Cleone is made suspicious by this unusual restraint and warns Hermione that Orestes may be dangerous. Indeed, she is sorry for him, since it was apparently because Orestes arrived that Pyrrhus made up his mind to marry Hermione. Hermione denies it; if Pyrrhus marries her, it is because he is in love with her, and she is happy.
Andromache appears and appeals to Hermione to persuade Pyrrhus not to surrender Astyanax. She reminds Hermione that she too will be a mother one day and should understand a mother's grief. Andromache once persuaded Hector to protect Hermione's mother, Helen of Troy, from the angry Trojans, and now Hermione can do a similar service for her.
Hermione declares that she cannot go against her father's wishes on the subject of Astyanax. And if someone is to plead with Pyrrhus, Andromache, whom he has loved so long, must surely have more influence than she.
