This document provides background information on the play "The Women of Owu" by Nigerian author Prof. Babafemi Osofisan. It summarizes the plot, which is based on the destruction of the Owu kingdom by invading armies. It describes key characters like Erelu Afin, the queen of Owu who loses her family; Gesinde, the herald of the invading armies; Maye Okunade, the commander seeking vengeance against Owu; and Iyunloye, Okunade's wife whose actions indirectly caused the invasion. The style of the play incorporates Yoruba language and imagery to depict the sorrow and hopelessness of the conquered Owu people.

1. identify the greek source of this story.
WOMEN OF OWU
LITERARY ANALYSIS
BACKGROUND OF THE AUTHOR
Prof. BabafemiOsofisan was born in 1946, in ErunwoOgun state. He attended Government college
Ibadan and later University of Ibadan in 1969 where he graduated with a bachelor’s degree in French.
He started to lecture in the same University in 1971. A renowned playwright, literary critic and poet, he
was a one-time General Manager of the National Theatre of Nigeria. The Women of Owu is one of his
most recent published plays.
SETTING
The play is set in an Open space near the city’s main gate which used to serve as amarket; it was a precolonial era when the white men were actively engaged in trade along the coast. It was a period when
the people’s religion was undiluted by foreign faith- when the gods were given a place of importance in
the lives of the people.
MOOD
There is a pervading mood of sorrow, misery, destruction, pain and hopelessness.
STYLE/TECHNIQUE
Language: The language is generally simple but elevated. In addition, it has many Yoruba words infused
to help enhance the local colour. It is also poetic because most of the dialogues are written in verse
rather than prose.
Chorus: The playwright made use of chorus; a group of performers through whom important
information is passed on to the readers or audience. The chorus -also renders the songs.
Local Colour: The playwright makes use of local color to paint a clear image of the setting, through his
choice of words, proverbs, anecdotes, chants, mythical characters, allusions and so on the playwright is
able to paint a clear image of a traditional Yoruba society.
Structure: Unlikemost traditional plays, Women ofOwu has no ‘Acts’ just ‘Scenes’. The entire actions of
the play which took place in one location is divided into Five unequal scenes.
Imagery: The playwright proved to be the master of imagery. He was able to use words to paint a very
vivid image of war, destruction and total annihilation, without the audience seeing a singular act of
physical aggression, yet he is able to make us see them all in our minds eyes as if were are real
witnesses to the carnage.

2. Flashback: this is also elaborately used in the play by the characters to recall past events and to tell how
and why the sad events occured.
PLOT.
The play, Women of Owu is based on the Destruction of the once prosperous town of Owu an ancient
Yoruba kingdom, by the armies of Ife and Ijebu and Oyo mercenaries who laid seige on the flourishing
Owu Kingdom for seven years. On the the seventh year, the allied forces tricks Owu people into letting
down their guard by pretending toabandon the siege. The Owu people,who think the Allied armies has
left, go into wild celebrations. The allied forces swoops down on them and wipes out the entire town.
They slaughter the males, take the women captive and burn down the town.
The play opens with a revealing conversation between Anlugbua, the patron deity of Owu and an Owu
woman. We learn from the woman about the destruction that was visited on the land of Owu and how
the gods completely abandoned them. The god,Anlugbua is shocked as to how this magnitude of
destruction could have escaped His notice ashe mourns the city that is so dear to him. The woman
accuses him of not answering theirprayers-prayers he insists he never heard.He soon discovers that his
mother Lawunmi-another deity, has a hand in the wanton destruction. Lawunmi gives her reasons for
using the armies of the Allied forces to destroy Owu, but also vows to destroy the Allied forces on their
way home for desecrating her shrines in Owu,by killing those who ran to her shrine for refuge after
which they set same shrines on fire.
