Don't Mess with Momma

After seeing probably my first play since grade school, I was quite impressed with the production.  Of note, both Hecuba and Polymestor made excellent displays of mimesis and the art of persuasion.  Obviously, one was more vindicated than the other, no doubt due to Hecuba's exposing of Polymestor as a greedy liar (and possibly because he spat too much).  Both appealed to Agamemnon over the murder of Polydorus, with Hecuba raging for justice and Polymestor defending with claims of protecting against any future instances of war. 

In the end, Polymestor cannot stand fast against the buffetings of his sons' murderer.  It might have been easier if he had still been able to see so that he could have just killed Hecuba, but that was not the case.  Unfortunately for Polymestor, his appeal to patria was not enough to deter Agamemnon from the blind greed so readily apparent in the childless father.  Hecuba had lost her husband to war, Polydorus to the gold frenzied Polymestor, and one of her daughters to sacrificial retribution.  She was an old woman stricken with age and all manner of misdeed.  As she so expertly convinced to Agamemnon, there was no lower point for her to fall.  Seeing as she had nothing to lose and Polymestor had much to gain, the honesty of their feelings was easily distinguishable. 

It was this honesty combined with hard logic that allowed Hecuba to eventually win over Agamemnon.  In the eyes of Agamemnon, the distraught mother's actions had been fair and justified, whereas the slithering Polymestor clearly had acted only in his own self-interest.  If the play had been an act of public speaking rather than just amongst a select few, Polymestor could very well have won the debate.  His reasoning was sound, so his case would most likely have been supported amongst the masses.  This was not as effective as hoped for, however, as the debate parties were small enough that Hecuba could appeal to the individual rather than to the faceless crowd.  Having the ability to pinpoint and focus on Agamemnon's vital regions, she overpowered her opposition's standpoint with a potent hybrid of logos and pathos, successfully avenging her lost family.