Priam
Top
(European mythology)
The aged King of Troy at the time of its siege and destruction by the Greeks. The war seems to have taken place in the later part of the thirteenth century BC. According to legend, hostilities broke out as a result of the flight of Helen to Troy. The daughter of Zeus and Nemesis, the personification of retribution, Helen was the wife of Menelaus, King of Sparta, but she eloped with Paris, one of Priam's sons.
In the earlier part of his reign Priam supported the Phrygians in their struggle against the Amazons, the nation of female warriors dwelling near the borders of the world. When the Greeks landed on the Trojan coast, Priam was too old to take an active part in the war. His sons led the Trojans, and especially Hector, who in single combat fell to Achilles. At the sack of the city Priam was killed by Pyrrhus, Achilles' son. Helen herself returned to Sparta with Menelaus and lived quietly there until her death. In the underworld, however, she was said to have deserted her husband for Achilles.
Related Videos:
Top
Priam
Top
(prī'əm) 
n. Greek Mythology
The father of Paris, Hector, and Cassandra and king of Troy, who was killed when his city fell to the Greeks.
n. Greek Mythology
The father of Paris, Hector, and Cassandra and king of Troy, who was killed when his city fell to the Greeks.
Top
In Greek mythology, the last king of Troy. He succeeded his father Laomedon as king and gradually expanded Troy's control over the Hellespont. By his wife, Hecuba, he had many children, including Hector and Paris. He reigned during the Trojan War; in its final year he lost 13 sons, three of whom were killed by Achilles in a single day. Hector's death broke his spirit, and he went humbly to Achilles to ask for the corpse. When Troy fell, Achilles' son Neoptolemus killed the elderly Priam on an altar.
For more information on Priam, visit Britannica.com.
Prīam (Prĭamos), in Greek myth, son of Laomedon, king of Troy at the time of the Trojan War and husband of Hecuba. He was the father of fifty sons and many daughters, some by Hecuba, the rest by other wives or concubines. His children include Hector, Paris, Polydorus, Cassandra, and Creusa. In Homer's Iliad he is already an old man, and a pathetic figure, lamenting the death of many sons and the sufferings of his people, but loyal and kindly to Helen, the cause of these misfortunes. After Hector's death he goes to the Greek camp secretly, aided by the god Hermēs, to ransom his son's body with rich treasures for Achilles. The Iliupersis told how, at the fall of Troy, he took refuge in the palace at the altar of Zeus Herkeios and was there killed by Neoptolemus. The best-known version is that of Virgil in Aeneid 2. His name became almost proverbial for a man who had known the extremes of good and bad fortune.
Columbia Encyclopedia:
Top
Prīam
Priam (prī'əm), in Greek mythology, king of Troy during the Trojan War, son of Laomedon. Priam had several wives and was the father of 50 sons and many daughters. His chief wife, Hecuba, bore him 19 children, including Hector, Paris, Polyxena, Helenus, Cassandra, Troilus, Creusa, Polydorus, and Deiphobus. When the Greeks sacked Troy, Priam was killed by Neoptolemus.
Top
"Priamus" redirects here. For the journal, see Priamus (journal).
For the manufacturing company, see Priam Corporation.
For the Thoroughbred racehorse, see Priam (horse).
Priam (/ˈpraɪ.əm/, Greek Πρίαμος Priamos) was the king of Troy during the Trojan War and youngest son of Laomedon. Modern scholars derive his name from the Luwian compound Priya-muwa-, which means "exceptionally courageous".[1][2]
|
Contents
|
Marriage and issue
Priam had a number of wives; his first was Arisbe, who had given birth to his son Aesacus, who met his death before the Trojan War. Priam later divorced her in favor of Hecuba (or Hecebe), daughter of the Phrygian king Dymas. By his various wives and concubines Priam was the father of fifty sons and many daughters. Hector was Priam's eldest son by Hecuba, and heir to the Trojan throne. Paris (also known as Alexander), another son, was the cause of the Trojan War. Other children of Priam and Hecuba include the prophetic Helenus and Cassandra; eldest daughter Ilione; Deiphobus; Troilus; Polites; Creusa, wife of Aeneas; Laodice, wife of Helicaon; Polyxena, who was slaughtered on the grave of Achilles; and Polydorus, his youngest son.