The origin of the invasion is traced to the accusation against Owu, that they have become too proud and
have forgotten their origin by daring to attack Ife, the traditional home of all Yoruba tribes, and siezed
the popular Apomu market. In the cause of the attack, Owu is accused of carrying away Iyunloye, the
beautiful wife of a renowned artist, Okunade and brought her to Owu as the wife of the handsome
prince Adejumo. Okunade abandons his trade in carving and artistry to join the army with the intent of
avenging the loss of his wife.
To compound the problems of Owu, it was also accused of attacks on Ijebu and other Yoruba cities and
sold their captives into slavery at the great Apomu market. The sale of fellow Yorubas into slavery was
frowned at that time as it is believed that Sango, the Yoruba god of thunder forbides it. There fore, the
armies of Ife,Ijebu and Oyo mercenaries known as the Allied Forces, come, determined to deal with the
recalcitrant Owu. Unfortunately for Owu, the three armies came under the command of Okunade, the
Maye (war leader) of Ife who is out for vengeance.
With the obliteration of Owu kingdom, and the slaughter of all male members of the royal family
including the King, and indeed allOwu males, the victorious Allied forces settles down to share out the
women of Owu and their war booties among themselves. The generals and top officials take the
beautiful women and women from the royal families.Erelu, Queen of Owu, who has lost five sons and a
daughter, is allotted to BalogunDerin. While other ranks share out the rest among them.

3. While Adummadan, widow of Lisabi and first son of Erelu, who has a surviving baby boy, prepares to
leave with her new master. The women are consoled by the birth of the baby Aderogun; with him still
alive, Owu still has hope; in the distant future.
Gesinde, the staff officer and mouth piece of the Allied forces announces that the generals have decided
that the baby should be executed by smashing his head against a tree, since it is a taboo to cut his skin.
They fear the boy will grow to torment them. He is taken from his mother and the women’s hope for a
future Owu is dashed.
In the course of his preparation to return to Ife the Mayeannounces his intention to disgrace and
execute his“licentious” former wife, who abandoned him for late prince Adejumo. However, against the
warning of the Ereluwho desperately wantsto see Iyunloye punished, for being at the center of the
whole destruction, the Maye looks at Iyunloyeand soon becomes uncertain of whether he really wants
to have her executed after all, asshe sweet talks her way back tohis heart. Iyunloye’s charm triumphs as
the Maye orders her into one of his caravans.
The remains of the battered corpse of little prince Aderogun is brought in and this further breaks the
women’s hearts. As they sing a dirge, Gesinde appears and tellsthem to get ready for departure at the
sound of a horn. He also informs them that the Generals have ordered that any other thing left standing
in the town should be burnt down. The women plead for a little time to enable them perform a rite of
passage for their dead, so the “ dead will not be left to wander forever like abandoned mongrels in the
waste land of the afterlife” After the ritual of valediction for the dead in which the Erelu becomes
possessed by the spirit of Anlugbua, Erelu dies, and in great pity, and acceptance of the rite, Anlugbua
promises that Owu will rise again, but not as a single city “…but in little communities elsewhere within
other cities of Yoruba land. Those now going into slavery shall start new kingdoms in those places. It is
the only atonement a god can make for you”
CHARACTERISATION
ERELU AFIN: She is the queen and wife of Oba Akinjobi, the ruler of the ill-fated land of Owu. As the
visible head of the conquered land, the old woman epitomizes the tragedy and suffering of the people
of Owu. She lost five sons and two daughters to the war. Right before her eyes, her daughters were
violated ‘seized by the hair, their cloths ripped off…by brutal men, and their innocence shredded forever
in an orgy of senseless rapine’ She is defeated and held captive by the foreign armies who totally
dishonoured her by making lie in the dust like a commoner and by allotting her toBalogunDerin as a
servant to the Balogun’s wife. She laments her fate“who will look at me now and remember that I was
once a queen in this broken city”
The consolation that her husband the king escaped capture is soon dashed when Gesinde announces
that the old King was caught and tortured to death. To further compound her woes,Aderogun her grand
child who is the only surviving male in the royal family had his head smashed on the tree by the order of
the generals who reasoned that the boy could grow to hunt them, thus completing the circle of sorrow

4. that has befallen the EreluAfin and the chorus leader rightly observes ‘Your last lamp is about to be
extinguished’
Through her conversation with Adummadun we learn a little about her peace time life in the palace;
like every mother with many sons and daughter-in laws, she was also involved in petty family quarrels
particularly withAdumaadun who made it clear that they never liked each other and accused her of
preferring prince Adejumo to her (Adummadun’s) own husband.Adummadun is also of the opinion that
Erelu is responsible for the present crises for refusing to destroy prince Adejumowho was born with a
curse.
