- Andromache
In
Greek mythology , Andromache (Ancient Greek : polytonic|Ἀνδρομάχη) was the wife ofHector and daughter ofEetion , and sister toPodes . She was born and raised in the city ofCilician Thebe , over which her father ruled. The name means "battle of a man", from ανδρος ("andros") "of a man" and μαχη ("machē") "battle". [cite web | last =Campbell | first =Mike | title =Andromache | work =Behind the Name | url =http://www.behindthename.com/name/andromache | accessdate =2007-11-12]During the
Trojan War , Hector was killed byAchilles , and their sonAstyanax was thrown from the city walls by the Greek HeraldTalthybius .Neoptolemus took Andromache as a concubine and Hector's brother,Helenus , as a slave. By Neoptolemus, she was the mother ofMolossus , and according to Pausanias (1.11.1),Pielus andPergamus . When Neoptolemus died, Andromache married Helenus and became Queen of Epirus. Pausanias also implies that Helenus' son,Cestrinus , was by Andromache. Andromache eventually went to live with Pergamus inPergamum , where she died of old age.Classical treatment
*
Homer .Iliad VI, 390–430.
*Apollodorus .Bibliotheke III, xii, 6.
*Apollodorus .Epitome V, 23; VI, 12.
*Euripides . "Andromache".
*Virgil .Aeneid III, 294–355.In Euripides' play, she and her child are nearly assassinated by
Hermione , Neoptolemus' wife and daughter ofHelen . She is also the subject of a tragedy by French classical playwrightJean Racine (1639–1699), entitled "Andromaque ", and a minor character in Shakespeare's "Troilus and Cressida ". She was portrayed bySaffron Burrows in the 2004 film "Troy", and byVanessa Redgrave in the 1971 film version of Euripedes' "The Trojan Women " and also in David Gemmels Novels Troy.References
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