Priam- Greek FigureMortal"King of Troy"

The Ransomed Prince

Priam was originally named Podarces, the youngest son of King Laomedon of Troy. When Laomedon cheated Heracles of the horses he had promised for rescuing his daughter Hesione, the hero sacked Troy and killed Laomedon and all his sons save Podarces. Hesione ransomed her brother with her golden veil, and he took the name Priam — derived from priasthai, "to buy" — becoming the sole surviving prince of Troy's royal house. He rebuilt the city and made it great again.

The Aged King

By the time of the Trojan War, Priam was an aged king with fifty sons and many daughters — among them Hector, who defended the city, and Paris, whose abduction of Helen had brought the war upon Troy. Too old to fight, Priam watched from the walls as his sons died one by one. In one scene, he called Helen to sit beside him on the ramparts and name the Greek champions arrayed below — treating with courtesy the very woman who had brought his city to ruin. When Hector fell to Achilles and his body was dragged behind the victor's chariot, Priam's grief was boundless.

The Ransom of Hector

Guided by Hermes through the Greek camp under cover of night, the old king entered Achilles's tent alone and unarmed. He knelt and kissed the hands that had killed his son, begging Achilles to remember his own father Peleus, growing old far away. Achilles wept, thinking of Peleus and of Patroclus. They shared a meal, two enemies bound by grief. Achilles released Hector's body and granted eleven days' truce for the funeral.

The Fall of Troy

When Troy fell, Priam was killed at his household altar by Neoptolemus, Achilles's son. The old king had taken refuge at the altar of Zeus Herkeios, surrounded by the bodies of his slain sons. Neoptolemus dragged him from the sacred ground and cut him down — a sacrilege that stained the Greek victory and haunted his killer afterward.