Antenor in the ancient sources

Ancient Sources / Figures / Antenor

11 passages from 4 ancient authors that tell of Antenor, in the original with English translation, author by author in the order the Greeks read them. Antenor was the counsellor of King Priam of Troy in Greek mythology. He was the son of the noble Aesyetes and Cleomestra. He became one of the most va... For the story in one place, read our article on Antenor.

Homer (6)

Homer, Iliad 3.111–244Helen on the wall of TroyIris, in the likeness of Laodice, calls Helen to the wall, where she goes with two handmaids and joins Priam and the old men at the Scaean gates. Priam asks her to name the Achaean leaders, and Helen points out Agamemnon, Odysseus and Ajax, and looks in vain for her brothers. Antenor recalls the time when Odysseus and Menelaus came to Troy as envoys.
Homer, Iliad 7.313–432Antenor urges Helen's return; the burial truceAt the Achaean feast Nestor proposes that they burn their dead and build a wall and ditch to protect the ships. At Troy, Antenor urges the Trojans to give back Helen, but Paris will give up only the treasure. Priam sends the herald Idaeus to offer that and to ask for a truce, and the Achaeans refuse Helen's return but agree to the truce, and both sides gather their dead.
Homer, Iliad 11.163–283Iris to Hector; Agamemnon is woundedZeus sends Iris to tell Hector to hold back until Agamemnon has been wounded and left the field, and then he will have power to kill until sunset. Agamemnon kills Iphidamas, and Iphidamas' brother Coon wounds him in the arm. Agamemnon kills Coon and fights on until the blood dries, and then pain seizes him like a woman in labour and he drives to the ships.
Homer, Iliad 3.245–382The oaths and the duel of Menelaus and ParisHeralds bring lambs and wine for the oaths, and Priam drives down to swear with Agamemnon, who prays to Zeus that the brains of whoever breaks the oath be poured out like the wine. Priam returns to Ilios, and the lots, cast by Hector and Odysseus, give Paris the first throw. Menelaus breaks his sword and drags Paris by the helmet strap, but Aphrodite breaks the strap and snatches Paris away in a mist.
Homer, Iliad 14.440–522The Trojans are routedWhen the Achaeans see Hector withdraw, they leap on the Trojans, and Ajax son of Oileus kills Satnius. Polydamas kills Prothoenor, Ajax son of Telamon kills Archelochus, and Acamas and Peneleos each kill a man. The Trojans flee, and the swift son of Oileus kills most of all.
Homer, Iliad 21.514–611Priam on the wall; Agenor and Apollo's trickApollo goes into Troy, and Priam, watching from the wall, orders the gates opened to take in the fugitives. Agenor, urged on by his own heart, decides to stand and face Achilles, thinking that he too is mortal and can be killed. Apollo draws Achilles away from the city by taking Agenor's shape and running before him, and the Trojans pour into Troy.

Pausanias (2)

Pausanias, Description of Greece 10.27.1–4Delphi: Polygnotus' painting of Troy after its capture (3): the dead and the house of AntenorPausanias lists the dead bodies in the Polygnotus painting of Troy, including Pelis, Eioneus, Admetus, Leocritus, Coroebus, Priam, Axion, Agenor and Laomedon, with the different poets' accounts of how each died. He then describes the house of Antenor, marked by a leopard's skin so the Greeks would spare it, with Theano and her children, and quotes Simonides' couplet naming Polygnotus of Thasos as the painter.
Pausanias, Description of Greece 10.26.1–9Delphi: Polygnotus' painting of Troy after its capture (2): captive women, Epeus, Ajax and NeoptolemusPausanias continues the Polygnotus painting of Troy with the captive women Clymene, Creusa, Aristomache and Xenodice, and Epeus razing the wall with the Wooden Horse. He describes Ajax son of Oileus swearing an oath beside Cassandra and the image of Athena, the sons of Atreus, and Neoptolemus slaying Elasus and Astynous. He explains the bronze corselets of old, then Laodice, Medusa and a woman with a child.

Quintus Smyrnaeus (2)

Quintus Smyrnaeus, The Fall of Troy (Posthomerica) 13.168–296The deaths of Priam and AstyanaxDiomedes kills Coroebus, who had hoped to marry Cassandra, and the aged Ilioneus, who begs for mercy in vain. Neoptolemus kills Pammon, Polites, Antiphonus and Agenor, and then beheads Priam at the altar of Zeus after Priam asks to die. The Argives throw Astyanax from a tower and drag Andromache into slavery, and only the house of Antenor is spared.
Quintus Smyrnaeus, The Fall of Troy (Posthomerica) 9.1–74Neoptolemus at Achilles' tombIn the morning Troy stands unharmed. Antenor prays to Zeus either to turn Achilles' son from the city or to end the war, and Zeus hastens the end but does not turn Neoptolemus back. After a truce for burying the dead, Neoptolemus visits his father's tomb and weeps, and then goes to the ships.

Bacchylides (1)

Bacchylides, Dithyrambs 15.1–16.35Dithyrambs 15–16: the sons of Antenor; Heracles and DeianeiraTheano, priestess of Athena, opens the temple doors to the Greek envoys Odysseus and Menelaus, and the sons of Antenor lead them to the Trojan assembly, where Menelaus speaks of Insolence and Justice. In the next song the poet prays to Apollo, and sings how Heracles, after burning Oechalia, sacrifices at the cape of Cenaean Zeus. A god then weaves a cruel device for Deianeira when she learns that Iole is to come to the house as a bride, and she takes the fatal gift of Nessus.