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Several pictures show how
Achilles attacked
Polyxena 1 (the Trojan princess, daughter of
Priam 1 and
Hecabe 1) and her
brother Troilus, as they
approached a well—he to let his horses drink,
she to fetch water. Of both, only the girl escapes.
It is on this occasion that
Achilles kills
Troilus (whether at the
beginning of the war or near its end).
Troy having been burned
down, the Achaeans sacrifice Polyxena 1 at the tomb
of Achilles (Proclus,
Chrestomathia, ii; Apd.Ep.5.23;
Eur.Tro.622; QS.14.267ff., 14.323ff.,
Try.686, etc.). Pictures show
Neoptolemus taking
her to the tomb, or, already in place, sacrificing
her.
"The Achaeans
then poured the blood of Polyxena over the tomb of
dead
Achilles to propitiate his wrath."
[Tryphiodorus 686]
When Troy had fallen,
the Achaean herald Talthybius came to see Queen
Hecabe 1 to inform her
of the victors' decision concerning the members of
the Royal family (Eur.Tro.249): That
Cassandra had been
assigned to Agamemnon,
Andromache to
Neoptolemus, and the
queen herself to
Odysseus. Questioned by
Hecabe 1 on the fate of
her daughter Polyxena 1, the herald answered:
"She is made
ministrant to
Achilles tomb." (Eur.Tro.263)
That was bad enough for the queen ("a sepulchre's servant"). So
she asked details about the custom and its statute,
being then reassured by Talthybius:
"Count thy
child happy. It is well with her...She has found
her fate—deliverance from troubles."
(Eur.Tro.263)
Only later she understands the meaning of the
herald's words, when she learns from
Andromache that
Polyxena 1 had been slain at
Achilles' tomb:
"Thy child is
dead, a gift to a lifeless corpse."
(Eur.Tro.622)
It was Achilles'
ghost who demanded Polyxena 1 be sacrificed. The
earth and sea trembled, the woods resounded with
crashing, the valley rent asunder, and in the
middle of these and other portents (which the
herald Talthybius narrates in Seneca's
Troades 170ff.), forth leaped the mighty
shade of Achilles,
filling the shore with an enraged shout:
"Let Polyxena,
once pledged to me, be sacrificed to my dust by the
hand of Pyrrhus
[Neoptolemus] and bedew my tomb."
[Seneca, Troades 195]
In this variant,
Agamemnon and
Neoptolemus
discussed the ghost's orders. All commanders had
received their share of the spoils, but (reasons
Neoptolemus)
Achilles, who had made
Troy totter got nothing.
And how could
Agamemnon, who had
immolated his own daughter
Iphigenia at Aulis,
think it cruel to sacrifice
Priam 1's daughter to
Achilles? Even if the
girl were from Hellas, argues
Neoptolemus,
Agamemnon should
yield, being as he is "Achilles' debtor".
Agamemnon protests
with packages of wisdom such as "Ungoverned violence is a fault of
youth", "Ungoverned
power no one can long retain", "Fortune has raised and exalted the
might of man", etc. He does not wish to be
guilty of "cruel
bloodshed" which could besides "besmirch the noble shade"
of Achilles. He is
afraid of falling into arrogance, of being too
bold. He is now tired of being "haughty", his pride is
"broken". He wishes to
be a worthy leader:
"Should I
count sovereignty anything but a name bedecked with
empty glamour, a brow adorned with a lying
coronet?" [Seneca, Troades 271]
He enjoys playing the role of the magnanimous
man:
"All that can
survive of ruined
Troy let it survive; enough and more of
punishment has been exacted." [Seneca,
Troades 285]
And he insists that he "will not permit" the
killing of the royal maid since the blames falls
upon him. And he closes his speech with a high
allegation of conscience:
"...he who,
when he may, forbids not sin, commands it."
[Seneca, Troades 291]
The reward of
Achilles, he argues,
shall be his fame and the songs of praise: "Save your father from scorn and
hate", he recommends the reluctant
Neoptolemus. Human
victims cannot honor human dead, he means.
Neoptolemus now
discovers that there is pride in wisdom, and that
it is easy to be wise in prosperity. He is not
persuaded.
It is then that
Calchas—the same
seer behind the sacrifice of
Iphigenia—makes
his entrance (Seneca, Troades 360). Not only
he recommends that Polyxena 1 be sacrificed ("...let Pyrrhus
[Neoptolemus] lead his father's bride to
him."), but also that little Astyanax 2 (the
son of Hector 1) be
killed ("from the high
watch-tower let him fall ... and let him perish
there"). Little Astyanax 2 was murdered
either by "the Achaeans" (Apd.Ep.5.23;
Ov.Met.13.415; Pau.10.25.9;
Hyg.Fab.109; Eur.And.10;
Eur.Tro.725ff., 1121; QS.13.251), or by
Neoptolemus
(LI.14), or by
Odysseus (SI.1;
Try.645). In Seneca, Troades 1100,
Odysseus fetches the
boy and leads him to a tower from which the boy,
"of his own will",
leaped down. Even the Achaeans wept for this crime.
