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Andromache

1911 Encyclopedia Britannica

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in Greek legend, the daughter of Eetion, prince of Thebe in Mysia, and wife of Hector. Her father and seven brothers fell by the hands of Achilles when their town was taken by him; her mother, ransomed at a high price, was slain by Artemis (Iliad, vi. 414). During the Trojan War her husband was slain by Achilles, and after the capture of the city her son Astyanax (or Scamandrius) was hurled from the battlements (Eurip. Troades, 7 20). When the captives were allotted, Andromache fell to Neoptolemus (Pyrrhus), the son of Achilles, whom she accompanied to Epirus, and to whom she bore three sons. When Neoptolemus was slain at Delphi, he left his wife and kingdom to Helenus, the brother of Hector (Virgil, Aen. iii. 294). After the death of her third husband, Andromache returned to Asia Minor with her youngest son Pergamus, who there founded a town named after himself. Andromache is one of the finest characters in Homer, distinguished by her affection for her husband and child, her misfortunes and the resignation with which she endures them. The death of Astyanax, and the farewell scene between Andromache and Hector (Iliad, vi. 323), were represented in ancient works of art, while Andromache herself is the subject of tragedies by Euripides and Racine.