EURIPIDES
never appears on stage. The leader of the Heracleidae is
lolaus, a decrepit but indomitable warrior who is rejuvenated
in the course of battle and becomes the hero of the day.
Finally, instead of having Eurystheus killed in battle (all other
authorities do, as far as we know), Euripides makes lolaus take
him prisoner and have him handed over to Alcmene, who puts
him to death over the protests of the Athenians. This last
feature may have a bearing on the date and occasion of the
play.
The Date
No date for this play has been given by ancient authorities.
The versification has technical qualities which find a parallel
in three early-dated tragedies: Alcestis (438 B.C.), Medea (431
B.C.), and Hippolytus (428 B.C.). The dating and interpreta-
tion may be further helped if we consider an event which took
place between autumn of 430 and winter or early spring of
429 B.C. At that time Athens was at war with the Pelopon-
nesian League. Five Peloponnesian envoys, on their way to
the king of Persia, were treacherously seized by friends of the
Athenians in Thrace, brought to Athens, and there "put to
death on the day of their arrival, without trial and without
permission to say some things they wished to say" (Thucydides
ii. 67. 4; also mentioned by Herodotus vii. 137. 3). Since our
play deals with the summary execution of an unarmed prisoner
and was written at some date not far from 430, we can hardly
ignore this event. Of course, The Heracleidae may have been
written and produced earlier; but if we date it just after the
execution of the envoys, we may understand why Euripides
chose to end the play with the execution of Eurystheus instead
of his death in battle.
This abruptly changes the whole direction of the play and
reverses our sympathies. From the beginning, we have been
made to take the side of the innocent Heracleidae and their
gallant protectors against the wicked king, who, not content
with his abuse of the father, insists on hunting the children
and their feeble guardians to death. It is as simple as that,
sheer white against black. The outrageousness of the Argive
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