Hecuba and the other women of Troy rise to find their city in ruins and their cause lost. The city has fallen into Greek hands and it is likely their lot to become slaves of Greek soldiers. A messenger approaches to inform them that the lots have been drawn and each woman will be taken to the man who drew for her. Of particular interest is Hecuba's daughter, Cassandra, who is chosen for the Greek kings bedchamber. She has received word of this news already and is in hiding because she has sworn an oath to the gods that she will live as a virgin. When she is found she has some particularly nasty things to say about treatment at Greek hands.

After all the men of Troy are killed during the course of a ten year war with Greece, the Greek army conquers Troy. As the Greek soldiers pillage the wealthy city, the Trojan women are herded together just outside of the city walls. Hecuba, wife of slain King Priam, decries the violence and cruelty of the Greeks and bitterly laments the loss of the women's husbands and sons. Knowing that the women are now considered "spoils of war" and angered over being forced to wait to learn her fate, Hecuba councils the grief-stricken women to express their sorrow over their great misfortune. A Greek messenger, Talthybius, arrives to inform Hecuba that lots have been drawn to determine the future of the former Trojan queen and the royal princesses. Concerned about her emotionally distraught daughter Cassandra, Hecuba immediately asks to know where she will be sent and is stunned to learn that King Agamemnon has selected her as his concubine. Hecuba hastily reminds Talthybius that Cassandra is a virgin promised to the god Apollo for her gift of prophecy, and the messenger uneasily acknowledges that the king is aware of Cassandra's abilities. Talthybius then informs Hecuba that her daughter-in-law Andromache has been spared but her youngest daughter, Polyxena, has been forced to watch over the tomb of Achilles, alone in the desert until her death. The women refuse to help Talthybius and the soldiers locate Cassandra, who is inside a nearby cave mourning a vision of her future. When the soldiers move in on the cave, Hecuba hurries to comfort her troubled daughter, regretting that her visions have never provided her any peace. When Talthybius asks Cassandra to accompany him, she vows she will kill Agamemnon in his bed. Cassandra then condemns the futility of war which robs civilizations of their men and their futures, but insists the Trojans fought only to defend themselves against the barbaric assault of the Greeks. After Cassandra bids farewell to Hecuba, she places a curse on the Greeks, promising they, too, will suffer collapse one day. Talthybius assures the devastated Hecuba that he will not report Cassandra's treasonous declarations and rides back to the Greek ships. In her grief, Hecuba rages at the gods for abandoning Troy and allowing the annihilation of the Trojan men. A few miles away, Andromache is brought to the tomb of Achilles where she recognizes the body of Polyxena. Wife of Prince Hector, the son of Priam and Hecuba, Andromache clings to her young son, Astyanax, as she is driven by cart to the crumbling walls of Troy. Upon being reunited with the aggrieved Hecuba, however, Andromache scolds her mother-in-law for not acknowledging that each woman has her own sorrow which is as great as that of the queen's. Relating that she viewed Polyxena's corpse, Andromache cuts off Hecuba's lament by pointing out that, in death, the young girl is free and no longer suffering. Traumatized when she sees the soldiers drive off with Hector's battle armor, Andromache wonders if her efforts at being a good wife had any meaning. Hecuba then rouses herself to comfort Andromache, advising her to raise her son to manhood at which time he may lead a possible re-birth of Troy. When Hecuba recommends that Andromache quell her own misery to set an example for the other women, Andromache doubts she can endure being a concubine. Talthybius returns and, with great regret, informs Andromache that it has been decided that young Astyanax must be killed so that he will not become a rallying point for the surviving Trojans. Andromache collapses and the Trojan women attempt to hide the boy, but the armed soldiers quickly disperse them. Talthybius admonishes Andromache, declaring that if she resists, Astyanax will not be buried, a breech of Trojan custom. Turning Astyanax over to Talthybius, Andromache sadly reflects on the follies of men who abandon their wives to go to war, leaving them defenseless. Before being led back to the cart to be taken to a Greek ship, Andromache curses the Spartan Queen Helen, whose desertion of her husband, the king of Sparta, and subsequent elopement with Priam and Hecuba's eldest son Paris instigated the war. On a hill nearby, Helen is imprisoned alone. Roused by Andromache's departing cry, the Trojan women make an assault on Helen's hut, but Talthybius leads the soldiers to stop the uprising, having been ordered to spare Helen, who must return to Greece as a trophy. Helen's husband, Spartan king Menelaus, arrives and Hecuba warns him that if he does not kill Helen, she will ruin him as she did Troy. The beautiful Helen is released and the Trojan women rebuke her for wearing a fine gown and jewels when they are in tatters. Helen belittles the elderly Menelaus and when the women continue to disparage her for bringing about their downfall, she asks if Hecuba should not be held to blame for bearing Paris, who kidnapped her. When the women dispute Helen's innocence, Helen insists that she was a victim of the goddess of love, Aphrodite, and helpless against Paris. Outraged, Hecuba warns Helen not to hide behind the gods, but to acknowledge her ambitious, selfish cravings. Hecuba then demands that Menelaus kill Helen, but he replies that his wife will be returned to the Greeks, who will decide her future. Fearful, Helen grabs her husband's knife, but he prevents her from stabbing herself and orders her taken to his ship. Meanwhile, Astyanax has been taken to the top of the mountain where he is thrown from a cliff. After washing the body, Talthybius returns with the broken corpse and digs a grave while Hecuba and the women lay the boy on Hector's shield. After the burial, as dusk arrives, Talthybius orders the remains of Troy burnt and herds the women together to be led to the ships. As the Trojan women pray and weep over the city's final destruction, Hecuba calls them to face their future of enslavement.