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Hecuba

Spouse of king Priam in Greek mythology From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Hecuba
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This article is about the mythological figure. For other uses, see Hecuba (disambiguation).

In Greek mythology, Hecuba (/ˈhɛkjʊbə/; also Hecabe; Ancient Greek: Ἑκάβη, romanized: Hekábē, pronounced [hekábɛ:]), was the wife of King Priam and queen of Troy during the Trojan War.[1] With Priam, she was the mother of the warriors Hector and Troilus; Helen's suitor Paris; and the prophetess Cassandra.

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    Description

    In his Chronography, the Byzantine chronicler Malalas described Hecuba as "dark, good eyes, full grown, long nose, beautiful, generous, talkative, calm."[2] Dares the Phrygian described her as "...beautiful, her figure large, her complexion dark. She thought like a man and was pious and just."[3]

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    Parentage

    Ancient sources vary regarding Hecuba's parentage.[4] According to Homer, Hecuba was the daughter of King Dymas of Phrygia.[5] Euripides[6] and Virgil[7] claimed she was the daughter of the Thracian king Cisseus. The mythographers Pseudo-Apollodorus and Hyginus left the question of her parentage open, with Pseudo-Apollodorus adding a third alternative option: the river god Sangarius and the nymph Metope.[8][9]

    Some versions from non-extant works are summarized by a scholiast on Euripides' Hecuba.[10] According to them, she was a daughter of Dymas or Sangarius by the Naiad Euagora, or by Glaucippe, daughter of Xanthus (Scamander?). The possibility of her being a daughter of Cisseus is also discussed. A scholiast on Homer relates that Hecuba's parents were either Dymas and the nymph Eunoe, or Cisseus and Telecleia;[11] the latter option would make her a full sister of Theano, which is also noted by the scholiast on Euripides cited above.

    According to Suetonius in The Twelve Caesars, the emperor Tiberius pestered scholars with obscure questions about ancient mythology, with one of his favorites being "Who was Hecuba's mother?"[12]

    Offspring

    Main article: List of children of Priam

    Hecuba had 19 children, some of which included major characters of Homer's Iliad such as the warriors Hector and Paris, as well as the prophetess Cassandra. Two of them, Hector[13] and Troilus,[14] are said to have been born as a result of Hecuba's relationship with the god Apollo. Other named children of Hecuba by Priam are Helenus, Deiphobus, Laodice, Polyxena, Creusa, Polydorus, Polites, Antiphus, Pammon, Hipponous and Iliona.

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    Myths

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    Hecuba in the Iliad

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    The death of Hector on a Roman sarcophagus, c. 200 AD

    Hecuba appears six times in the Iliad. In Book 6.326–96, she meets Hector upon his return to the city and offers him the libation cup, instructing him to offer it to Zeus and to drink from it himself. Taking Hector's advice, she chooses a gown taken from Alexander's treasure to give as an offering to the goddess and leads the Trojan women to the temple of Athena to pray for help. In Book 22, she pleads with Hector not to fight Achilles, expressing her premonition of "never get[ting] to mourn you laid out on a bier."[15] In Book 24.201–16, she is stricken with anxiety upon hearing of Priam's plan to retrieve Hector's body from Achilles' hut. Further along in the same episode, at 24.287–98, she offers Priam the libation cup and instructs him to pray to Zeus so that he may receive a favourable omen upon setting out towards the Achaean camp. Unlike in the first episode in which Hector refuses her offer of the cup, Priam accepts and is rewarded with the requested omen. Finally, she laments Hector's death in a well-known speech at 24.748–59.

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    Hecuba and Polyxena by Merry-Joseph Blondel

    Hecuba in other classical works

    Stesichorus states that after the sack of Troy, Apollo, Hecuba's former lover, took her to safety and placed her in Lycia.[16][17]

    The Bibliotheca (Library) of Pseudo-Apollodorus states that Hecuba had a son named Troilus with the god Apollo. An oracle prophesied that Troy would not be defeated if Troilus reached the age of 20 alive. Troilus is killed by Achilles.

    Hecuba is a main character in two plays by Euripides: The Trojan Women and Hecuba. The Trojan Women describes the aftermath of the fall of Troy, including Hecuba's enslavement by Odysseus. Hecuba also takes place just after the fall of Troy. Polydorus, the youngest son of Priam and Hecuba, is sent to King Polymestor for safekeeping, but when Troy falls, Polymestor murders Polydorus. Hecuba learns of this, and when Polymestor comes to the fallen city, Hecuba, by trickery, blinds him and kills his two sons.[18]

    Another story says that when she was given to Odysseus as a slave, she snarled and cursed at him, so the gods turned her into a dog, allowing her to escape[citation needed]. Hecuba, as a dog, is later taken-in by Hecate as one of her Familiars.

    In another tradition, Hecuba went mad upon seeing the corpses of her children Polydorus and Polyxena. Dante described this episode, which he derived from Italian sources:

    —Inferno XXX: 13–20

    Another legend has it that Hecuba threw herself into the sea[19] and was transformed into "a she-dog with fiery eyes" and that she was buried in a "wretched" place called Kynosema ('dog's grave'), a "landmark for sailors".[20][21] The Kynosema is said to be a promontory located in modern day Kilidülbahir.[22] According to Lycophron, she was rescued by the goddess Hecate and became one of her canine familiars.[23]

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    Gallery

    In popular culture

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    Hecuba is frequently referenced in classical literature, and in many medieval, Renaissance, and modern works. Among the works which are about Hecuba are:

    Hecuba is also referenced in other works:

    • In Hamlet, a play by William Shakespeare. In Act 2, scene 2, the character Hamlet marvels at the skill of an actor he has just watched perform a monologue about Hecuba witnessing Priam's death with convincing grief: "What's Hecuba to him, or he to Hecuba, / That he should weep for her?" Hamlet criticizes himself for grieving his father less authentically than the actor does on behalf of the imaginary Hecuba and Priam.[24]
    • In Fortune Plango Vulnera (I Bemoan The Wounds Of Fortune), from the 13th C Latin and Goliardic poetry collection Carmina Burana, which was set to music in the movement Fate Imperatrix Mundi of Carmina Burana: Cantiones profanae cantoribus et choris cantandae comitantibus instrumentis atque imaginibus magicis by Carl Orff, Hecuba is mentioned as an exemplar of those thrown down by fate and a warning: "Nam sub axe legimus, Hecubam reginam." (For beneath the axle is written, queen Hecuba)
    • In Edith Wharton’s The Custom of the Country, she describes Mrs. Spragg as "gaz[ing] after [Undine and Mr. Spragg] with the pale stare of Hecuba."
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    Notes

    References

    External links

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