Erelu is also a practical character in her view towards life. She believes that one must adjust to the
prevailing circumstance, so she advises Adummadun to move on with her life as the mistress of her new
master, she tells her ‘ Surrender your pride, learn to Give to your new man the care you gave my son’.
And when the troubled Owuwomen enquire of her what she thinks would be their fate, she replies “In
defeat dear women always expect the worst that is the law of combat, the law of defeat”
The horrors of the war turn her into a vengeful woman as she demonstrates during the ‘trial’ of Iyunloye
by the Maye. By all means she wanted the Maye to execute Iyunloyefor bewitching her late son and
therefore bringing this disaster upon Owu.
She also demonstrates that she is a woman of strong will who is willing to give leadership and hope even
in this hopeless situation. Despite the carnage that is visited on her and her people,despite the
humiliation of captivity, she refuses to shirk from the responsibility of performing the all important rite
of passage for the fallen citizens of Owu. It is a rite that will ensure that the dead is not lost in the spirit
world, although she knows that she is not strong enough and that performing that rite could cost her
life. Her resolve is captured clearly in her own words‘it shall not be said that while I live that Erelu saw
the post holding up the lands ceiling tottering And shrank away like a coward’
In the course of the rite Erelu becomes possessed by the spirit of the god Anlugbua. The rite ends and
she dies but her death wins a promise of re-incarnation for the land ofOwu from the godAnlugbua; ‘I
promise: Owu will rise again…Not as a single city again…but in little communities elsewhere’
GESINDE
Gesinde clearly identifies himself to Erelu as the ‘ herald to the Allied army and special aide to the Maye,
General Okunade… the Ijebu officer who has been coming back and forth these seven years through
your gates, bearing messages from our generals’.
He is the self acclaimed “borrowed mouth” and “messenger” of the allied forceswhose duty also
includes the implementation of the generals’ decisions. He is also the eyes of the audience and readers
on the other side of the burnt down town where the generals and mercenaries are camped. It is through
him we learn about the decisions of the generals. He is also the source of insight into the characters of
some of the invading soldiers most of whom we do not see, particularly men like BalogunKusa of whom
he describes as “ a man feared from Nupe to Dahomi,…”
He has been the emissary of the Allied forces to the Kingdom of Owu during the entire seven year
period the siege lasted. And he continues to play that role between the captive Owu women and the
victorious generals.

5. He acts like a well trained public relations man; gentle but firm. At every turn he reminds the women
that he is only carrying out the orders of the generals, in an attempt to insulate himself from personal
hatred. Although he is a soldier, he sometimes cannot help but wonder why the generals behave the
way they do sometimes. He wonders why a man as powerful as Balogunkusa would desire, Orisaye, a
mad girl. His summation is that “Great men are sick”. However, he is also a loyal soldier who does not
allow his personal opinions to interfere with his duties. He carried out all his orders to the letter yet tries
to be modest to the women. For instance when he was given orders to kill the baby, he tried not to tell
the child’s mother what the orders where. And when she asked, he replies “I would rather not say,
please don’t insist”. And after the child is killed he helped to wash the corpse and assisted in digging a
grave in preparation for his burial. He is a conqueror with a human face.