Yet they made themselves ready for a new one:
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Polyxena 1 is fetched for her "wedding". A
wedding, however, which was to take place not on
earth but in the Elysian fields, and with a dead
man— Achilles.
"O hand of
Paris, too light!", laments
Hecabe 1, since
Achilles, though dead,
still proves deadly (Seneca, Troades 956).
At the sight of both Achaeans and Trojans,
Polyxena 1, dressed like a bride, is slaughtered by
Neoptolemus upon his
father's tomb.
"The dauntless
maid did not shrink back, but facing the stroke,
stood there with stern look and corageous. A spirit
so bold strike the hearts of all ..."
[Seneca, Troades 1150]
It has also been said that
Achilles' ghost
appeared before his son to ask for the sacrifice:
"Be
Priam's daughter Polyxena led—
Whom as my portion of the spoil I claim —
And sacrificed thereon: else shall my wrath
Against them [the Achaeans] more than for Briseis burn." [QS.14.214]
In this variant, the Achaeans lead the maid, not
as a bride, but as herdmen drag a calf (—257),
and like a calf moans so wailed she, and "down streamed her tears".
In the past, Hecabe 1
had a dream on these events
"Herseemed
that on
Achilles' tomb she stood
Moaning, her hair down-streaming to the ground,
And from her breasts blood dripped to earth the
while,
And drenched the tomb." [QS.14.273]
which she only understands on the day when
Neoptolemus plunged
his blade into her daughter's throat. The corpse of
the girl was afterwards taken to the house of
Antenor 1 for burial.
She had lived in the house of
Antenor 1 since the
idea was to marry her to his son Eurymachus 3
(QS.14.323).
Now, the reason for this "wedding" in the
afterlife is to be found in
Achilles' love for
Polyxena 1 (if not in plain madness).
Achilles had sought her
in marriage, and having come to a meeting, he was
treacherously murdered by
Paris and Deiphobus
1—two famous jewels of the Trojan royal family
(Hyg.Fab.110).
During a truce (so Dictys 3.2ff.),
Achilles and some of
his men came to watch the ceremonies of the Trojan
women and how they prayed to
Apollo.
Hecabe 1,
Cassandra and Polyxena
1 were among them. It was then that
Achilles discovered
Polyxena 1, being struck by her beauty. From that
moment, Achilles became
the prey of his own passion, and after several days
of torment, he sent Automedon (his charioteer from
Scyros) to meet Hector 1
and plead his suit for the girl.
Hector 1 demanded a
political agreement in exchange for his sister. So
Achilles promised to
bring the war to an end if he was given the girl as
wife. Hector 1 was not
satisfied with promises: he demanded an oath and
the lives of certain Achaeans. Such demands
unleashed the wrath of
Achilles, who decided
to kill Hector 1 as soon
the truce was over. On second thoughts, however, he
started to ponder how far he should go in meeting
Hector 1's demands. He
did not ponder in a calm way, but he was violently
disturbed. So Automedon, fearing that something
could happen, revealed everything to
Patroclus 1 and
Ajax 1 so that they would
keep an eye on
Achilles. But
Achilles came to his
senses by himself, and told
Agamemnon and
Menelaus about his love
for Polyxena 1 and his dealings with the enemy. The
Atrides told him not to worry, that soon enough
Troy would be defeated and
the girl would be his anyway.
Those were not false hopes. Soon was
Hector 1 dead, and
Priam 1 and
Andromache came to
Achilles' tent as
suppliants to ransom the body (Dictys 3.20).
Andromache had
brought with her little Astyanax 2 and another son,
Laodamas. And along with
Priam 1 and
Andromache came also
Polyxena 1, who fell at
Achilles' feet and
promised to be his slave if he would return the
body of Hector 1 (3.24).
From the offered Trojan treasures,
Achilles kept the gold
and silver, and the clothes he liked best, and what
was left he gave to Polyxena 1, handing over
Hector 1's body to
Priam 1. Then
Priam 1, fearing the
future might bring utter defeat, begged
Achilles to keep
Polyxena 1 for himself. For the moment
Achilles answered that
she should return to the city, but that they would
talk about her again at a later occasion, and in
another place (3.27).
Some time later, a truce was observed during the
festival of Thymbraean
Apollo. On this occasion,
Priam 1 sent word to
Achilles through the
herald Idaeus 1 with instructions regarding
Polyxena 1 (4.10). While
Achilles and the herald
were in a grove examining the instructions, they
were observed by some Achaeans, and word of the
meeting was brought to the ships. Fearing treason,
Ajax 1,
Diomedes 2, and
Odysseus went to the
grove to keep an eye on the secret dealings, and
stayed in front of
Apollo's temple, waiting
for Achilles to leave.
