- Priam
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/pruy"euhm/, n. Class. Myth.1. a king of Troy, the son of Laomedon, husband of Hecuba, and father of Paris, Cassandra, Hector, Polyxena, and many others. He was killed during the capture of Troy.2. the grandson of King Priam.Also, Priamus /pruy"euh meuhs/.
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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.* * *
in Greek mythology, the last king of Troy. He succeeded his father, Laomedon, as king and extended Trojan control over the Hellespont. He married first Arisbe (a daughter of Merops the seer) and then Hecuba, and he had other wives and concubines. He had 50 sons, according to Homer's Iliad, and many daughters. Hecuba bore 19 of the sons, including Priam's favourites, Hector and Paris.Homer described Priam at the time of the Trojan War as an old man, powerless but kindly, not even blaming Helen, the wife of Paris, for all his personal losses resulting from the war. In the final year of the conflict, Priam saw 13 sons die: the Greek warrior Achilles killed Polydorus, Lycaon, and Hector within one day. The death of Hector, which signified the end of Troy's hopes, also broke the spirit of the king. Priam's paternal love impelled him to brave the savage anger of Achilles and to ransom the corpse of Hector; Achilles, respecting the old man's feelings and foreseeing his own father's sorrows, returned the corpse. When Troy fell, Neoptolemus, the son of Achilles, butchered the old king on an altar. Both Priam's death and his ransoming of Hector were favourite themes of ancient art.* * *
Universalium. 2010.
