Andromache
Andromache was Hector's devoted wife whose farewell with him on Troy's walls is the most tender scene in the Iliad — and whose fate after Troy's fall was the cruelest.
The Legend of Andromache
Wife of Hector and mother of Astyanax, Andromache shared one of the most poignant scenes in the Iliad: the farewell at Troy's gates where their baby cried at Hector's plumed helmet. After Achilles slew Hector, she watched from the walls as he dragged the body. When Troy fell, the Greeks hurled Astyanax from the battlements and gave Andromache to Neoptolemus as a slave. She later bore children to him and, after his death at Delphi, married Hector's brother Helenus. Her story embodies the cost of the war Zeus permitted.
Parents
Eetion
Children
Astyanax (by Hector), Molossus (by Neoptolemus)
Symbols
Fun Fact
Racine's Andromaque (1667) made her the central figure of French neoclassical tragedy — the grieving wife who must protect her son.
Explore Further
Neoptolemus
🗡 heroSon of Achilles
Neoptolemus was Achilles' fierce son, brought to Troy because a prophecy declared the city could not fall without him.
Hecuba
🗡 heroQueen of Troy
Hecuba was the queen of Troy who watched her husband, sons, and city destroyed — embodying the total devastation that war inflicts on women.
Hector
🗡 heroChampion of Troy
Hector was Troy's greatest warrior, who fought not for glory but to defend his city, wife, and son.
Alcestis
🗡 heroWife who died for her husband
Alcestis was the devoted wife who volunteered to die in place of her husband Admetus — the only person willing to make the sacrifice.
Megara
🗡 heroNone recorded
First wife of Heracles, given to him as a reward and later killed in his madness
Menelaus
🗡 heroKing of Sparta, husband of Helen
Menelaus was the king of Sparta whose stolen wife Helen was the cause of the Trojan War — yet he survived the war, the return, and old age, a rare happy ending among Greek heroes.
Iphidamas
🗡 heroYouth, marriage, combat
Young Trojan warrior who left his bride to fight at Troy and was killed by Agamemnon
Sarpédon
🗡 heroSon of Zeus who died at Troy
Sarpedon was a son of Zeus and the greatest Lycian warrior at Troy — his death forced Zeus to confront the limits of even divine power.
Haemon
🗡 heroNone recorded
Son of Creon and fiancé of Antigone who died beside her in defiance of his father
Agamemnon
🗡 heroKing of Mycenae
Agamemnon led the Greek coalition against Troy but was murdered upon return by his wife Clytemnestra.
Aethra
🗡 heroMotherhood, Captivity, Loyalty
Princess of Troezen, mother of Theseus, who became a captive slave in Troy.
Parthenopaeus
🗡 heroSeven Against Thebes, Youth, Arcadia
Young Arcadian hero, one of the Seven Against Thebes, who died at the city walls before seeing his homeland again.