He can be compared to a diplomat who breaks all the bad news in the mildest possible way. When Erelu
asks after her “beautiful Adeoti” Gesinde reluctantly answers “We have er…sent her to a safer
place….where pain can no longer reach her”
He symbolizes the average soldier who does the dirty jobs while their superiors sit back and give all the
orders. He goes on to reveal how difficult it is for him to carry out some of these instructions, describing
the life of a soldier as a hard one. He also shows his resentment for the generals “who sit back and give
the orders but it is we poor ones who have to face the victims and spill the blood”. This shows that
behind the military toughness, there is still some element of humanity in him, however, he is duty
bound to obey those orders.
He is a considerate man who understands that even the conquered should be treated with some
respect, so despite the haste by the generals to leavetown with the captivewomen, he still permitted
the request of the Owu women to carry out the customary rite of passage for their fallen citizens.
MAYE OKUNADE
He was an Ife artist turned warrior; he rises to become the Maye, Ife war leader and finally the
commander of the Allied army. He joins the army for personal vendetta against prince Adejumo of Owu,
whom he accused of “stealing” away his wife Iyunloye to Owu.
He was renowned carver of woods and creator of “arresting patterns on virgin cloths”. However he
takes to arm after Owu soldiers invaded Ife and carry away his beautiful wife.
He is proud and unforgiving as he endures seven difficult years outside the gates of Owu just to extract
his personal vendetta. And when he gets his opportunity he completely destroys the city.
Despite his famed valour in war, he is an emotionally weak man particularly with his renegade wife.
Although he vowed publicly to torture and finally murder Iyunloye whom he describes as “a shameful
whore” he suddenly becomes unsure of himself immediately he sets his eyes on her. His resolve wanes
further as he listens to her flattery. In the end he caves in. Gesinde reports that “That celebrated slut
has regained Maye’s heart and joined his caravan”
Unlike other generals the Maye is not involved in sharing women from the royal family. This appears to
rend credence to the notion that he laid the siege primarily to avenge the loss of his wife.
IYUNLOYE

6. She is the woman at the centre of the entire destruction that is visited on the land of Owu, the apple of
discord. She is the wife of MayeOkunade, the commander of the victorious allied forces. She is captured
by the Owu forces during the Owu invasion of the Apomu market and given to the handsome prince
Adejumo for a wife. Carried away by the splendor of the Owu civilization, she forgets Ife and her
husband. When her angry husband leads an army to lay siege on Owu, her greed keeps her in Owu and
only makes a half hearted attempt to go back to her husband when it looks like Owuis going to lose. The
erelu puts it clearer: “All you did was play me along,agreeing to go when it seemed we were about to
lose the war, and then quickly changing your mind when fortune turned on our side!” She is therefore
believed to be a selfish woman who would willingly use her beauty and wits to seduce men for her own
gain.
She is described variously by different characters; to MayeOkunade she is “that shameful whore whom
I called wife” . To Erelu, she is a “Perfidious woman” and “the Queen of lust”. To the chorus leader,
Iyunloye is that woman in whose eyes you will find only “danger and deceit” while Gesinde, herald of
the Allied forces describes her as “that celebrated slut”. Iyunloye on the other hand has never denied
her ability to play men and perhaps bewitch them with her beauty. She puts it this way “ I had to buy my
life with the only asset I I have-my beauty”
Iyunlole is also a clever woman who is gifted with oratory. She has a sharp tongue, a keen mind and
seductive personality which she uses to win over the Maye, despite the Maye’s public pronouncement
of the death sentence on her. He is defenseless before her. He tells her: “I have not come here to argue
with you. You have always known how to handle words.” Against all odds he takes her back as his wife
to the chagrin of everyone on the two sides of the war.
