Hecuba: Prophetess And Queen During The Trojan War

Discover with us the legend of Hecuba. Learn how she was related to the heroes of the Trojan War, her origins, and most famous prophecies.

Who is Hecuba?

Hecuba was the queen of Troy during the period of the Trojan War, whose story is told in the Iliad and other classic works of literature. In addition to being a queen, she was also a prophetess who would reveal several bad omens of future events involving the fall of Troy.

Origin

The exact origin of the Queen of Troy is unknown. Some say that King Dimas, ruler of Phrygia, was the father of Hecuba, being the Naiad Euagora her mother. Some accounts say that she was the daughter of King Cyseus of Thrace, and others mention Sangarius, one of the river gods, and the river nymph Metope as her parents. There are other accounts with different combinations.

Thus, his father was Ciseus, Dimas, Sangarius or Xanthus, and his mother Euagora, Eunoe (a nymph), Glaucippe, Metope or Telecleia. The question of their paternity, and the combination of mother and father, is an open and very varied question. This was such a contentious issue that Tiberius was rumored to have made his scholars nervous with questions about Hecuba’s paternity.

Hecuba Family

Hecuba married King Priam, becoming his second wife. Together they had 19 children, some of the best known being Cassandra, Hector, Paris and Polydorus. Some of Hecuba’s sons would die at the hands of others, either by battle or betrayal.

Hecuba History

The story of Hecuba takes place before, during and after the Trojan War, and includes a series of battles and encounters with the gods.

Harbingers of Destruction

Hecuba’s pregnancy with Paris would prove to be a restless one and would reach its climax with the arrival of a prophetic dream. In this dream, instead of giving birth to a normal baby, she gave birth to a fiery torch covered with snakes. She sought out the prophets of Troy to interpret this dream, and they revealed that it was a disturbing omen.

The omen predicted that if her son lived, he would be responsible for the fall and destruction of Troy. Hecuba could not bear this news and when Paris was being born, he ordered two of his servants to kill him. However, the servants were unable to murder a helpless baby and instead abandoned Paris on the side of a mountain to be carried off by wild beasts. But a shepherd soon found Paris and raised him as his own son.

Many years later, Paris returned to Troy and started the Trojan War by stealing Helen, wife of King Menelaus of Sparta. Since all the rulers of Greece had sworn to defend Helen, they declared war on Troy, sacking and burning the city and thus fulfilling the prophecy in a siege of ruin and flames.

The doom of Hector

Hecuba’s participation in the Trojan War included the advice of her son Hector when he returned to the city. She offered him the libation cup, urging him to make an offering to Zeus and also to drink from it himself. Hector advised his mother to make a deal with Athena, in which she would offer a dress from Alexander’s treasure to the goddess in exchange for help. The dress in question was beautifully adorned with embroidery, shining like a star whenever it caught even a hint of light.

The dress had been brought from Sidon when Alexander sailed the seas and was the work of Sidonian women. But Hecuba’s efforts went unanswered. In a last attempt, Hecuba begged Hector not to confront Achilles, but he would not hear of it. That night, Hector dueled Achilles and met his death.

When Hecuba later learned of Priam’s plan to retrieve Hector’s body from Achilles‘ camp, she became anxious at the thought of losing a husband and son in the same day. Hecuba lamented Hector’s death in a great speech, for he was the dearest of all her sons.

Apollo and Troilus

Hecuba would later have a son with Apollo, and another prophecy was made: if Troilus lived to be 20 years old, Troy would not fall, despite the earlier prophecy. But Achilles waited in ambush while Troilus rode his horse near a well at the front of the city. Troilus fled to the temple of Apollo, and was slain at the altar and then dragged away by his own horses, sealing the fate of the city to doom and ruin it in fulfillment of the omen.

Enslavement to Odysseus

As if she had not already been through enough trials, Hecuba would be taken prisoner and then become Odysseus’ slave. Before the Trojan War, Odysseus had traveled through Thrace, where Hecuba had asked her ruler, King Polymestor, to protect her son Polydorus. When the Greeks reached the Thracian Chersonese on their way home, Hecuba discovered that Polymestor had betrayed her trust and killed Polydorus.

When she saw her son lying lifeless, she went mad and, in a fit of rage, gouged out Polymestor’s eyes and killed her sons. Then when Odysseus tried to stop her, the gods transformed her into a dog so that she could escape. She was never seen again, until her death when she threw herself into the sea. Her tomb was located on a rocky outcrop, the Hellespont between Greece and Turkey, and would become an important landmark for sailors.

Influence today

The story of Hecuba is mentioned several times in the Iliad, as well as in the Aeneid. It is also the subject or character of several plays, such as “Hecuba”, and the third in a series of tragedies about the Trojan War, “The Trojan Women”, by Euripides. In later times, she appears in romantic literature, such as William Shakespeare‘s “Hamlet”.