Priam in the ancient sources

Ancient Sources / Figures / Priam

116 passages from 10 ancient authors that tell of Priam, in the original with English translation, author by author in the order the Greeks read them. Priam was the king of Troy in Greek mythology, at the time the Greeks launched an attack against the city, known as the Trojan War. His father was the... For the story in one place, read our article on Priam.

Homer (51)

Homer, Iliad 24.618–676Priam and Achilles share a mealPriam and Achilles eat, and each marvels at the other, Priam at Achilles' height and beauty and Achilles at Priam's words. Priam asks for sleep and for time to bury Hector, and Achilles has beds made on the porch and agrees to hold back the war until the funeral is over. Priam and the herald lie down on the porch, while Achilles sleeps inside with Briseis.
Homer, Iliad 24.159–321Iris to Priam; the ransom is packedIris goes to Priam, who sits covered in dung among his sons, and tells him to take gifts to Achilles with only a herald, since Hermes will guide him. Hecuba cries out in fear, but Priam will go, even if he must die in Achilles' arms. He drives out the men who crowd round to mourn him, has a wagon loaded with the ransom, and, at Hecuba's urging, prays to Zeus, who sends an eagle on the right as a sign.
Homer, Iliad 4.1–72The gods in council on OlympusOn Olympus the gods sit in council while Zeus provokes Hera by remarking that Menelaus has two goddesses to help him, Hera and Athena, who merely look on, while Aphrodite keeps his rival safe. Hera answers angrily that her labour against Priam must not be in vain, and Zeus tells her to do as she pleases, asking only that she not hinder him when he destroys a city dear to her. Hera names Argos, Sparta and Mycenae, and Zeus sends Athena down to make the Trojans break the truce.
Homer, Iliad 24.322–467Priam's night journey; Hermes appearsPriam and the herald Idaeus drive out of the city, and in the dusk, as they water the mules at the tomb of Ilus, Hermes meets them in the shape of a young Myrmidon. Hermes takes the reins, gets them past the guards, and tells Priam who he is and where Achilles lies. He tells Priam to go in and clasp the knees of Achilles and entreat him by his father, his mother and his child.
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 6.237–368Hector in Troy: Hecuba, Athena's temple, Paris and HelenHector reaches the Scaean gates, where the Trojan women ask for their sons and husbands, and goes on to Priam's house, where Hecuba offers him wine. He tells her to gather the older women and lay the finest robe on the knees of Athena, and Theano the priestess prays for Diomedes' fall, but Athena denies the prayer. Hector then goes to Paris, rebukes him, and refuses Helen's offer to sit, since he wants to see his own household.
Homer, Iliad 2.786–877The Trojan CatalogueIris, in the likeness of Polites, warns Priam's people that the Achaeans are advancing, and Hector breaks up the assembly and arms the Trojans. The poet lists the Trojan forces under Hector, Aeneas and Pandarus, and then the allies from Thrace, Paphlagonia, Phrygia, Maeonia, Caria and Lycia, the last led by Sarpedon and Glaucus.
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 24.468–551Priam ransoms Hector's body: the supplicationPriam goes in unseen, clasps Achilles' knees and kisses his hands, and begs him to remember his own father, Peleus. Achilles, moved, weeps with him, and the two mourn together for Hector and for Patroclus. Achilles speaks of the two jars of Zeus, one of good and one of evil, and tells Priam that he must endure.
Homer, Iliad 24.552–617Priam ransoms Hector's body: Achilles gives up HectorPriam asks to be taken to a seat while Hector lies unburied, and Achilles angrily refuses, and the old man gives way. Achilles has the body washed and anointed and placed on a bier, and lays a cloak and tunic over it, and prays to Patroclus not to be angry that he has given up the body. He then bids Priam sit to supper, and tells the tale of Niobe, who ate though her twelve children lay dead.
Homer, Iliad 24.677–804Hermes wakes Priam; Hector's funeralIn the night Hermes wakes Priam and warns him to leave before the Achaeans find him, and guides the wagon back across the river. Cassandra, from the citadel, is first to see them and cries to the city to come out and see Hector. The body is laid on a bed in the hall and Andromache, Hecuba and Helen each take up the lament. After nine days of gathering wood Hector is burned, the bones are put in a golden chest and a mound is raised, and the poem ends with a feast in Priam's house.
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.