She is also a woman with very strong will-the will to survive. She uses every trick she knows to have her
way. Despite the heavy evidences against her, she is determined to survive. Finds an answer to every
accusation and a reason for every action. Even in the midst of the carnage she finds time to make up
herself to look attractive to the Maye. This also portrays her as a very insensitive person.
ANLUGBUA
Anlugbua the patron diety of the Owu kingdom appears like an old man and talks to some women about
his destroyed dear town owu, the town he himself came down from the spirit realm to build: “I
Anlugbua... together with my great uncles, Obatala god of creativity, Orunmila god of wisdom...we
came down from our house in heaven and lent our silent energies to the labour of the workmen, unseen
ofcourse”.
He is a caring god who guards his town jealously. To ensure the security of the town, he makes himself
accessible to the people of Owu in times of grave danger too heavy for them to handle, he leaves them
with an instruction: “Whenever any danger threatens the town...run to my hill and pull my chain.../
...three times and i shall be back with a sword in hand to defend you!”
However the people of Owu did call their patron god but he did not answer, he did not hear them
because Lawunmi- the mother godess has a hand in the carnage. So Anlugbua arrives too late to save
his city.

7. Although he is super human,Anlugbua is a realistic god whodoes not pretend that the lose of his city
won’t impact on him too,so he laments : “...without a shrine, without worshipers what is a god...” he
shows that even gods have emotions: “ I confess, I am broken...farewell my dear women whose
arguements shame me”
The deity confronts Lawunmi his proud mother and the ancestral mother-deity of the Owu people who
engineered the carnage. He objects totally to her excessive use of force, but quickly agrees to her
proposal to help her punish the allied forces for desecrating her shrine by killing owu citizens who ran
into her shrine for refuge. Although Anlagbua is at a loss why his mother should punish the same men
she guided to destroy Owu, but he is nonetheless glad for the opportunity to avenge the lose of his
town.
Anlugbua shows himself to be a merciful god when in the end, moved by the rite of passage of the
Women of Owu, for their fallen men and women, he promises to restore the Owu kingdom some day:
“...I promise: Owu will rise again! Not here, Not as a single city again... Those now going into slavery shall
start new kingdoms in those places. It is the only atonement a god can make for you...”
LAWUNMI
She is the deified mother of Anlugbua, a princess of Ife and the ancestral mother of Owu kingdom. It is
for her sake that Oduduwa made Owuone of the seven kingdoms of Yorubaland.However, she is a proud
and unforgiving deity responsible for the carnage that is visited on Owu Kingdom, because Owu
responded to an attack by Ife, by sacking Ile-Ife the cradle of Yoruba civilization and coincidentally,
Lawunmi’s home town, an action she describes as an“Insufferable display of arrogance towards me,
towards Ife….”. So she sends the Allied Forces after Owu. She also accuses the Owu people of selling
members of other Yoruba tribes into slavery, an act which was outlawed by Sango, another diety.
She is cunning; to ensure Owu’s totaldefeat, she guided its soldiers to attack the Ijebu traders at the
Apomu market; “I made sure of that” she boasts, in order to encourage an alliance between Ijebu and
Ife, knowing that the Ijebu would respond with their dreaded army against the city.
She is an egoistic andunforgiving goddess with a brutal sense of justice. Despite leading the Allied forces
to destroy Owu, she could not overlook the excesses of ‘her’ soldiers who killed the victimsthat ran to
her shrine for refuge and later burnt same shrine; she tells Anlugbua: “…they too they have no regard
for me…”. It is for this reason that she comes to see Anlugbua for his assistance in the destruction of
‘her’ allied soldiers who have successfully carried out wish of the destruction of Owu.
Lawunmi, a merciless goddess, believes that human beings “learn only from suffering and pains” thus, to
ensure that the allied forces are thoroughly dealt with, she enlists the support of other gods like Ogun
the god of war, Esu and the hunter’s god, OrisaOko, who promises to “…turn the forest against them,
such that for many, the home they will be returning will be the stomach of beasts.”
