The Hecuba sculpture was unveiled with the opening of the University Village in August 2017. The President of USC at the time, C. L. Max Nikias, wanted Hecuba’s “majestic presence” to symbolize “the gender equality in our academic community.”[1] Since 2011, the USC student population has been majority women.[2] Tommy Trojan alone was not adequate to represent the student body.
Around 2012, Nikias had approached Christopher Slatoff, a California-born sculptor and Trojan parent, to commission Hecuba. For her face and her pose, Slatoff was heavily inspired by the Ancient Greek “Reveller’s Vase.” In it, Hecuba places a helmet on Hector’s head, the final step before the warrior enters battle. Slatoff saw this as an opportunity to create “a metaphor of Hecuba/USC arming its students with education and a diploma.”[3]
The style and composition were based on the caryatids of the Erechtheion in Athens. Caryatids are sculptures that act as supportive pillars. Like the ones in Athens, Hecuba evokes a traditional column, for example, in the vertically striped texture of her dress. Slatoff was also inspired by the hairstyles of the Erechtheion caryatids, which are known for being a piece of clever architectural design. When a column is sculpted in the shape of a person, the thinnest point–and hence, structurally weakest point–is the neck. To ensure that the maidens could support a marble roof, the ancient sculptors gave them thick, elaborate hairstyles. Though USC’s Hecuba does not support any weight, she still shares their hairstyle. It is interesting to consider how a practical (though beautiful) structural choice from Ancient Greece inspired a purely artistic choice on our campus today.
Slatoff also credits inspiration to the 1971 film, Trojan Women, with Katharine Hepburn. He says it “reinforced [his] desire to have a Chorus to repeat the words of Hecuba.”[4] Slatoff’s chorus, the six women adorning the base of the statue, “depict the ethnic diversity of USC in the 21st century. They are African, Asian, Caucasian, Hispanic, Middle Eastern and Native American.”[5] Additionally, they each represent different academic fields: medicine, science, humanities, technology, social sciences, and the arts. The disciplines are tied together by a symbolic “ribbon of thought.”[6]
Though Hecuba was intended to give female students a representation in USC’s Trojan mythos, as a counterpart to the male Tommy Trojan,[7] it is interesting to note the contrasting ways in which they are depicted. Tommy is presented as a “heroic statue of a Trojan warrior,” symbolic of “courage, skill, …wisdom,” “action, …muscle, ...eager[ness], intelligen[ce], [and] healthy young manhood."[8] On the other hand, at her dedication, Hecuba was described as the “wife of Priam, mother of Hector, …defend[ing] her children and her city with fierce passion and loyalty.”[9] In her tragic mythology, Hecuba’s husband and children are slain, and her family’s killers enslave her; after enacting her revenge, Hecuba is transformed into a dog and then throws herself into the sea.
Hecuba’s motherhood is central to her USC statue as well. The Trojan Family Magazine wrote that “the mythical matriarch,” “rises gracefully” and “warmly welcomes everyone into the Trojan Family.”[10] Surrounded by the Village dormitories, she is meant to remind students of the “warm, hospitable feeling of their home away from home” and “the love and support of their Trojan Family.”[11] Though there is overlap in both Tommy Trojan and Hecuba representing courage and wisdom, Tommy’s strength of action and muscle is replaced with “strength of spirit" for Hecuba.[12] Comparing their symbolism and discourse is key to understanding the two sculptures, which are both meant to be representations of the ideal Trojan for USC students.
Images of Hecuba
Photo credit: Gus Ruelas, courtesy of Christopher Slatoff.
Photo credit: Gus Ruelas, courtesy of Christopher Slatoff.
Photo credit: Gus Ruelas, courtesy of Christopher Slatoff.
"The Making of Hecuba"
References:
[1] “USC Village Revealed,” USC Trojan Family Magazine, Autumn 2017, 33-34.
[2] U.S. Department of Education, “Race/ethnicity, gender, attendance status, and level of student: Fall 2011,” National Center for Education Statistics, Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS), December 2013.
[3] Christopher Slatoff, email to author, March 11, 2025.
[4] Ibid.
[5] “Hecuba,” USC Trojan Family Magazine, Autumn 2017, 40.
[6] “About Hecuba,” USC Village, https://village.usc.edu/about-hecuba/.
[7] “Hecuba,” USC Trojan Family Magazine, Autumn 2017, 40.
[8] “To Dedicate S. C. Shrine,” The Southern California Daily Trojan 21, no. 149, May 29, 1930, 1.
[9] “Hecuba Cam,” University of Southern California, January 31, 2023, https://www.usc.edu/hecuba-cam/.
[10] “Hecuba,” USC Trojan Family Magazine, Autumn 2017, 40.
[11] “About Hecuba,” USC Village, https://village.usc.edu/about-hecuba/.
[12] “Hecuba,” USC Trojan Family Magazine, Autumn 2017, 40.
Photo credits, from top to bottom:
El Arte es Historia from Facebook, May 1, 2020.
Gus Ruelas, courtesy of Christopher Slatoff.
