Hector and Andromache's marriage was the emotional heart of the Iliad. Their farewell at the Scaean Gates, with infant Astyanax frightened by his father's plumed helmet, is one of literature's most poignant scenes.
After Neoptolemus's death, Helenus married Andromache, the widow of his brother Hector. Together they ruled in Epirus, founding a small Troy in exile as described in Virgil's Aeneid.
After Troy's fall, Neoptolemus claimed Andromache as his captive and took her to Epirus, where she bore him Molossus, founder of the Molossian royal line.
Achilles killed Andromache's father Eetion, her seven brothers, and her husband Hector. The devastation Achilles brought upon Andromache's family made her the Iliad's most complete portrait of war's human cost.
In Euripides' Andromache, Hermione bitterly persecuted Andromache, Neoptolemus's captive concubine and former wife of Hector. Hermione blamed Andromache's sorcery for her own childlessness and plotted to kill her and her son Molossus.
Aeneas found Andromache at Buthrotum in Aeneid Book 3, weeping over a cenotaph to Hector in a city she had rebuilt as a ghost of Troy — a mirror of the grief and exile that haunted every Trojan survivor.
Andromache lost her son Astyanax when the Greeks threw him from Troy's walls. His death compounded her grief after Hector's fall, leaving her utterly bereft before her enslavement.
After Troy's fall, Andromache was given as a war prize to Neoptolemus, son of the man who killed her husband Hector. She bore Neoptolemus a son, Molossus, before his death freed her.
Priam was Andromache's father-in-law as king of Troy and father of Hector. In the Iliad, Andromache's bond with the royal house of Troy defined her status and deepened her losses at the city's fall.
We use cookies to understand how you use our site and improve your experience. Learn more