Meanwhile, Paris and
Deiphobus 1 approached the unarmed
Achilles as if to
confirm his agreement with the Trojan king.
Deiphobus 1 then embraced
Achilles,
congratulating him for the terms of the agreement,
and as he hanged upon him,
Paris rushed forward,
thrusting two blows in
Achilles' sides with
his sword. And when they saw him dying, they left
the place in haste, having thus broken the truce
and stained with blood the temple of
Apollo (4.11). At the
fall of Troy, Polyxena 1
was given to
Neoptolemus to be
sacrificed on his father's tomb at the request of
Odysseus (5.13).
Dares 27 says, however, that
Achilles saw Polyxena 1
for the first time, when she and her parents
visited the tomb of Hector
1 on the first anniversary of his funeral.
Being struck by love's disease, he sent word to
Hecabe 1, via a Phrygian
slave, that if she would give him Polyxena 1, he
would return home with his army of Myrmidons. The
slave returned with an affirmative answer, provided
Priam 1 also agreed. But
Priam 1 was only ready to
give his consent if the Achaeans departed, and
lasting peace were agreed with sacred oaths.
Achilles then began to
play the role of peace-maker, saying that so many
thousands had died for one single woman, and that
the army should return home. War continued,
however, and Palamedes
(who now was commander in chief after
Agamemnon was deposed)
slew Deiphobus 1, before he himself was killed by
Paris (28). Otherwise,
Palamedes is said to
have been accused of treason through the
machinations of
Odysseus, and stoned to
death by the Achaeans (Apd.Ep.3.8, 6.8;
Hyg.Fab.105; Pau.10.31.2; QS.5.198).
During a truce, an embassy
(Odysseus,
Nestor, and
Diomedes 2) was sent
to ask Achilles to
reenter the fighting, but he refused and answered
that, because of his love for Polyxena 1, he would
fight "rather poorly"
(Dares 29). In the meantime, the Trojans were led
by Troilus and
Paris, and as
Troilus obtained several
victories, Achilles
decided to return to the battlefield, where he
succeeded in killing
Troilus.
Bewailing the loss of her sons,
Hecabe 1 decided to
avenge the deaths of Hector
1 and Troilus. In
Priam 1's name, she
summoned Achilles to
come to the temple of Thymbraean
Apollo "to settle an agreement according
to which she would give him Polyxena to
marry". Paris then
gathered a number among the bravest Trojans and
stationed them in the temple to wait for his
signal. The next day, when
Achilles arrived to the
temple together with Antilochus (the son of
Nestor), they were
immediately attacked from all sides.
Paris killed first
Antilochus, and then
Achilles (34).
Otherwise, Antilochus is said to have been killed
either by Memnon
(Apd.Ep.5.3; Hyg.Fab.112;
AETH.1; QS.2.256), or by
Hector 1
(Hyg.Fab.113; Pau.3.19.12).
While Troy was being
plundered, Hecabe 1 fled
with Polyxena 1, whom she entrusted to
Aeneas, who in turn
concealed her at the home of
Anchises 1, his father
(41). Later, when the time for sailing back home
arrived, Neoptolemus
remembered that Polyxena 1 had not been found in
the palace (where he himself had cut down
Priam 1 at the altar of
Zeus). He complained that
the cause of his father's death had not yet been
found, and demanded that
Agamemnon produce her.
Agamemnon summoned
Antenor 1 (who had
betrayed the city), and ordered him to find the
girl. Having met Aeneas
(who had opened the gates to the Achaeans),
Antenor 1 asked him to
hand over Polyxena 1.
Aeneas then gave her to
Antenor 1, who gave her
to Agamemnon, who gave
her to Neoptolemus,
who cut her throat upon his father's tomb (43).
Frazer (footnote Apd.Ep.5.4a) writes:
"... the Second Vatican
Mythographer tells us that
Achilles first saw Polyxena, Hector's sister, when she stood on a
tower in the act of throwing down bracelets and
earrings with which to ransom Hector's body, and that when
Achilles came to the temple of the
Thymbraean
Apollo to ratify the treaty of marriage
and peace,
Paris lurked behind the image of the god
and shot the confiding hero with an arrow
..."
Others have said that Polyxena 1 was in love
with Achilles, and that
their love was mutual. According to Favius
Philostratus (c. AD 170 onwards), Apollonius of
Tyana (perhaps 1st. century AD) asked
Achilles' ghost five
questions, one of which concerned Polyxena 1. Was
she slaughtered on his tomb? Yes, but
" ... she came
of her own free will to the sepulchre and ... so
high was the value she set on her own passion for
him and his for her, that she threw herself upon an
upright sword." [Apollonius. Life of
Apollonius of Tyana 4.16]
So he said, but it is difficult to ascertain if
the dead tell the truth more often than the living.
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