Polyxena
heroTrojan princess sacrificed on Achilles's tomb after the fall of Troy to appease his ghost.
The Myth
They slit a princess's throat on a dead man's grave — because his ghost demanded it. After Troy fell, Achilles's ghost appeared above his burial mound and demanded that Polyxena be sacrificed before the Greek fleet could sail home. Neoptolemus, Achilles's son, performed the killing. In some versions, Achilles had loved Polyxena and was killed while meeting her secretly at the temple of Apollo — making the sacrifice a grotesque consummation. Euripides's Hecuba shows Polyxena accepting her death with dignity, preferring it to slavery. She asked that no one hold her, and she fell like a statue. Hecuba, already broken by Polydorus's murder, lost her last remaining child.
Symbols
Fun Fact
Polyxena's willing death is often compared to Iphigenia's — both are royal girls sacrificed so fleets can sail.
Explore Further
Hecuba
heroHecuba was the queen of Troy who watched her husband, sons, and city destroyed — embodying the...
Hecuba (Revenge)
heroQueen of Troy who survived the fall, witnessed the sacrifice of Polyxena, and took savage revenge...
Achilles
heroThe greatest warrior in the Greek army at Troy, nearly invulnerable thanks to being dipped in the...
Iphigenia
heroIphigenia was Agamemnon's eldest daughter, sacrificed at Aulis to gain winds for Troy — or rescued...
Neoptolemus
heroNeoptolemus was Achilles' fierce son, brought to Troy because a prophecy declared the city could...
Polydorus of Troy
heroYoungest son of Priam, sent away from Troy with gold for safekeeping, only to be murdered by his...
Priam
heroPriam was the aged king of Troy, father of fifty sons including Hector and Paris, whose night...
Apollo
godGod of light, music, poetry, and prophecy. Apollo embodied the Greek ideal of youthful masculine...
Apollo (Light)
godApollo was the most complex Olympian — god of light, music, poetry, prophecy, healing, plague, and...
Apollo Loxias
godAn epithet of Apollo meaning "the Oblique One," referring to the deliberately ambiguous nature of...
Trojan Horse
conceptThe hollow wooden horse used by the Greeks to infiltrate and destroy Troy. Devised by Odysseus, it...
Trojan War
conceptThe Trojan War was the central event of Greek mythology — a ten-year siege of Troy by a Greek...