A stickler to order who believes that Man should know his place in the order of things and should be
made to suffer “…till human beings learn that the gods are not their plaything”, therefore, just as she
does not spare Owu for breaking tradition, the Allied Forces are also punished for desecrating shrines
and for defiling PrincessOrisaye, “Obatala’s vestal votary…”
Although Anlugbua promises to resurrect the Kingdom of Owu in future, but no longer as a single city
because “Mother (Lawunmi) will not permit that”. This furtherlends credence toLawunmi as a merciless
deity.

8. ORISAYE
She is “obatala’s vestal votary”, a young virgin consecrated to Obatala, the god of purity and creativity.
She loses her senses due to the overwhelming effect of the war and begins to speak what appears to be
gibberish, but in reality prophetic. She tells Gesinde, “Everything is here on my palm, including your
future…” The princess is the voice of the future, through her prophetic utterances we confirm the
goddess, Lawumi’s decision to destroy the Allied Forces on their journey back. “They will never make it
back home…”, she further asserts that those among them who will manage to make it back “ will find
waiting for them not peace but new conquerors who in their absence would have taken over their land
and their wives”. It is through her that the godsvoice out their punitive plans for the victorious allied
forces. However, she is not taken seriously by those around her, until news comes that a usurper has
ascended the throne of OtunbaLekki’s father and a civil war has broken out.
She also forsees a terrible end for BalogunKusa, the general who chooses to take her as a wife, despite
the knowledge that she is bethroted to a god. She says of him: “My presence shall bring such suffering
and anguish to his household, to his city and to his people” since according to her, kusa has decided to
taste the food reserved for a god.
Orisaye foretells that her mother will never go with BalogunDerin, rather she will die in Owu. This
prophesies comes to pass as EreluAfin dies after the valedictory rite for the dead. For herself, she
declares that “they will seize me and hack me to death…”
May be as a result of her madness, she is very outspoken and daring; calling Gesinde horrible names
when he spoke rudely to her mother.
ADUMAADAN
She is the wife of the slain prince Lisabi, the first son of the EreluAfin and the mother of baby Aderogun.
She is a very outspoken woman who says things as she feels no matter the circumstance, despite the
collective injury, she bluntly tells the Erelu that the death of prince Adejumo, her brother in law does
not move her, because it was he who was born with the curse that has destroyed Owu. She bluntly
accuses the Erelu of also having a hand in their destruction by nursing the baby to man hood, rather
than destroy him like the oracles had proposed.
She can also be described as a petty woman who continues to hold on to petty family quarrels in the
midst of a national disaster; reminding her mother in law that she has never liked her “…and I on my
side have not liked you either…” She therefore wonders why the Erelushould feel any pity for her over
the loss of her husband since she (Erelu) prefers her other son Adejumoto Lisabi, her husband.
Adumaadan is also a good house wife who took care of her husband and her children; she considers this
as her undoing because this is what attracts the general to her. According to her “They say it is because
of my devotion and fidelity that my husband’s killer specifically asks for me to be given to him.”
She is a woman who understands her weaknesses, although she loves her husband, but she also fears
that her flesh could betray her in the arms of her new master because “ Our (women’s) flesh too often,
and in spite of itself Quickens to a man’s touch”.
She loses her son, baby Aderogun, at the last minute; the generals fear the boy might grow up to hunt
them in future. She is emotionally strong as she does not put up any show of emotion as women are

9. wont, she accepts her fate and bravely hands over her baby “ Right, here you are, Have him. Go and do
with him as you have been ordered.”
ADEROGUN
He is the son of Lisabi and Adumaadan who was murdered at the last minute by the generals, for fear
that the boy might grow to seek revenge. His death symbolises the nailing of any hope for a future Owo
Kingdom. Before his head was bashed on the Araba tree (it was a taboo to cut his skin) he is seen as the
only surviving hope for Owu kingdom, the Erelu admonishes Adumaadan to surrender her pride to her
new master for the sake of the boy because “If he lives, we do not die.” His death therefore seals the
fate of the kingdom as the chorus leader aptly puts it, “the gods have done their worst to wipe us out”
Aderogun also represent the very innocent ones who also suffer the consequences of the war they know
nothing about.