39 more passages of Homer that name Priam

Apollodorus (4)

Apollodorus, The Library (Bibliotheca), with the Epitome 3.12.1–7Dardanus, Priam and the royal house of TroyElectra's son Dardanus founds the line of the Trojan kings through Erichthonius and Tros, to Ganymede, Anchises and Ilus. Ilus founds Ilium on the spot where the cow lies down and receives the Palladium, and Laomedon and Priam follow him, with Tithonus and Memnon among Laomedon's line. The section lists Priam's children, including Hecuba's dream before Paris's birth, Cassandra's gift, and Paris and Oenone, and ends with the sons of Aeacus, Peleus and Telamon, the murder of Phocus and the birth of Ajax and Teucer.
Apollodorus, The Library (Bibliotheca), with the Epitome E.5.1–23The death of Achilles, the Wooden Horse and the fall of TroyPenthesilea and then Memnon come to Troy's aid and are killed by Achilles, who is himself shot by Paris and Apollo. The contest for Achilles' arms drives Ajax to madness and suicide. Troy falls after Philoctetes shoots Paris, Helenus reveals the three conditions, Neoptolemus joins the army and Odysseus steals the Palladium, and the Greeks take the city with the Wooden Horse, Sinon and the beacon at Tenedos; the section closes with the sack, the deaths of Astyanax and Polyxena, and the division of the captives.
Apollodorus, The Library (Bibliotheca), with the Epitome 2.6.1–4Heracles, Iphitus and OmphaleAfter the labours Heracles wins the archery contest for Iole but is refused, and later, in a fresh fit of madness, throws Iphitus from the walls of Tiryns. Struck with disease, he tries to carry off the Delphic tripod, and is told to be sold into slavery for three years; he serves Omphale of Lydia, binds the Cercopes and kills Syleus. Afterwards he sails against Troy, sacks it and kills Laomedon, and Telamon gets Hesione, whose brother Podarces is ransomed and renamed Priam.
Apollodorus, The Library (Bibliotheca), with the Epitome E.4.1–7The Iliad in brief: Achilles' anger, Patroclus and HectorThe Epitome gives a short account of the events of the Iliad: Achilles withdraws from the fighting because of the quarrel over Briseis, Paris and Menelaus fight a single combat, and Hector drives the Greeks back to the ships. Patroclus, wearing Achilles' armour, is killed by Hector. Achilles takes up Hephaestus's new armour, kills Hector and drags his body, holds games for Patroclus, and Priam ransoms Hector's body.

Aeschylus (4)

Aeschylus, Agamemnon 40–175Parodos (1): the army sails and the omen of the eaglesThe Chorus of old men of Argos recall that it is now the tenth year since Menelaus and Agamemnon sailed against Troy, and say that they are too old to fight and wait at home. They ask Clytaemestra why sacrifices are burning on every altar, then tell of the omen seen as the army set out, two eagles devouring a pregnant hare. They tell how the seer Calchas read it as the capture of Troy and warned that Artemis was angry, and they pray that she will not hold back the fleet with contrary winds.
Aeschylus, Agamemnon 264–354First episode: Clytaemestra announces the fall of TroyClytaemestra comes from the palace and tells the Chorus that the Argives have taken Priam's city. When the elders cannot believe it, she describes the chain of beacon fires that carried the message from Mount Ida by way of Lemnos and Athos to the roof of the palace. She then describes the capture of the city as she imagines it, and the Chorus accept her proof and turn to thanksgiving.
Aeschylus, Agamemnon 681–809Second stasimon: Helen, the lion cub and HubrisThe Chorus ask what spirit gave Helen her name, which they take to mean ruin of ships, men and cities. They tell of a man who brought up a lion cub in his house, which was gentle at first but later showed its nature, and compare it to Helen. They say that it is not wealth but the impious act that brings ruin, and that Justice honours the poor man's house; in the last lines the Chorus leader begins to greet the returning king.
Aeschylus, Libation Bearers 931–972Third stasimon: Justice has come to the houseThe Chorus sing that Justice has come at last to the house of Priam and to the house of Agamemnon, and that the exile who was urged on by the gods has finished his work. They sing that the light has come, and that the house is free from the long curse and the work of its enemies.

Euripides (15)

Euripides, Hecuba 1132–1182Exodos: Polymestor accuses Hecuba and the Trojan womenPolymestor says that Hecuba, helped by the captive women, has blinded him, and tells his story: Priam sent him his youngest son, Polydorus, to bring up, and he killed him for fear that the boy would one day repeople Troy and bring the Greeks back to harry Thrace. He says that Hecuba lured him into the tent with a tale of hidden treasure, and that the women stabbed his children and seized him, and that this is his reward for slaying an enemy of Agamemnon.
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 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.
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, Andromache 274–318First choral song on Paris; Menelaus brings Andromache's sonThe Chorus sings of the judgment of Paris and of the three goddesses who came to Ida, and of the ruin that came to Troy and to Greece from it. Menelaus then arrives with the son of Andromache, whom he has caught, and tells her that she must leave the altar or her son will be killed.
Euripides, Trojan Women 98–152Hecuba's lament among the ruinsHecuba, lying on the ground, tells herself to lift her head, since Troy is no more and she is no longer queen. She says that she must bear the changes of fortune, and sings a lament, calling on the sorrows of Troy and of her own children. She remembers the ship that brought Helen and Paris and the horse that destroyed Troy, and she calls on the other Trojan women to come out.
Euripides, Trojan Women 895–965Third episode: Helen defends herselfHelen, brought out by force, asks to be heard. Hecuba asks that she not be killed for want of a hearing, and that she herself be allowed to reply, and Menelaus says that he will grant it only because of her words. Helen says that Hecuba is to blame for having borne Paris, that Priam is to blame for not killing the infant, that the goddesses' judgment brought the quarrel about, and that Aphrodite, who made Paris a husband for her, was irresistible.
Euripides, Trojan Women 1251–1286Exodos: Talthybius orders the burning of TroyThe Chorus sees torches, and Talthybius, speaking to the captains, orders them to burn the city of Priam and to sail, and tells the women that when the trumpet sounds they must go to the ships. Hecuba, crying that this is the last of her sorrows, tries to run into the flames, saying that she wants to die with her country.
Euripides, Trojan Women 1287–1332Exodos: the Trojan women are led away to the Greek shipsHecuba, crying out to Zeus, is told by Talthybius that her sorrows have driven her frantic, and that she must be led away to deliver to Odysseus. The Chorus sings that, like smoke, their city sinks to the ground, and Hecuba falls on the earth to beat it with her hands, and they go together to the Achaean ships.
Euripides, Helen 179–254Parodos: the Greek maidens answer Helen's lamentThe Chorus of captive Greek women, who were drying purple robes by the reeds, tell how they heard her cry. Helen sings of her woes, of the pine felled for Paris' ship, and of Hermes carrying her to Egypt. The Chorus Leader advises her to bear her sorrows as lightly as she can.
Euripides, Helen 1085–1164Fifth episode: Helen's prayer; the Chorus sings to the nightingaleHelen tells Menelaus to wait at the tomb while she goes in to cut her hair and put on black. She prays to Hera and to Aphrodite for deliverance. The Chorus calls on the nightingale to join its lament, and sings of the Trojan war and of the uncertainty of divine things.
Euripides, Helen 1165–1229Sixth episode: Theoclymenus returns and is told that Menelaus is deadTheoclymenus greets his father's tomb and asks why Helen has left it and put on black. Helen tells him that Menelaus is dead, and that the stranger at the tomb was a witness to it. Theoclymenus questions Menelaus about his fate and the ship, and Helen says that the phantom has vanished into the air.
Euripides, Iphigenia at Aulis 742–800Second choral song: the coming war against Troy and Helen's birthAgamemnon is left alone and says that his efforts have been baffled and that he is foiled at every point. The Chorus sings that the gathered army will sail to Simois and besiege Troy, and prays that its own children's children may never know such wars, and doubts the story that Leda bore Helen to a swan.
Euripides, Rhesus 149–183First episode: Dolon volunteers to spy and names his rewardDolon volunteers to spy on the Argive fleet, but first asks for a reward. Hector offers him marriage into the house of Priam, gold, and any spoil except the captains of the fleet, and Dolon, who says that he lacks nothing at home, asks for the horses of Achilles.
Euripides, Rhesus 856–881Exodos: Hector defends himself and blames OdysseusHector says that he has long had dealings with allies and has never been accused by them, and that this is the work of Odysseus, whom he fears, and he suspects that Dolon too has been slain. The charioteer says that he does not know this Odysseus. Hector tells his men to carry him to the palace and tend him, and sends word to Priam to bury the dead.

