do the killing and Odysseus the horses (lines 622–626).

Athena sees Paris coming. He should be on the list of the dead, Diomedes says, but she answers that destiny cannot be overreached, and that she will pretend to be Cypris and answer Paris with misleading words (lines 627–640). Odysseus and Diomedes go. Paris calls for Hector, saying thieves or spies may be in the camp (lines 642–645). Athena, in the form of Aphrodite, tells him not to worry, and that she has brought Rhesus as a mighty friend (lines 646–652). Paris says he came because of a vague rumour and that he is on his way to Hector’s tent, and she assures him that all is quiet and that Hector has gone to settle the Thracians (lines 653–662). Paris accepts this and goes to his post (lines 663–666). Athena, now in her own voice, calls to Odysseus and Diomedes that Rhesus is dead and the horses taken, and that they must run to the ships before the enemy comes (lines 668–674).

The Chorus, returned from its rounds, seizes the two men and demands the password (lines 675–684). Odysseus gives it, “Phoebus”, and tells them not to slay a friend; the sentries let him go (lines 685–691). The Chorus then wonders who the man was, and decides it was the deed of Odysseus, who once came into Troy as a beggar and spoke bitterly of the Atreidae (lines 692–721). It begins to fear Hector’s blame (lines 722–727).

Exodos (Exit Song)

A groan is heard, and the Chorus Leader tells his men to crouch down (lines 728–732). It is the wounded charioteer of Rhesus, who says that his king has been killed by a treacherous blow (lines 733–753). He describes how the Thracians, told by Hector that the Trojans were masters, had lain down without posting guards or readying their horses (lines 760–769). He woke, saw two men moving through the army, and called out to them; hearing no answer he went back to sleep (lines 770–779). He then dreamed of wolves riding on the horses of Rhesus, and woke to hear the groans of dying men, to find himself spattered with blood, and to be struck beneath the ribs by an unseen hand as the killers fled with the horses and chariot (lines 780–799). He says he did not see who killed his master, but suspects friends (lines 800–803).

Hector arrives and rages at the sentries who let the spies in and out without stopping them (lines 808–819). The Chorus says it has kept sleepless watch and offers its life if proved guilty (lines 820–832). The charioteer accuses Hector of the murder: he says nobody could have found Rhesus’ bed in the dark without a guide, that Hector coveted the horses, and that the Argives could not have passed the Trojan lines (lines 833–855). Hector answers that he has never been accused by allies before, and that he would never want horses so much as to kill friends; it is the work of Odysseus, he says, and he fears him, and worries that Dolon has been killed too (lines 856–865). The charioteer does not know Odysseus and still thinks the killers were not enemies (lines 866–868). Hector has him carried to his palace to be tended, and sends word to Priam to bury the dead (lines 877–881).

The Chorus shudders as a goddess appears above, carrying a newly killed body (lines 882–889). She is the Muse, one of the nine sisters, mother of Rhesus; she says Odysseus will one day pay for the murder (lines 890–894). She laments her son, whom she had forbidden to go to Troy (lines 895–900, 933–937). She curses the son of Oeneus, the son of Laertes and the woman who left Hellas with her Phrygian lover (lines 906–914). She tells of her union with the river Strymon, after the Muses blinded Thamyris on Mount Pangaeus (lines 915–925); she sent the newborn Rhesus to his father, and he was reared by the fountain nymphs (lines 926–931). She then turns on Athena as the real cause of his death, though the Muses honour her city and Orpheus and Musaeus came from it: for this reward, she says, she will bring Athens no other learned man (lines 938–949). Hector says he will give Rhesus a pyre and fine garments (lines 952–961). The Muse replies that Rhesus will not go down to earth, but will lie hidden in a cave in the silver-veined land of Pangaeus, a deified man, like the prophet of Bacchus; she prays Persephone to release his soul (lines 962–973). She foretells that Achilles will die in his turn and that Apollo’s arrow awaits him, and that Athena will not save him (lines 974–979).

The Chorus Leader tells Hector that day is dawning (lines 983–985). Hector bids the allies arm and yoke their horses and wait for the trumpet, for he hopes to pass the Greek army and walls and burn the ships (lines 986–992). The Chorus goes to give the orders, hoping that the god may grant victory (lines 993–996).

A Brief Analysis

The question most often asked about this play is whether Euripides wrote it, and the ancient hypothesis already records the doubt (see above); the action of the play itself does not settle it.

The action takes place wholly at night, from the sentries’ fourth watch to the beginning of dawn (lines 1, 527–535, 983–985). The deed that causes all the trouble is done offstage, and each scene brings news of it, from the Chorus who think the Greeks are fleeing to the charioteer who accuses Hector. Each character reads the night differently. Hector takes the fires for flight, the Chorus doubts it, Dolon trusts his wolf-skin, and the Thracians trust their king’s arrival, while Athena alone knows what will happen.

The play uses Athena twice in two different ways. She stands over the middle of the action as protector of Odysseus and Diomedes, tells them to kill Rhesus, and tricks Paris in the guise of his own patron goddess (lines 595–674). The Muse then appears over the stage at the end and accuses Athena by name (lines 938–949). The Muse has cursed the two Greeks (lines 906–909), but she lays the blame on Athena, whose city the Muses have honoured (lines 938–949).

The ending offers some compensation: the Muse promises Rhesus a kind of divine life in a cave under Pangaeus (lines 962–973) and foretells the death of Achilles (lines 974–979). The play never says what the Greek fires meant, and Hector ends it by ordering the morning attack (lines 986–992).

Rhesus Sources

Euripides, Rhesus, lines 1–996: the sentries and Hector (1–148), Dolon (149–263), the shepherd and Rhesus (264–564), Odysseus, Diomedes, Athena and Paris (565–727), the charioteer (728–881) and the Muse (882–996). Homer, Iliad 10.299–579 for the story of Dolon and Rhesus; the ancient hypothesis to the play for the ancient doubt about its authorship.

See Also: Rhesus, Euripides, Hector, Odysseus