THE CHORUS
The use of chorus is a adopted from classical greek plays.The chorus in this case is made up women-the
women of Owu. The chorus serves as a veritable source of information about life in Owu before the
destruction. It also provides information about individual characters. It creates the right ambiance
through dirge, chants and other musical flavour to enhance the right mood and atmosphere for each
scene.
THEME OF THE PLAY
The Destructive Nature of Wars
This is the central theme of the play which is about the carnage that war can bring. This destruction is
not limited to physical damage but extends to both pyschological and spiritual setback on the society.
The story opens in an atmosphere of wanton destruction visited on the Kingdom of Owu. This can be
seen in the background description of the devastated town by the author and in the conversation
between chorus women and Anlugbua. The dialogue opens with a question from Anlugbua : “ What is
the name of that city I see smoldering over there” and the women responds: “…The proud city of Owu
reduced to ruin…” This sets the tone for the theme of the destructive nature of war.
The allied forces of Ife, Ijebu and Oyo laid a siege on the Kingdom of Owu for seven years and on the
seventh year, the city falls and the conquering Army ensures that the city will never rise again; they
burn down the city, executes all the males and carries away the women to captivity. And to ensure that
the city will have no hope of revival, the generals order the execution of baby Aderogun, the only
surviving male member of the royal family whom the women describe as “the last hope of our land”
And with his death, they submit that “the gods have done their best to wipe us out”
The psychological impact of the war is clearly demonstrated in Orisaye, the vestal votary of Obatala who
runs mad from her inability to handle the carnage she saw. Her mother confirms that “The war has

10. affected her badly….she is no longer in control of her senses”.She runs out playing with fire as if all is
well. Her insanity also emboldens her to insult Gesinde and prophesize doom for the victorious soldiers.
War destroys the people’s spirituality and their confidence in the super natural. A defeated people
would naturally feel that God has abandoned them, this ultimately affect their trust in the powers that
be and sometimes distorts their concept of god, as EreluAfin puts it in her lament: “The gods! Which
gods! Do you still trust in them after this?...Each of us has become our own god.”In the frenzy of war,
the place of religion and the gods in our lives is usually lost,the Allied soldiers destroys the shrines of the
gods, including the shrine of Ogun, the god of war. In addition they violateprincess Orisaye who is a
virgin, consecratedtoObatala, the god of purity and creativity. Lawunmi, the goddess vows to destroy
the soldiers “till human beings everywhere learns that the gods are no their plaything”
THE MANIPULATION OF HUMAN BEINGS BY THE GODS/ FATE
One of the cardinal messages of the play is the role of the gods in the affairs of man, the manipulative
powers of the super natural over the natural. The play shows that our actions and in actions to a large
extent have been decided for by the gods; that we are just puns in their hands.
The fate of Owu was sealed at the birth of Prince Adejumo of whom the oracles decreed according to
Iyunloye: “At his birth, the priests ordered his immediate execution…that if he was left to grow up, he
would bring disaster to Owu…”
It does appear that Owu is destined for destruction by Lawunmi, the mother deity. To begin with,
Anlugbua tells us that the unforgivable attack of Ife by Owu was only in response of an earlier attack by
“The Ifes who first attacked Owu at the Market of Apomu-“. Lawumi holds on to this attack and the sale
of fellow Yoruba into slavery, as a reason to wipe off Owu, although it does seem she is playing out a
script: “They sacked the Ife army….But that was their undoing because I led them on. I made them
attack the Ijebu traders at the market too/Yes I made sure of that!..../Ofcourse as I expected, the Ijebus
rose in response…”
The role of Lanwumi in the fate of Owu kingdom is confirmed by the priests of Owu, according to Erelu:
“Our priests, remember tells us that our tribulations are the work/Of our ancestral mother,Lawunmi…”
This is after she submits that “Against the pettiness of gods and goddesses we have no defense”, a clear
indication that their destiny has been determined from the beginning.
