Editing Hecuba (section)

== Myths ==

=== Hecuba in the ''Iliad'' ===

[[Image:Hector brought back to Troy.jpg|thumb|The death of Hector on a Roman sarcophagus, c. 200 AD]]

Hecuba appears six times in the ''Iliad''. In Book 6.326–96, she meets Hector upon his return to the city and offers him the libation cup, instructing him to offer it to Zeus and to drink from it himself. Taking Hector's advice, she chooses a gown taken from Alexander's treasure to give as an offering to the goddess and leads the Trojan women to the temple of [[Athena]] to pray for help. In Book 22, she pleads with Hector not to fight [[Achilles]], expressing her premonition of "never get[ting] to mourn you laid out on a bier."<ref>Homer, ''The Iliad.'' Book 22, line 86</ref> In Book 24.201–16, she is stricken with anxiety upon hearing of Priam's plan to retrieve Hector's body from Achilles' hut. Further along in the same episode, at 24.287–98, she offers Priam the libation cup and instructs him to pray to Zeus so that he may receive a favourable omen upon setting out towards the Achaean camp.  Unlike in the first episode in which Hector refuses her offer of the cup, Priam accepts and is rewarded with the requested omen. Finally, she laments Hector's death in a well-known speech at 24.748–59.
[[File:Hecuba and Polyxena LACMA 73.3.jpg|thumb|''Hecuba and Polyxena'' by Merry-Joseph Blondel ]]

=== Hecuba in other classical works ===
[[Stesichorus]] states that after the sack of Troy, Apollo, Hecuba's former lover, took her to safety and placed her in Lycia.<ref>Stesichorus, Fr.109</ref><ref>Cecil Maurice Bowra, ''Greek Lyric Poetry from Alcman to Simonides, Volume 1''</ref>
 
The ''[[Bibliotheca (Pseudo-Apollodorus)|Bibliotheca]]'' (''Library'') of Pseudo-Apollodorus states that Hecuba had a son named [[Troilus]] with the god [[Apollo (god)|Apollo]]. An [[oracle]] prophesied that Troy would not be defeated if Troilus reached the age of 20 alive.  Troilus is killed by Achilles.

Hecuba is a main character in two plays by [[Euripides]]: ''[[The Trojan Women]]'' and ''[[Hecuba (play)|Hecuba]]''. ''The Trojan Women'' describes the aftermath of the fall of Troy, including Hecuba's enslavement by [[Odysseus]]. ''Hecuba'' also takes place just after the fall of Troy. [[Polydorus (son of Priam)|Polydorus]], the youngest son of Priam and Hecuba, is sent to King [[Polymestor]] for safekeeping, but when Troy falls, Polymestor murders Polydorus. Hecuba learns of this, and when Polymestor comes to the fallen city, Hecuba, by trickery, blinds him and kills his two sons.<ref>[http://public.wsu.edu/~hughesc/hecuba.htm "Hecuba", Washington State University]</ref>

Another story says that when she was given to [[Odysseus]] as a slave, she snarled and cursed at him, so the gods turned her into a dog, allowing her to escape.  Hecuba, as a dog, is later [[Hecate#Sacred animals|taken-in]] by [[Hecate]] as one of her [[Familiar]]s.  

In another tradition, Hecuba went mad upon seeing the corpses of her children Polydorus and [[Polyxena]]. [[Dante]] described this episode, which he derived from [[Italy|Italian]] sources:
{{col-begin}}
{{col-2}}''
:   ''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...''
{{col-2}}
:   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...
{{col-end}}

:—''Inferno'' XXX: 13–20

Another legend has it that Hecuba threw herself into the sea<ref>Hyginus, ''Fabulae'' 243</ref> and was transformed into "a she-dog with fiery eyes" and that she was buried in a "wretched" place called [[Kynosema]] ('dog's grave'), a "landmark for sailors".<ref>''Trojan Women: Euripides''. Greek Tragedy in New Translations. Translated by Alan Shapiro with Introduction and Noted by Alan Burian. Oxford University Press. 2009. p. 87. {{ISBN|978-0-19-537493-3}}</ref><ref>Koniaris, George Leonidas. "Alexander, Palamedes, Troades, Sisyphus - A Connected Tetralogy? A Connected Trilogy?". In: ''Harvard Studies in Classical Philology''. Volume 78. Harvard University Press. 1973. pp. 120-121.</ref> The Kynosema is said to be a promontory located in modern day [[Kilidülbahir]].<ref>{{Citation |last=MacKie |first=C.J. |title=Boundary and divide: The antiquity of the Dardanelles |date=2016-01-05 |url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/CBO9781316278291A017/type/book_part |work=Anzac Battlefield |pages=4–23 |editor-last=Sagona |editor-first=Antonio |edition=1 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |doi=10.1017/cbo9781316278291.004 |isbn=978-1-316-27829-1 |access-date=2022-10-17 |last2=Atabay |first2=Mithat |last3=Körpe |first3=Reyhan |last4=Sagona |first4=Antonio |editor2-last=Atabay |editor2-first=Mithat |editor3-last=Mackie |editor3-first=Christopher |editor4-last=McGibbon |editor4-first=Ian}}</ref> According to [[Lycophron]], she was rescued by the goddess [[Hecate]] and became one of her canine familiars.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.theoi.com/Text/LycophronAlexandra.html |title=Lycophron, Alexandra |website=Theoi |department=Classical texts library }}</ref>