“No! if, as thy daughter asserts, I am practising sorcery against her and making her barren, right willingly will I, without any crouching at altars, submit in my own person to the penalty that lies in her husband’s hands”
~ ‘Andromache’ by Euripides (Edward P. Coleridge translation. GB5 - p. 318)
At the beginning of the play, we see Andromache lamenting her position as a slave, though she was a princess in the past and the wife of the famous Hector, who was the heir and the most famous warrior in Troy. She is now a slave to Achilles’ son, Neoptolemus and has a son through him. She fears for her and her son’s life since Neoptolemus’ wife Hermione is unable to have a child. She has sent multiple messages to Peleus, Neoptolemus’s grandfather, but hasn’t heard back. She finally asks her maid to go since it is possible that the messengers might not have delivered the messages to Peleus. Since Neoptolemus is away, she has sent her son, Molossus, to another home for safety and is taking refuge at the altar so that no one would harm her.
Hermione comes in and accuses Andromache of bewitching her husband, making her barren and trying to usurp her position as the wife through sorcery. As Andromache refutes her charges and has a heated argument, Menelaus (Hermione’s father) comes in with her son, taunting her, saying that she cannot hide anything from him. He says he will execute the child, and immediately, Andromache comes out of the altar, offering herself. While he is preparing to execute them, Peleus comes in and exchanges harsh words with him. Menelaus withdraws after being berated by Peleus and goes away.