Anlugbua, the patron deity of Owu, who could have saved his city, is also blinded by a superior force, his
mother Lanwumi, such that he does not hear the prayers of Owu. He accuses her: “It had to be you
mother! That such/A disaster would happen here, and I not know/About it.”
After the goddess Lawunmi leads the Allied Soldiers to the destruction of Owu, she decides to punish
the same soldiers for destroying her shrine and for killing those who ran into it for refuge; as if her
shrine is not part of the same Owu she set out to wipe out. So she plays on Anlugbua’s emotions and
says to Him: “…I want to punish these invaders who have just plundered your town!/Will you help me?”
She specifically asks him to “pound them with awesome thunderbolts. Let everyone perish”. This shows
that the gods manipulate man and do what they like, when and how.
Erelu surmises the theme this way, in her opinion of the gods: “…They will take all our sacrifices, wear us
down in supplications, but they have their own designs on us all the time!”
WOMEN, THE GREATEST CASUALTIES OF WAR

11. Another major subject matter of the play is the suffering women go through in war. Women are painted
as the greatest casualty of wars. They are psychologically, physically and spiritually battered by the
effects of war, haven been abused and watched their men murdered, yet like the women of Owu,
women are expected, in their pains, to mourn the dead. So even as the Women of Owu prepare for
their lives in slavery they still find time to perform the rite of passage for the dead, “to release their
spirits and send them safely back to their ancestors” The chorus says it is a duty the Erelu “cannot evade
or refuse”
After Owu is destroyed and all the men slaughtered, the women are taken captive. They are shared out
to the officers of the conquering armies. This increases there terror as they do not know for sure what
fate awaits them in their journey into slavery-the Erelu asks “ Look at me! A slave! To whom will they
sell me? To the flesh merchants of Kano or Abomey? Or straight to the white masters…”
Women suffer more humiliation than any other group of people, because they are usually kept alive to
witness, unlike the dead men who no longer feel any pains. The Erelu, queen of Owu is treated like a
commoner as she awaits live in slavery she,cries out: “ Who will look at me now and remember that I
was once a queen here, in this broken city.”
Adumaadun, wife of the slain Prince Lisabi, was given to the same man who killed her husband. It is
humiliating for her as she laments: “I am now a widow to be mated to the same man who killed my
husband”. Her little boy Prince Aderogun is taken from her byGesinde, to have his head smashed on the
araba tree for fear that the baby would grow to seek vengeance.
As the greatest victims of war, women are made to witness and bear the bloodletting of war, especially
the killing of their men, as witnessed by Owu women:“We remember Erelu that just yesterday, before
our very eyes; one by one the invaders cut their throats, those handsome princes”
Women are also violated by soldiers during wars and young virgins defiled. The example of the Owu war
is clearly captured by Erelu: “And my daughters, dear women these same eyes saw my daughters, seized
by the hair, their cloths ripped off their bodies by brutal men and their innocence shredded forever in an
orgy of senseless rapine”
The violation of Orisaye by BalogunKusa, despite the fact that Orisaye is wedded to the god, Obatala and
must remain a virgin, shows that no woman is insulated from the abuses of war even if she is
consecrated to a diety. It is the fact of Orisaye’s virginity, according to Gesinde “… is exactly what excites
the Balogun about her…His eyes dance just to hear her name”
Convinvced that women are made to bear the burden of war, the Women of Owu curses all men thus:
“All those born of women, but who use us as dogs!”/ and they reply “We curse! We curse!”
STYLE
The playwright uses the following literary and dramatic styles to enhance his work: