Polyxena in the ancient sources

Ancient Sources / Figures / Polyxena

17 passages from 3 ancient authors that tell of Polyxena, in the original with English translation, author by author in the order the Greeks read them. Polyxena was a princess of Troy in Greek mythology, daughter of King Priam and Queen Hecuba. She was the Trojan equivalent of Iphigenia, daughter of A... For the story in one place, read our article on Polyxena.

Euripides (14)

Euripides, Hecuba 389–443First episode: Polyxena's farewell to HecubaOdysseus says that it is not Hecuba but Polyxena whom the ghost of Achilles demands, and Hecuba says that she will not let her daughter go, and clings to her. Polyxena begs her not to fight with their masters, and bids her mother farewell, asking to be veiled; Odysseus takes her away, and Hecuba falls to the ground, blaming Helen.
Euripides, Hecuba 154–217First episode: Hecuba tells Polyxena that she is to dieHecuba laments the sorrows of her old age and calls her daughter Polyxena out of the tent. Polyxena asks why her mother is crying so loudly, and Hecuba tells her that the Greeks have decided on her death. Polyxena says that, for all that, she would rather die than live as a slave, and the Chorus sees Odysseus coming.
Euripides, Hecuba 334–388First episode: Polyxena chooses death over slaveryHecuba urges Polyxena to plead with Odysseus. Polyxena sees that he hides his hand beneath his robe so that she may not touch his beard, and tells him that he need not fear: she will follow him willingly, since life without honour is not to be desired. The Chorus praises noble birth, and Hecuba asks to die in her daughter's place.
Euripides, Hecuba 1–58Prologue: the ghost of Polydorus announces Hecuba's sorrowsThe ghost of Polydorus, a son of Hecuba, says that he has come from the house of the dead. His father Priam, fearing the fall of Troy, sent him with gold to Polymestor, king of the Thracian Chersonese, who killed him for the gold when Troy fell and threw his body into the sea. He tells that the Greeks are held at the Chersonese by the ghost of Achilles, who demands the sacrifice of Polyxena, and that his mother will see two corpses on this day.
Euripides, Hecuba 59–153Parodos: Hecuba's dream and the Greek decision to sacrifice PolyxenaHecuba, an old slave, is helped out of the tent by her women, and tells of a terrible dream of a fawn torn from her knees by a wolf and of the ghost of Achilles on his tomb, and prays that her daughter and her son may be spared. The Chorus of captive Trojan women comes in to tell her that the Greeks have decided in assembly to sacrifice Polyxena on the grave of Achilles.
Euripides, Hecuba 218–250First episode: Odysseus announces the sacrifice of PolyxenaOdysseus says that the army has voted to sacrifice Polyxena on the tomb of Achilles, and that the lot has made him messenger. He tells Hecuba to yield, since it is wise even in misfortune to give way. Hecuba reminds him that he once came to Troy as a spy and was spared by her, and asks whether she is to be thanked in this way.
Euripides, Hecuba 518–582Second episode: Talthybius describes the death of PolyxenaTalthybius tells how the whole army gathered at the tomb of Achilles, and how Neoptolemus took Polyxena by the hand and stood her on the mound. She bared her breast, saying that she would die willingly and asking that she should die free, and the Achaeans, moved by her courage, honoured her in death with leaves and gifts.
Euripides, Hecuba 629–677Second choral song; a maid brings a corpseThe Chorus sings of the day that Paris cut his pine beams on Ida to sail for Helen, and of the grief of the Trojan women taken as slaves. A maid-servant of Hecuba comes with a covered corpse, and tells her that her sorrows are not yet at an end.
Euripides, Trojan Women 1–47Prologue: Poseidon bids farewell to ruined TroyPoseidon, who with Phoebus built the walls of Troy, says that he has come from the Aegean to a city that lies in ruins, with its temples forsaken and Priam dead at the altar, while the Greeks carry off the spoils. He tells how the captive women are being allotted, some to Arcadia, some to Thessaly, some to the sons of Theseus, while the rest wait in the tents, and says that he bids farewell to the city, which would still stand if Pallas had not decreed its ruin. He sees Hecuba lying at the gate, and learns that Polyxena has died and that Cassandra has been taken by Agamemnon.
Euripides, Trojan Women 230–293First episode: Talthybius announces the allotment of the captivesTalthybius, the Greek herald, tells Hecuba that he has been sent with a message, and she asks to whom each of them has been given. He answers that Cassandra has been chosen for Agamemnon, Polyxena has been told to serve at Achilles' tomb, Andromache has been given to Achilles' son, and Hecuba to Odysseus, and Hecuba cries out against her fate.
Euripides, Trojan Women 603–633Second episode: Hecuba and Andromache on death and hopeHecuba cries out for her children and her city, saying that the dead alone forget their griefs, and the Chorus says that to sufferers it is a sweet relief to weep. Andromache says that Polyxena is happier than the living, since she is spared the knowledge of her woes, and Hecuba answers that death and life are not the same, since the one is annihilation and the other has hope.
Euripides, Hecuba 251–295First episode: Hecuba pleads with Odysseus for her daughterHecuba reminds Odysseus that it was she who saved his life in Troy, and that Polyxena's death would be a shameful return for it. She asks what justice it is to ask for a victim in honour of Achilles, and why he does not ask for Helen, who is the real cause of his death, and she begs him to spare the girl.
Euripides, Hecuba 444–517First choral song; Talthybius finds Hecuba lying on the groundThe Chorus sings of where it will be taken as a slave, to Doris or to Phthia, to Delos or to Athens, and mourns for its children and its country. Talthybius, the Greek herald, comes and finds Hecuba lying on the ground, and tells her that he has come to fetch her to bury her daughter's corpse. Hecuba asks him to tell her how Polyxena died.
Euripides, Hecuba 583–628Hecuba mourns Polyxena and the Chorus answersThe Chorus says that some fearful curse has burst upon the race of Priam and their city, sent by god, and Hecuba says that she does not know where to turn her gaze, since each of her sorrows is joined to another. She tells herself that there is nothing certain in what is said and done among mortals, and that the happiest is the one to whom no misfortune comes.

Ovid (2)

Ovid, Metamorphoses 13.439–480PolyxenaThe Greeks, held at Thrace by contrary winds, are visited by the ghost of Achilles, who demands the sacrifice of Polyxena, the daughter of Priam, at his tomb. Polyxena goes to the altar bravely, and asks only that her body be given to her mother. She dies with her modesty to the last, and the Greeks watch her fall.
Ovid, Metamorphoses 13.481–575Hecuba and PolymestorThe Trojan women take up Polyxena's body and weep for all the sons of Priam, and Hecuba, who has lost nearly all her children, finds on the shore the body of her son Polydorus. She pretends to Polymestor that she has more treasure to give him, and draws him and his sons aside. With the help of the Trojan women she blinds him and kills his sons, and when she is stoned by the Thracians she turns into a dog, and her barking fills the land. Her fate moves even Hera (Juno).

Pausanias (1)

Pausanias, Description of Greece 10.25.1–11Delphi: the Cnidian Lesche and Polygnotus' painting of Troy after its capture (1)Pausanias describes the building dedicated by the Cnidians at Delphi, called the Lesche or Club-room, with its paintings by Polygnotus. On the right wall the painting shows Troy after its capture and the Greeks setting sail, with Menelaus' crew and the pilot Phrontis, then Helen and her handmaids, Helenus, the wounded Meges and Lycomedes, Aethra and Demophon, and the captive Trojan women, Andromache, Medisicaste and Polyxena, with Nestor.