List of children of Priam
Priam, the mythical king of Troy during the Trojan War, supposedly had 68 sons and, on some accounts, 18 daughters. Priam had several wives, the primary one Hecuba, daughter of Dymas or Cisseus, and several concubines, who bore his children. There is no exhaustive list, but many of them are mentioned in various Greek myths.
The three main sources for the names of the children of Priam are: Homer's Iliad, where a number of his sons are briefly mentioned among the defenders of Troy; and two lists in the Bibliotheca and Hyginus' Fabulae. Some of the daughters taken captive at the end of the war are mentioned by Pausanias, who in his turn refers to paintings by Polygnotus in the Lesche of Delphi.
These are summarized by author below.
Sons
Name | Mentioned by Homer | Mentioned by Apollodorus | Mentioned by Hyginus | Mother, if known | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Hector | Yes | Yes | Yes | Hecuba | Central Trojan hero in Trojan War; heir apparent; killed by Achilles, who attached Hector's body to carriage and dragged it around city. |
Paris | Yes | Yes | Yes | Hecuba | Raised as a shepherd; his abduction of Helen launched the Trojan War; killed by Philoctetes. |
Deiphobus | Yes | Yes | Yes | Hecuba | Maybe the most cunning of Trojan princes, married Helen after Paris' death. He was slain during the sack of Troy by Odysseus and/or Menelaus. |
Helenus | Yes | Yes | Yes | Hecuba | The twin of Cassandra and, like her, a seer. Lost out to Deiphobus in competition for the hand of Helen after Paris's death. Later marries Andromache. |
Polydorus | Yes | Yes | Yes | Hecuba | Youngest of the sons. Killed by King Polymestor of Thrace during or after the Fall of Troy |
Troilus | Yes | Yes | Yes | Hecuba | Possibly fathered by Apollo |
Polites | Yes | Yes | Yes | Hecuba | Killed by Neoptolemus when Troy was sacked |
Hippothous | Yes | No | Yes | ||
Kebriones | Yes | Yes | Yes | Killed by Patroclus with a stone | |
Gorgythion | Yes | Yes | Yes | Castianeira | Killed in battle by Teucer, whose arrow was aimed at Hector |
Agathon | Yes | Yes | Yes | ||
Mestor | Yes | Yes | Yes | Killed by Achilles | |
Chromius | Yes | Yes | Yes | Killed by Diomedes | |
Doryclus | Yes | Yes | Yes | Killed by Ajax | |
Democoon | Yes | Yes | Yes | Killed by Odysseus in his rage of a lost comrade at the spear of Antiphus | |
Antiphus | Yes | Yes | No | Hecuba | Killed by Agamemnon |
Lycaon | Yes | Yes | No | Laothoe | Killed by Achilles |
Pammon | Yes | Yes | No | Hecuba | Killed by Neoptolemus when Troy was sacked |
Dius | Yes | No | Yes | ||
Isus | Yes | No | No | Killed by Agamemnon | |
Antiphonus | Yes | No | No | Killed by Neoptolemus when Troy was sacked | |
Echemmon | Yes | No | No | Killed by Diomedes | |
Archemachus | No | Yes | Yes | ||
Aretus | No | Yes | Yes | Killed by a spear from Automedon | |
Ascanius | No | Yes | Yes | ||
Deiopites | No | Yes | Yes | Killed by Meges when Troy was sacked | |
Dryops | No | Yes | Yes | Killed by Achilles | |
Evagoras | No | Yes | Yes | ||
Evander | No | Yes | Yes | ||
Polymedon | No | Yes | Yes | ||
Aegeoneus | No | Yes | No | ||
Aesacus | No | Yes | No | Arisbe or Alexirhoe | Turned into a diving bird |
Astygonus | No | Yes | No | ||
Atas | No | Yes | No | ||
Bias | No | Yes | No | ||
Chersidamas | No | Yes | No | Killed by Odysseus | |
Clonius | No | Yes | No | ||
Echephron | No | Yes | No | ||
