Hecuba
Hecuba (also
Hekuba or
Hekabe) was a
Trojan queen in
Greek mythology, daughter of
Dymas. She was of
Phrygian birth, and her mother (
Eunoë) was said to be a daughter of the god of the River
Sangarius, the principal river of ancient Phrygia.
With the god
Apollo, Hecuba had a son named
Troilius. An
oracle prophesied that
Troy would not be defeated as long as Troilius reached the age of twenty alive. He and his sister,
Polyxena, were ambushed and killed by
Achilles during the
Trojan War.
Polydorus,
Priam's youngest son by Hecuba, was sent with gifts of jewelry and gold to the court of King
Polymestor to keep him safe during the Trojan War. The fighting grew vicious and Priam was frightened for the child's safety. After Troy fell, Polymestor threw Polydorus to his death to take the treasure for himself. Hecuba, though she was enslaved by the
Achaeans when the city fell, eventually avenged her son.
In another tradition, Hecuba went mad upon seeing the corpses of her children Polydorus and Polyxena.
Dante described this episode, which he derived from
Latin sources:
E quando la fortuna volse in basso: l'altezza de' Troian che tutto ardiva,: sì che 'nsieme col regno il re fu casso,: Ecuba trista, misera e cattiva,: poscia che vide Polissena morta,: e del suo Polidoro in su la riva: del mar si fu la dolorosa accorta,: forsennata latrò sì come cane . . .
And when fortune overturned the pride: of the Trojans, who dared everything, so that: both the king and his kingdom were destroyed,: Poor wretched captured Hecuba,: after she saw her Polyxena dead: and found her Polydorus on the beach,: was driven mad by sorrow: and began barking like a dog . . .
Inferno XXX: 13-20
Hecuba is seen as the leading character in the play,
The Trojan Women (in Greek,
Troiades) and
Hecuba, both tragedies by the Greek playwright
Euripides.
Apollo also fell in love with
Cassandra, daughter of Hecuba and Priam, and Troilius's half-sister. He promised Cassandra the gift of prophecy to seduce her, but she rejected him afterwards. Enraged, Apollocursed her, so that no one would ever believe her prophecies.
