Hermione in the ancient sources

Ancient Sources / Figures / Hermione

27 passages from 4 ancient authors that tell of Hermione, in the original with English translation, author by author in the order the Greeks read them. Hermione was the only child of King Menelaus of Sparta and Helen of Troy, in Greek mythology. Her grandfather Tyndareus gave her hand in marriage to O... For the story in one place, read our article on Hermione.

Hesiod (1)

Hesiod, Fragments 1.68The suitors of HelenThe best-preserved passage of the Catalogue lists the heroes who came to woo Helen, each with his gifts, from Philoctetes and the sons of Amphiaraus to Odysseus, Menestheus, Aias and Idomeneus. Tyndareus sends none away and receives no gift, and the passage ends with the birth of Hermione.

Apollodorus (1)

Apollodorus, The Library (Bibliotheca), with the Epitome 3.11.1–2Castor and Pollux (the Dioscuri) and the children of MenelausMenelaus has Hermione by Helen and sons by other women. Castor and Pollux, the Dioscuri, carry off the daughters of Leucippus, and a quarrel over a cattle raid with Idas and Lynceus ends with Castor killed, Lynceus and Idas dead, and Pollux taken up by Zeus. Pollux refuses immortality without his brother, so they share their time between gods and mortals, and Menelaus inherits the kingdom of Sparta.

Euripides (23)

Euripides, Andromache 232–273First episode: Hermione threatens Andromache at the altarThe Chorus asks Hermione to come to terms with Andromache, but Hermione answers that she must die. Andromache says that she will leave the shrine only if she will not be killed, and Hermione threatens to drive her out with fire and wounds. She says that she has a plan to make Andromache rise before Neoptolemus returns, and Andromache says that no one has found a cure for a woman's venom.
Euripides, Andromache 879–919Fourth episode: Orestes arrives and Hermione begs for his helpA stranger arrives, who says that he is Orestes, the son of Agamemnon, on his way to the oracle of Zeus at Dodona, and that he has come to Phthia to see Hermione. Hermione, who knows him as her kinsman, throws herself at his knees and begs for his help, saying that she fears her husband, and that she has done wrong.
Euripides, Orestes 1313–1352Seventh episode: Hermione is lured into the trapHermione returns from the tomb of Clytemnestra, and Electra tells her that Orestes and she are condemned, and begs her to join her plea to Helen. As Hermione goes in, Orestes and his friends seize her. Electra tells them to hold a sword at her throat in silence, so that Menelaus will learn that he has found men, not Phrygian cowards.
Euripides, Andromache 802–840Fourth episode: the Nurse reports Hermione's despairA Nurse tells the Chorus that her mistress Hermione, deserted by her father and in terror of her husband, is trying to kill herself. Hermione rushes out in despair, tearing her hair, and calls for the sword and the rope that the servants have taken from her.
Euripides, Andromache 841–878Fourth episode: Hermione's remorseHermione tells the Nurse to let her die, saying that she is like a ship left without an oar, and that she fears her husband will kill her for the plot against Andromache. The Nurse tells her that she is exaggerating her terror, and that her husband will forgive her, but Hermione says that she cannot face him.
Euripides, Andromache 91–146cParodos: Andromache's lament and the Chorus' adviceAndromache sings a lament in which she tells of Paris and the cause of the Trojan war, of the fall of Troy, and of her own slavery, and says that she clings to the altar of Thetis. The Chorus of women of Phthia comes and tells her that she should leave the shrine and give way to the stronger, but says that it dares not show its sympathy for fear of Hermione.
Euripides, Andromache 183–231First episode: Andromache defends herself against HermioneAndromache answers that Hermione is young and has spoken in anger, and that she has no wish to take her place or to rear a race of slaves in Phthia. She says that it is Hermione's own failure to be a good wife, and not any sorcery, that has estranged her husband, and that a woman must be content with her husband even if he has many wives. She tells Hermione not to copy her mother Helen.
Euripides, Andromache 957–1008Fourth episode: Orestes takes Hermione and plots Neoptolemus' deathOrestes says that he waited to see how the quarrel with Hector's wife would end, and that he came to take Hermione away, since her father had betrothed her to him before the war and then promised her to Achilles' son. Hermione begs him to take her at once, and Orestes tells her not to fear her husband, since he has woven a net for his death, of which Delphi's rock will bear witness.
Euripides, Orestes 71–135Prologue: Helen asks Electra to take offerings to Clytemnestra's tombHelen, newly arrived from Troy, asks Electra how she and her brother fare. She asks Electra to take offerings to Clytemnestra's tomb, but Electra refuses, and Helen sends her daughter Hermione instead. Electra says to the Chorus that Helen has not changed, and has been the ruin of her family.
Euripides, Orestes 1131–1203Sixth episode: the case for killing Helen; Electra proposes seizing HermionePylades says that if they kill Helen, all of Hellas will shout for joy, and that they must either win honor or die. Orestes praises his friend and says that he will not die like a slave. Electra proposes that they seize Hermione and hold her life against Menelaus' for their own.
Euripides, Orestes 1621–1693Exodos: Apollo appears and settles the quarrelMenelaus calls on the Argives to take arms, and Apollo appears and tells him to calm his anger, since he saved Helen by the bidding of Zeus and she is to become a goddess. He orders Orestes to spend a year in exile and then to be tried at Athens, and to marry Hermione. Pylades is to marry Electra, and the quarrel ends in a truce.
Euripides, Andromache 1–55Prologue: Andromache tells of her slavery at the shrine of ThetisAndromache, who has come from Thebes as the wife of Hector, recalls the fall of Troy and the death of her husband and tells how she became the slave of Neoptolemus and bore him a son. She says that his wife Hermione, who is childless, accuses her of using drugs and charms to make her barren, and that she has taken refuge at the shrine of Thetis while Neoptolemus is away at Delphi.

11 more passages of Euripides that name Hermione

Pausanias (2)

Pausanias, Description of Greece 1.33.1–8Attica: Brauron, Rhamnus and Phidias’ statue of NemesisAt Brauron Iphigenia is said to have left the image of Artemis. At Rhamnus stands the sanctuary of Nemesis, with Phidias’ statue made from the marble the Persians brought to set up as a trophy. Pausanias digresses on the Ethiopians shown on her bowl and on Ocean, Atlas and the sources of the Nile, notes that Nemesis was originally wingless, and explains the figures on the pedestal, where Leda brings Helen to Nemesis.
Pausanias, Description of Greece 10.16.1–8Delphi: the stand of Alyattes' bowl, the Navel and the offerings of the Elyrians and LiparaeansPausanias describes the iron stand of Alyattes' bowl by Glaucus of Chios, the first welder of iron, and the Navel of white marble, said to mark the centre of the earth. He lists the Spartan statue of Hermione, the Aetolian statue of Eurydamus, the bronze goat of the Elyrians of Crete, the Carystian ox and the Liparaean images of Apollo, one for each Tyrrhenian ship captured.