Glaucus | No | Yes | No | ||
Hippodamas | No | Yes | No | Killed by Achilles | |
Hipponous | No | Yes | No | Hecuba | Killed by Achilles just before the latter's death |
Hyperion | No | Yes | No | ||
Hyperochus | No | Yes | Yes | ||
Idomeneus | No | Yes | No | ||
Laodocus | No | Yes | No | ||
Lysithous | No | Yes | No | ||
Melanippus | No | Yes | No | Shot to death by Teucer | |
Mylius | No | Yes | No | ||
Philaemon | No | Yes | No | ||
Telestas | No | Yes | No | ||
Antinous | No | No | Yes | ||
Astynomus | No | No | Yes | ||
Axion | No | No | Yes | Killed by Eurypylus | |
Biantes | No | No | Yes | ||
Brissonius | No | No | Yes | ||
Cheirodamas | No | No | Yes | ||
Chrysolaus | No | No | Yes | ||
Dolon | No | No | Yes | ||
Eresus | No | No | Yes | ||
Hero(n) | No | No | Yes | ||
Hippasus | No | No | Yes | ||
Hipposidus | No | No | Yes | ||
Ilagus | No | No | Yes | ||
Lysides | No | No | Yes | ||
Palaemon | No | No | Yes | ||
Polymelus | No | No | Yes | ||
Proneos | No | No | Yes | ||
Protodamas | No | No | Yes |
Daughters
Name | Mentioned by Homer | Mentioned by Apollodorus | Mentioned by Hyginus | Mentioned by Pausanias | Mother, if known | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Cassandra | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Hecuba | Helenus' twin, Priestess of Apollo and by him given the gift of prophecy, but cursed never to be believed |
Laodice | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Hecuba | Homer calls her the most beautiful of Priam's daughters |
Medesicaste | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | An illegitimate daughter; was married to Imbrius | |
Creusa | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Married to Aeneas | |
Medusa | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | ||
Aristomache | No | No | No | Yes | Was married to Critolaus, son of Hicetaon | |
Aristodeme | No | Yes | No | No | ||
Lysimache | No | Yes | No | No | ||
Polyxena | No | Yes | No | Yes | Hecuba | Sacrificed on Achilles's tomb to cause a wind back to Greece |
Demnosia | No | No | Yes | No | ||
Demosthea | No | No | Yes | No | ||
Ethionome | No | No | Yes | No | ||
Henicea | No | No | Yes | No | ||
Iliona | No | No | Yes | No | Eldest daughter | |
Lysianassa | No | No | Yes | No | ||
Nereis | No | No | Yes | No | ||
Phegea | No | No | Yes | No | ||
Philomela | No | No | Yes | No |
Pausanias enlists several more Trojan captive women, who may or may not be daughters of Priam: Clymene, Xenodice, Deinome, Metioche, Peisis, Cleodice. He remarks, however, that of these only Clymene and Deinome were mentioned in literary sources known to him, and that the rest of the names could have been invented by Polygnotus.
Notes
- Aeneas - who later led the survivors of Troy - was not a son of Priam, but his father Anchises was Priam's first cousin, making Aeneas Priam's first cousin once removed. Aeneas did, however, marry Priam's daughter Creusa, making him a son-in-law of Priam. Ascanius, the son of Aeneas and Creusa, was himself the ancestor of Romulus and Remus.
- According to Homer:
- Lycaon is the son of Laothoe.
- Gorgythion is the son of Castianeira.
- According to Apollodorus:
- In Mozart's opera, Idomeneo, Ilia is mentioned as another daughter of Priam.
References
- ^ Homer, Iliad
- ^ Apollodorus, Library, 3.12.5
- ^ Hyginus, Fabulae 90
- ^ Pausanias, Description of Greece, 10. 25 - 27