The Trojan Women (film)

The Trojan Women
Promotional poster
Directed by	Michael Cacoyannis
Produced by	Michael Cacoyannis Anis Nohra Josef Shaftel
Written by	Euripides Edith Hamilton Mihalis Kakogiannis
Starring	Katharine Hepburn Vanessa Redgrave Geneviève Bujold Irene Papas Brian Blessed
Music by	Mikis Theodorakis
Cinematography	Alfio Contini
Edited by	Michael Cacoyannis
Release date	September 27, 1971
Running time	105 min
Country	United States United Kingdom Greece
Language	English

The Trojan Women (Greek: Τρωάδες) is a 1971 American drama film directed by Michael Cacoyannis and starring Katharine Hepburn and Vanessa Redgrave. The film was made with the minimum of changes to Edith Hamilton's translation of Euripides' original play, save for the omission of deities, as Cacoyannis said they were "hard to film and make realistic."

The Trojan Women was one of a trilogy of plays dealing with the suffering created by the Trojan Wars. Hecuba (Katharine Hepburn), Queen of the Trojans and mother of Hector, one of Troy's most fearsome warriors, looks upon the remains of her kingdom; Andromache (Vanessa Redgrave), widow of the slain Hector and mother of his son Astyanax, must raise her son in the war's aftermath; Cassandra (Geneviève Bujold), Hecuba's daughter who has been driven insane by the ravages of war, waits to see if King Agamemnon will drive her into concubinage; Helen of Troy (Irene Papas), waits to see if she will live. But the most awful truth is unknown to them until Talthybius (Brian Blessed), the messenger of the Greek king, comes to the ruined city and tells them that King Agamemnon and his brother Menelaus have decreed that Hector's son Astyanax must die — the last of the male royalty of Troy must be executed to ensure the extinction of the line.