By Miriam, Simona and Rita

1. Andromache, the wife of
Hector, mother of Astyanax
and victim of the WAR.

2. Andromache [Ἀνδρομάχη :
“someone who fights the men”] ,
according to a legend she was
kidnapped and she was carried to
Troy to give a heir to the coming
king of Troy, Hector: therfore she
was forced to marry him against
her will, but over the time she fell
in love with him. The couple had
a son, called Astianatte, o
Scamandrio (the Scamandro’s
river). According to the other
legends , Andromaca with her
husband gave birth to othe two
sons, Laodamante and Ossinio.

3. “He, looking to his child, smiled in
silence: but Andromaca came up to
him crying, and she took his hands,
she said kind words , she spoke like
this:
«Wretched, your bravery will kill
you, you don’t have compession of
the child so tiny, of me wretched
who soon will be a widow.»”
Ἤτοι ὃ μὲν μείδησεν ἰδὼν ἐς παῖδα
σιωπῇ·Ἤτοι ὃ μὲν μείδησεν ἰδὼν ἐς
παῖδα σιωπῇ·Ἀνδρομάχη δέ οἱ ἄγχι
παρίστατο δάκρυ χέουσα,
ἔν τ᾽ ἄρα οἱ φῦ χειρὶ ἔπος τ᾽ ἔφατ᾽
ἔκ τ᾽ ὀνόμαζε·
«δαιμόνιε φθίσει σε τὸ σὸν μένος,
οὐδ᾽ ἐλεαίρεις
παῖδά τε νηπίαχον καὶ ἔμ᾽ ἄμμορον,
ἣ τάχα χήρη σεῦ ἔσομαι᾽»”.

4. Andromaca had already known the
pain caused bu the war:
“ Achille killed my father”,
“Ἤτοι γὰρ πατέρ᾽ ἁμὸν ἀπέκτανε δῖος
Ἀχιλλεύς,”
“ They were seven my brothers in the
palace: and togher in one day fell in
Hades by the the arrows,Achille killed all
of them”
glorious rapid feet”.
“Οἳ δέ μοι ἑπτὰ κασίγνητοι ἔσαν ἐν
μεγάροισιν
οἳ μὲν πάντες ἰῷ κίον ἤματι Ἄϊδος εἴσω·
πάντας γὰρ κατέπεφνε ποδάρκης δῖος
Ἀχιλλεὺς.”

5. It was not only Achille who caused
her pain but also Artemis, the
goddess of hunting, of the wild
animal, delle female initiations:
“the mother – who reigned under the Placo
of the wood–then who here carried her with
all of richness, she freed her, accepting the
infinitive ransom, but there in the father’s
house, Artemis archer hit her .”
“Μητέρα δ᾽, ἣ βασίλευεν ὑπὸ Πλάκῳ
ὑληέσσῃ,
τὴν ἐπεὶ ἂρ δεῦρ᾽ ἤγαγ᾽ ἅμ᾽ ἄλλοισι
κτεάτεσσιν,
ἂψ ὅ γε τὴν ἀπέλυσε λαβὼν ἀπερείσι᾽
ἄποινα,
πατρὸς δ᾽ ἐν μεγάροισι βάλ᾽ Ἄρτεμις
ἰοχέαιρα”

6. “Hector, you for me are father
and noble mother and
broyher, you are my groom
flourishing; ah, therefore,
have mercy and stay here on
the tower, you do not make
orphan the child and widow
the bride.”
“Ἕκτορ ἀτὰρ σύ μοί ἐσσι πατὴρ
καὶ πότνια μήτηρ
ἠδὲ κασίγνητος, σὺ δέ μοι
θαλερὸς παρακοίτης·
ἀλλ᾽ ἄγε νῦν ἐλέαιρε καὶ
αὐτοῦ μίμν᾽ ἐπὶ πύργῳ,
μὴ παῖδ᾽ ὀρφανικὸν θήῃς
χήρην τε γυναῖκα·”

7. Andromache does not respect the
prototype of the greek woman of
that time: she shows her quits of a
strategist and gives advices for the
war despite her heart requires her
to not leave her lover.
“stop the army at the caprifig, there where it is
very easy to assault the city, more attainable
the wall.”
“ λαὸν δὲ στῆσον παρ᾽ ἐρινεόν, ἔνθα
μάλιστα
ἀμβατός ἐστι πόλις καὶ ἐπίδρομον ἔπλετο
τεῖχος.
Τρὶς γὰρ τῇ γ᾽ ἐλθόντες ἐπειρήσανθ᾽ οἱ
ἄριστοι
ἀμφ᾽ Αἴαντε δύω καὶ ἀγακλυτὸν Ἰδομενῆα
ἠδ᾽ ἀμφ᾽ Ἀτρεΐδας καὶ Τυδέος ἄλκιμον
υἱόν·”

8. When Troy was razed, the Achean divided te women of the
royale house: Andromache became such a slave of the
king of Epirus who made her his concubine. By this
union will born three children. Andromaca never do not
forget the love which feel for Hector, and this caused in
her husbands a big jealusy.