Diodorus Siculus (3)

Diodorus Siculus, Library of History, Books 4 to 6 (the Greek myths) 4.31.1–4.33.12Heracles: servitude, Troy, Elis and SpartaAfter his labours Heracles gives Megara to Iolaüs and asks for Iole, daughter of Eurytus; he is refused, falls ill, and is told by Apollo to be sold as a slave to pay the sons of Iphitus. He then makes war on Laomedon at Troy and gives the kingdom to Priam, fights Augeas and the Eleans, and defeats the sons of Hippocoön at Sparta, restoring Tyndareüs. The section ends with Augê's secret child.
Diodorus Siculus, Library of History, Books 4 to 6 (the Greek myths) 4.45.1–4.49.8The Argonauts II: Colchis, Medea and the golden fleeceThe historian explains the custom of the Colchi of killing strangers by the story of Aeëtes and his brother Perses, and gives the traditions about Medea and about Phrixus and the ram with the golden fleece. With Medea's help the Argonauts take the fleece; the king of the Colchi falls in the fighting, and the chiefs sail home by way of Byzantium and Troy.
Diodorus Siculus, Library of History, Books 4 to 6 (the Greek myths) 4.71.1–4.75.6Asclepius, Aeacus, Pelops and the kings of TroyThe historian gives the birth and healing art of Asclepius and the descendants of Asopus' daughters, including Aeacus and his sons Peleus and Telamon. He then tells of Oenomaüs and the chariot race by which Pelops wins Hippodameia, and of Tantalus, and ends with the first kings of Troy, from Teucrus and Dardanus down to Priam.

Ovid (5)

Ovid, Metamorphoses 13.382–438The arms awarded; the death of Ajax; the fall of TroyThe chiefs award the armour to Odysseus (Ulysses), and Ajax, in a rage that he has been robbed, kills himself with the sword that Hector had given him. From his blood a purple flower rises, marked with the letters of his name. Odysseus fetches Philoctetes from Lemnos, and Troy falls, and the Trojan women are shared among the Greeks, among them Hecuba, who is given to Odysseus. The Thracian king Polymestor, to whom Priam had sent his youngest son Polydorus with gold, kills the boy and throws his body into the sea.
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).
Ovid, Metamorphoses 11.749–795AesacusAn old man points out a diving bird to his companion and tells the story of Aesacus, son of Priam, who loved the nymph Hesperia. When she was bitten by a snake and died while fleeing from him, he threw himself from a cliff in grief, and Tethys, pitying him, changed him into a diving bird.
Ovid, Metamorphoses 12.1–63The Greeks at Aulis; the House of FamePriam mourns for Aesacus, not knowing that he lives on as a bird, while Paris, who was absent, returns with Helen and a thousand ships. The Greek fleet gathers at Aulis, where a snake devours eight sparrows and their mother and is turned to stone, and Calchas reads the omen as meaning ten years of war. The ships are held by contrary winds until Iphigenia is brought to the altar, but Artemis (Diana) puts a hind in her place and carries her away. The poet then describes the House of Fame, where all the rumours of the world are heard.
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.

