Neoptolemus was the son of Achilles and Deidamia of Skyros. He was summoned to Troy after his father's death because prophecy declared the city could not fall without him.
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.
Menelaus promised Hermione to Neoptolemus during the Trojan War as a reward for his service. Neoptolemus took Hermione as his wife after Troy's fall, but their marriage was barren and unhappy.
In Sophocles's play, Neoptolemus was sent to Lemnos with Odysseus to retrieve Philoctetes. The young warrior's honesty and sympathy won Philoctetes's trust, and he persuaded the embittered archer to rejoin the Greek army at Troy.
Orestes and Neoptolemus clashed over Hermione. Menelaus had promised her to Orestes, but Agamemnon betrothed her to Neoptolemus at Troy. Neoptolemus died at Delphi, and Orestes claimed Hermione.
Orestes arranged the death of Neoptolemus at Delphi, eliminating his rival for Hermione's hand and claiming her as his wife in accordance with Menelaus's original promise.
⚠ Euripides' Andromache (1070-1165) has Orestes orchestrate the killing via the Delphians. Virgil's Aeneid (3.330-332) attributes it directly to Orestes. Pindar's Nemean 7 and Pausanias 1.13.9 give other versions involving Apollo's anger.
Neoptolemus threw Astyanax from the walls of Troy after the city fell, following the Greek commanders' decision that Hector's son must not live to avenge his father.
Neoptolemus killed the aged King Priam at the household altar of Zeus Herkeios during the sack of Troy. The sacrilegious killing of a suppliant at a sacred altar became one of the most condemned acts of the war.
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.
Neoptolemus, son of Achilles who had slain Hector, killed the infant Astyanax during the sack of Troy. He later took Andromache as his war prize.
Neoptolemus was slain at the sanctuary of Delphi, and his tomb within the sacred precinct became a hero-shrine where he received cult offerings.
⚠ Pindar (Nemean 7.34-47) has Apollo himself kill Neoptolemus; Euripides (Andromache 1085-1165) attributes the killing to Orestes with Delphic accomplices.
Helenus was awarded to Neoptolemus as a war prize after Troy's fall. He served as the young warrior's advisor and prophet, and after Neoptolemus's death inherited his kingdom in Epirus.
Neoptolemus was killed at Delphi, freeing Hermione to marry Orestes. In some accounts, Orestes himself engineered the killing; in others, Neoptolemus was slain by the priests of Apollo for desecrating the temple.
Neoptolemus was brought to the Trojan War after his father Achilles' death, as prophecy declared the city could not fall without him. He killed King Priam at the altar of Zeus during the sack.
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