Life
Priam was originally called Podarces and he kept himself from being killed by Heracles by giving him a golden veil embroidered by his sister, Hesione. After this, Podarces changed his name to Priam. This is an etymology based on priatos "ransomed"; the actual etymology of the name is probably not Greek, but perhaps Lydian in origin. When Hector is killed by Achilles, the Greek warrior treats the body with disrespect and refuses to give it back. Zeus sends the god Hermes to escort King Priam, Hector’s father and the ruler of Troy, into the Greek camp. Priam tearfully pleads with Achilles to take pity on a father bereft of his son and return Hector’s body. He invokes the memory of Achilles’ own father, Peleus. Priam begs Achilles to pity him, saying "I have endured what no one on earth has ever done before — I put my lips to the hands of the man who killed my son."[3] Deeply moved, Achilles relents and returns Hector’s corpse to the Trojans. Both sides agree to a temporary truce, and Achilles gives Priam leave to hold a proper funeral for Hector, complete with funeral games. He promises that no Greek will engage in combat for 11 days, but on the 12th day of peace, the mighty war between the Greeks and the Trojans would resume.
Priam is killed during the Sack of Troy by Achilles' son Neoptolemus (also known as Pyrrhus). His death is graphically related in Book II of Virgil's Aeneid. In Virgil's description, Neoptolemus first kills Priam's son Polites in front of his father as he seeks sanctuary on the altar of Zeus. Priam rebukes Neoptolemus, throwing a spear at him, harmlessly hitting his shield. Neoptolemus then drags Priam to the altar and there kills him too.
It has been suggested by Hittite sources, specifically the Manapa-Tarhunta letter, that there is historical basis for the archetype of King Priam. The letter describes one Piyama-Radu as a troublesome rebel who overthrew a Hittite client king and thereafter established his own rule over the city of Troy (mentioned as Wilusa in Hittite). There is also mention of an Alaksandu, suggested to be Paris Alexander (King Priam's son from the Iliad), a later ruler of the city of Wilusa who established peace between Wilusa and Hatti (see the Alaksandu treaty).
Family tree
References
- ^ Starke, Frank. "Troia im Kontext des historisch-politischen und sprachlichen Umfeldes Kleinasiens im 2. Jahrtausend". // Studia Troica 7, 1997, 458 with fn. 114, referring to F. Starke, Untersuchungen zur Stammbildung des keilschrift-luwischen Nomens, 1990, 455, fn. 1645 (PN Priya-muwa- "der hervorragenden/vortrefflichen Mut hat".
- ^ Haas, Die hethitische Literatur: Texte, Stilistik, Motive, 2006. p.5.
- ^ "The Iliad", Fagles translation. Penguin Books, 1991, p. 605.
This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)
Post a question - any question - to the WikiAnswers community:
Copyrights:
Oxford Dictionary of World Mythology
A Dictionary of World Mythology. Copyright © Arthur Cotterell 1979, 1986, 2003. All rights reserved.
Read more
American Heritage Dictionary
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
Read more
Britannica Concise Encyclopedia
Britannica Concise Encyclopedia. © 1994-2012 Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. All rights reserved. Read more
Oxford Companion to Classical Literature
The Concise Oxford Companion to Classical Literature. Copyright © 1993, 2003 by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved.
Read more
Columbia Encyclopedia
The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition Copyright © 2012, Columbia University Press. Licensed from Columbia University Press. All rights reserved. www.cc.columbia.edu/cu/cup/.
Read more
Mentioned in
Hector
(Trojan prince)
Hecuba
(wife of Priam and mother of Hector)
Laomedon
(founder and first king)
Neoptolemus
(son of Achilles)
» More