Pausanias (6)

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 2.24.1–7Argos: the acropolis Larisa, Zeus with three eyes and the road to TegeaPausanias describes the acropolis Larisa and its sanctuaries of Hera, Apollo Diradiotes with his woman oracle, Athena the Sharp-sighted, and Larisian Zeus. The wooden Zeus with three eyes, once Priam’s, prompts his explanation that one Zeus rules heaven, sea and the underworld. He then follows the road to Tegea past Mount Lycone and the sanctuary of Artemis, the springs of the Erasinus on Mount Chaon, Cenchreae with its war graves, and the ruins of Hysiae.
Pausanias, Description of Greece 2.23.1–8Argos: Hollow Street, the Asclepieum and disputed Argive tombsAlong Hollow Street are a temple of Dionysus, brought from Euboea, the house of Adrastus, and shrines of Amphiaraus, Eriphyle, Asclepius and Baton. Pausanias disputes Argive claims to hold the tombs of Hyrnetho, Deianira and Helenus and the Palladium, noting that the Palladium went to Italy and Deianira died near Trachis. He also describes the underground chamber of Acrisius’ daughter, the tomb of Crotopus, and the temple of Cretan Dionysus, where Ariadne’s coffin was said to be found.
Pausanias, Description of Greece 9.18.1–6Thebes: the road to Chalcis, the tombs of Melanippus, Tydeus, Oedipus' children, Tiresias and HectorPausanias follows the road from Thebes to Chalcis by the Proetidian gate, noting the grave of Melanippus and three unwrought stones said to mark Tydeus. He describes the tombs of the children of Oedipus, where the flame and smoke of the sacrifices are said to divide, and the cenotaph of Tiresias. At Thebes he also notes the grave of Hector, whose bones were brought from Ilium by an oracle, the fountain of Oedipus and the grave of Asphodicus.
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.
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 (25)

