List of children of Priam explained

In Greek mythology, Priam, the mythical king of Troy during the Trojan War, supposedly had 18 daughters and 68 sons. Priam had several wives, the primary one Hecuba, daughter of Dymas or Cisseus, and several concubines, who bore his children. There is no exhaustive list, but many of them are mentioned in various Greek myths. Almost all of Priam's children were slain by the Greeks in the course of the war, or shortly after.

The three main sources for the names of the children of Priam are: Homer's Iliad, where a number of his sons are briefly mentioned among the defenders of Troy; and two lists in the Bibliotheca and Hyginus' Fabulae. Virgil also mentions some of Priam's sons and daughters in the Aeneid. Some of the daughters taken captive at the end of the war are mentioned by Pausanias, who in his turn refers to paintings by Polygnotus in the Lesche of Delphi.

Sons

Name	Sources						Mother, if known	Notes
	Homer	Apollodorus^[1]	Hyginus	Virgil	Dictys^[2]	Others
Hector	✓	✓	✓	✓			Hecuba	Central Trojan hero in Trojan War; heir apparent; killed by Achilles, who attached Hector's body to his chariot and dragged it around city.
Paris	✓	✓	✓	✓			Hecuba	Raised as a shepherd; his abduction of Helen launched the Trojan War; killed by Philoctetes.
Deiphobus	✓	✓	✓	✓			Hecuba	Maybe the most cunning of Trojan princes, married Helen after Paris' death. He was slain during the sack of Troy by Odysseus and/or Menelaus.
Helenus	✓	✓	✓	✓			Hecuba	The twin of Cassandra and, like her, a seer. Lost out to Deiphobus in competition for the hand of Helen after Paris's death. Later marries Andromache.
Polydorus	✓	✓	✓	✓			Hecuba	Youngest of the sons. Killed by King Polymestor of Thrace during or after the Fall of Troy
Troilus	✓	✓	✓	✓			Hecuba	Possibly fathered by Apollo. Killed by Achilles
Polites	✓	✓	✓	✓			Hecuba	Killed by Neoptolemus when Troy was sacked
Hippothous	✓		✓
Kebriones	✓	✓	✓					Killed by Patroclus with a stone
Gorgythion	✓	✓	✓				Castianeira	Killed in battle by Teucer, whose arrow was aimed at Hector
Agathon	✓	✓	✓		✓			One of the last surviving princes during the Trojan War or killed by Ajax the Great
Mestor	✓	✓	✓					Killed by Achilles
Chromius	✓	✓	✓					Killed by Diomedes
Doryclus	✓	✓	✓					Killed by Ajax
Democoon	✓	✓	✓					Killed by Odysseus in his rage of a lost comrade at the spear of Antiphus
Antiphus	✓	✓			✓		Hecuba	Killed by Agamemnon or Ajax the Great
Lycaon	✓	✓					Laothoe	Killed by Achilles
Pammon	✓	✓					Hecuba	Killed by Neoptolemus when Troy was sacked
Dius	✓		✓
Isus	✓							Killed by Agamemnon
Antiphonus	✓							Killed by Neoptolemus when Troy was sacked
Echemmon	✓	✓			✓			Killed by Diomedes or by Odysseus
Archemachus		✓	✓
		✓	✓		✓			Killed by a spear from Automedon or by Odysseus
Ascanius	✓	✓	✓
Bias		✓	✓		✓			Killed by Idomeneus
		✓	✓					Killed by Meges when Troy was sacked
Dryops		✓	✓		✓			Killed by Achilles or Idomeneus
Evagoras		✓	✓
Evander		✓	✓
Hyperochus		✓	✓
Polymedon		✓	✓
Aegeoneus		✓
		✓					Arisbe or Alexirhoe	Turned into a diving bird
Astygonus		✓
Atas		✓
Chersidamas		✓						Killed by Odysseus
		✓
Echephron		✓
Glaucus		✓
Hippodamas		✓						Killed by Achilles
		✓					Hecuba	Killed by Achilles just before the latter's death
Hyperion		✓
Idomeneus		✓
Laodocus		✓
Lysithous		✓
		✓				^[3]		Shot to death by Teucer
		✓
Philaemon		✓
Telestas		✓			✓			Killed by Diomedes
Antinous			✓
Astynomus			✓					5
Axion			✓					Killed by Eurypylus
Brissonius			✓
Cheirodamas			✓
Chrysolaus			✓
Dolon			✓
Eresus			✓
Hero(n)			✓
Hippasus			✓
Hipposidus			✓
Ilagus			✓
Lysides			✓
Palaemon			✓
Polymelus			✓
Proneos			✓
Protodamas			✓
Chaon				✓
Agavus					✓			Killed by Ajax the Great
Asteropaeus					✓			Killed by Achilles
Chorithan					✓			Killed by Idomeneus
Ilioneus					✓			Killed by Ajax the Lesser
Philenor					✓			Killed by Ajax the Lesser
Thyestes					✓			Killed by Diomedes
Idaeus

