Troy has been conquered, all male inhabitants have been killed, and the women are about to be taken away as slaves. The gods Athena and Poseidon are discussing ways to punish the Greek armies because they desecrated Athena‘s temple. The Greek herald Talthybios arrives to tell the dethroned queen Hekabe what will become of her and her children. Hekabe will be taken away with Odysseus, and her daughter Kassandra is doomed to become Agamemnon‘s concubine. The widowed princess Andromache arrives, and Hekabe learns from her that her youngest daughter, Polyxene, has been killed as a sacrifi ce at Achilles‘ tomb. Andromache is destined to be the concubine of Achilles‘ son Neoptolemus. More horrible news for Andromache is yet to come: Talthybios informs her that her baby son, Astyanax, has been condemned to death. The Greek leaders are afraid that the boy will grow up to avenge his father Hektor, and they plan to throw him off from the battlements of Troy to his death. Helena will suffer greatly as well: Menelaos arrives to take her back to Greece with him where a death sentence awaits her. Helena begs her husband to spare her life but he remains resolved to kill her, ignoring Hekabe’s warning that Helena‘s legendary beauty will win her a reprieve. Talthybios returns carrying with him the body of little Astyanax on Hektor‘s shield. He gives the corpse to Hekabe, who prepares the body of her grandson for burial before fi nally taken off with Odysseus. At the close, the departing women mourn the burning of Troy.

"Images of a civilization‘s total destruction, of its total annihilation. Reimann brings them together in an impressive musical and epic arc. The monologues of lament circling in themselves condense into a tremendous portrait of mourning of suggestive impact. Admirable are the clarity of, the access to, the proportioning of the almost abstract statuesqueness of lament. […] In the instrumental range, the high strings are missing entirely. This is why the dark violas have a very distinctive task in the richly scored and much divided section of the low strings. Characteristicly, the woodwinds are often used in extreme registers and expressions whereas brass and percussion instruments set characteristic accents in a non-excessive way." (Hans-Klaus Jungheinrich, Frankfurter Rundschau 10 July 1986)