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) 1.1–133Penthesileia comes to TroyAfter Hector's funeral the Trojans cower in Priam's city, afraid of Achilles. Penthesileia arrives from the Thermodon, longing for battle and fleeing the reproach of her own people, and the Trojans take heart. Andromache, hearing the queen's boasts, murmurs that she is no match for Achilles. At night Athena sends Penthesileia a deceitful dream.
Quintus Smyrnaeus, The Fall of Troy (Posthomerica) 2.94–182Memnon comes to TroyMemnon arrives with a host of Aethiopians and is welcomed by Priam, who pledges him in the golden cup that Hephaestus made and that passed down through the kings of Troy. Memnon goes to his rest. On Olympus Zeus tells the gods that tomorrow's battle will cost many lives and that none of them may intervene.
Quintus Smyrnaeus, The Fall of Troy (Posthomerica) 8.395–504Zeus veils TroyThe Trojans man the towers and Meriones shoots Phylodamas. The Argives are nearly through the gates when Ganymede, from Olympus, begs Zeus to save the city, and Zeus covers Troy in cloud. The Argives draw back to the ships and praise Neoptolemus.
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.
Quintus Smyrnaeus, The Fall of Troy (Posthomerica) 14.1–120The spoil of TroyThe Argives plunder Troy. Menelaus leads Helen from the burning city, and Cassandra falls to Agamemnon, Andromache to Neoptolemus and Hecuba to Odysseus. Xanthus mourns with his Nymphs, and the Argives sacrifice and feast at the ships.
Quintus Smyrnaeus, The Fall of Troy (Posthomerica) 6.116–199Eurypylus comes to TroyThe Trojans are rescued by the coming of Eurypylus, grandson of Hercules, with a host from the river Caicus. They crowd round him with delight and Paris welcomes him as a kinsman. After a feast outside the walls Priam and the Trojans beg him to fight for them, and he promises.
Quintus Smyrnaeus, The Fall of Troy (Posthomerica) 8.237–394Ares rallies the TrojansAres comes unseen to the Trojans as they flee within their gates, and they turn and fight again like hounds at a wolf. Neoptolemus kills Perimedes, Cestrus, Phalerus and many more, and the Argives press the Trojans into the city.
Quintus Smyrnaeus, The Fall of Troy (Posthomerica) 10.332–410The death of ParisAs Paris limps down Ida, Hera watches from Olympus with the Seasons. Paris dies on Ida and the Nymphs wail for him. A herdsman tells Hecuba, who laments, and the Trojan women mourn him in name only.
Quintus Smyrnaeus, The Fall of Troy (Posthomerica) 13.67–167The Argives enter TroyThe whole host reaches the walls and pours into the city. The Argives find it full of war and burning, and the streets run with blood. They break in on the Trojans at their tables, and torches show friend from foe.
Quintus Smyrnaeus, The Fall of Troy (Posthomerica) 13.415–563Troy burns; Aethra rescuedThe gods mourn Troy, all but Hera and Athena, though Athena turns away in anger as Aias son of Oileus outrages Cassandra in her temple. Fire destroys the city and Trojans die in their burning houses, and the glow is seen from Ida and Tenedos. Aethra is found by her grandsons Demophoon and Acamas, who promise to take her home to Greece. Laodice is swallowed by the earth, and the Pleiad Electra hides herself from sight.
Quintus Smyrnaeus, The Fall of Troy (Posthomerica) 14.121–227Menelaus and Helen; Achilles' ghostA harper sings the story of the war at the Argives' feast before they sleep. Helen asks Menelaus to forgive her, he tells her to forget the past, and the two are reconciled. Achilles' ghost appears to Neoptolemus in a dream, advising him to be kind and honourable, and demands that Polyxeina be sacrificed at his tomb or he will raise storms against the fleet.

13 more passages of Quintus Smyrnaeus that name Priam

Epic Cycle (1)

Epic Cycle, Summaries and Fragments 7.1–26Little IliadProclus' summary of the Little Iliad begins with the judging of the arms of Achilles, which Odysseus wins, and the madness and death of Aias. Philoctetes is brought from Lemnos, Eurypylus is killed by Neoptolemus and Epeius builds the wooden horse. The fragments give the girls' quarrel over Aias and Odysseus, Achilles at Scyros, the golden vine given to Laomedon for Ganymedes, and the death of Astyanax.

Lycophron (2)

Lycophron, Alexandra 1–114Alexandra 1–114: The slave's report; Troy burnt before, and the judge of three goddesses sails to seize a wifeA slave appointed to watch Cassandra tells Priam that he will repeat her prophecies, which she once poured out in confused riddling cries like the Sphinx's. As the Greek sailors loose their cables at dawn, she begins by lamenting a city already burnt once before by a hero called a lion begotten in three evenings, and sees it fired a second time. She then turns on a herdsman-turned-sailor, once the judge of the beauty of three goddesses, and foretells that a ship will carry him to Gytheion, where he will seize a woman like a wolf taking a heifer.
Lycophron, Alexandra 1369–1474Alexandra 1369–1474: The conquerors to come, Cassandra's closing complaint, and the slave's last wordsCassandra foretells a succession of later conquerors, beginning with a Zeus called Lapersios who will burn the foe's dwellings and with whom she will die. Next come the son of a man slain in a net, leading a host of many tongues, a Phrygian who avenges his brothers, a giant of the seed of Perseus who walks over the sea and sails over the land, and at last a tawny lion sprung from Aeacus and Dardanus who will quiet the tumult and make the Argive chiefs cower before the wolf-leader of Galadra. She complains that the god who sought her bridal has discredited her words, though he will make her oracles true, and then returns to her prison. The slave ends by telling Priam that he has reported her speech as he was commanded, and prays that god turn her prophecies to a fairer issue.