Daughters

Name	Sources					Mother, if known	Notes
	Homer	Apollodorus	Hyginus^[4]	Pausanias	Virgil
Cassandra	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓	Hecuba	Helenus' twin, Priestess of Apollo and by him given the gift of prophecy, but cursed never to be believed
Laodice	✓	✓	✓	✓		Hecuba	Homer calls her the most beautiful of Priam's daughters
Medesicaste	✓	✓	✓	✓			An illegitimate daughter; was married to Imbrius
Creusa		✓	✓	✓	✓		Married to Aeneas
Medusa		✓	✓	✓
Aristodeme		✓
Lysimache		✓
Polyxena		✓		✓	✓	Hecuba	Captured by the Greeks, and later sacrificed on Achilles' tomb to cause a wind back to Greece
Demnosia			✓
Demosthea			✓
Ethionome			✓
Henicea			✓
			✓		✓	Hecuba	Eldest daughter
Lysianassa			✓
Nereis			✓
Phegea			✓
Philomela			✓
Aristomache				✓			Was married to Critolaus, son of Hicetaon

Pausanias enlists several more Trojan captive women, who may or may not be daughters of Priam: Clymene, Xenodice, Deinome, Metioche, Peisis, Cleodice. He remarks, however, that of these only Clymene and Deinome were mentioned in literary sources known to him, and that the rest of the names could have been invented by Polygnotus.

Footnotes

• Aeneas – who later led the survivors of Troy – was not a son of Priam, but his father Anchises was Priam's second cousin, making Aeneas Priam's second cousin once removed. Aeneas did, however, marry Priam's daughter Creusa, making him a son-in-law of Priam. Ascanius, the son of Aeneas and Creusa, was himself the ancestor of Romulus and Remus.
• According to Homer:
  • Lycaon is the son of Laothoe.
  • Gorgythion is the son of Castianeira.
• According to Apollodorus:
  • Aesacus's mother is Arisbe, daughter of Merops.
  • Hecuba, daughter of Dymas is the mother of Hector, Paris, Deiphobus, Helenus, Pammon, Polites, Antiphus, Hipponous, Polydorus, Troilus (Troilus may be the son of Apollo), Laodice, Polyxena, Cassandra and Creusa.
• In Mozart's opera, Idomeneo, Ilia is mentioned as another daughter of Priam.

Notes

1. [Bibliotheca (Pseudo-Apollodorus)|Apollodorus]
2. [Dictys Cretensis]
3. [Photios I of Constantinople|Photius]
4. [Gaius Julius Hyginus|Hyginus]

References

• Apollodorus, The Library with an English Translation by Sir James George Frazer, F.B.A., F.R.S. in 2 Volumes, Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1921. ISBN 0-674-99135-4. Online version at the Perseus Digital Library. Greek text available from the same website.
• Gaius Julius Hyginus, Fabulae from The Myths of Hyginus translated and edited by Mary Grant. University of Kansas Publications in Humanistic Studies. Online version at the Topos Text Project.
• Homer, The Iliad with an English Translation by A.T. Murray, Ph.D. in two volumes. Cambridge, MA., Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann, Ltd. 1924. . Online version at the Perseus Digital Library.
• Homer, Homeri Opera in five volumes. Oxford, Oxford University Press. 1920. . Greek text available at the Perseus Digital Library.
• Pausanias, Description of Greece with an English Translation by W.H.S. Jones, Litt.D., and H.A. Ormerod, M.A., in 4 Volumes. Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1918. . Online version at the Perseus Digital Library
• Pausanias, Graeciae Descriptio. 3 vols. Leipzig, Teubner. 1903. Greek text available at the Perseus Digital Library.
• Publius Vergilius Maro, Aeneid. Theodore C. Williams. trans. Boston. Houghton Mifflin Co. 1910. Online version at the Perseus Digital Library.
• Publius Vergilius Maro, Bucolics, Aeneid, and Georgics. J. B. Greenough. Boston. Ginn & Co. 1900. Latin text available at the Perseus Digital Library.