Pyrrhic Victory
A victory that inflicts such devastating losses on the winner that it is effectively a defeat.
The Meaning of Pyrrhic Victory
King Pyrrhus of Epirus, who claimed descent from Achilles, invaded Italy in 280 BCE to aid the Greek colonies against Rome. At the Battle of Heraclea, his war elephants and superior tactics won the day, but his losses were staggering. He won again at Asculum in 279 BCE, but the cost was even higher. According to Plutarch, Pyrrhus said after the battle: "If we are victorious in one more battle with the Romans, we shall be utterly ruined." He had won every engagement yet could not replace his fallen soldiers, while Rome drew on seemingly inexhaustible reserves. Pyrrhus eventually withdrew from Italy, his campaign a failure despite his unbroken record of battlefield success. The phrase "Pyrrhic victory" entered English to describe any triumph whose cost outweighs its benefit — a lawsuit won at ruinous expense, or a military campaign that destroys the victor's capacity to fight further.
Parents
Aeacides and Phthia
Children
Alexander, Helenus
Symbols
Fun Fact
Pyrrhus lost roughly 7,500 soldiers winning at Asculum — nearly half his force — while Rome could recruit hundreds of thousands more from its allied cities.
Words We Inherited
English words and phrases that trace back to this myth. See our full guide to English words from Greek mythology.
Explore Further
The Trojan War
💭 conceptWar, fate, heroism
A ten-year siege of Troy by a coalition of Greek kings, sparked by the abduction of Helen and shaped by the rivalries of the gods.
Seven Against Thebes
💭 conceptNarrative
The doomed military expedition of seven champions against the city of Thebes in the generation before the Trojan War
Heraclids
💭 conceptDynasty, conquest
The descendants of Heracles who claimed the Peloponnese and established the Dorian kingdoms of Sparta, Argos, and Messenia
Amazonomachy
💭 conceptBattle of Greeks and Amazons
The Amazonomachy was the legendary battle between the Athenians and the Amazons who invaded Athens — depicted alongside the Centauromachy as a key symbol of Greek triumph.
Goddess of Victory
💭 conceptVictory, triumph, speed, strength
Nike personifies victory in both war and peaceful competition, flying above battlefields to crown the worthy.
Epigoni
💭 conceptwar
The sons of the Seven against Thebes who returned a generation later and successfully sacked the city their fathers died attacking.
Fall of Troy
💭 conceptNarrative
The final destruction of the city of Troy through the stratagem of the wooden horse after ten years of siege
Seven Against Thebes
💭 conceptwar, curse
The doomed military expedition of seven champions against the seven gates of Thebes, organised by Polynices to reclaim the throne from his brother Eteocles.
Battle of Marathon
💭 conceptwar, divine intervention
The 490 BC battle where Athenian hoplites defeated Persia, believed by the Greeks to have been won with the aid of Pan, Theseus, and the hero Echetlus.
Sacred Band of Thebes
💭 conceptwarfare, love
An elite Theban military unit of 150 male couples who fought alongside their lovers, undefeated for decades until annihilated by Philip II of Macedon at Chaeronea.
Return of the Heraclidae
💭 conceptinvasion, legacy
The mythological return of Heracles' descendants to the Peloponnese, used by the Dorian Greeks to justify their conquest of Mycenaean territories.
God of War
💭 conceptWar, bloodlust, battle rage, courage
Ares embodies the brutal, violent side of warfare and was feared even by his fellow Olympians.