16 Hecuba

He cuba's life was one of grief and sorrow．She saw withher own eyes her eldest born Hector killed and insulted by Achilles．She saw her son Polites slain in front of her by Pyrrhus．And she saw her husband，the aged Priam，dragged towards the household altar and ruthlessly butchered there．After the fall of Troy she was carried into slavery ．Shehad the misfortune to witness her daughter Polyxena，her soleconsolation in bondage ，sacrificed at the tomb of Achilles．She had the sad fate to see washed ashore the corpse of her young estson Polydorus，who had been entrusted to the Thracian king for safekeeping．With her fifty children all dead she became thequeen of sorrows from whom no other woman could obtain the crown ．Yet in her distress and despair，she plucked up hercourage to avenge herself upon the Thracian king，who had murdered her son in order to get her son's gold．Later，as Dionysushad prophesied ，she was transformed into a dog with bloodshotey...