Sources Quoted
Herophile arrived to find a Troy ruled by King Priam and Queen Hecuba with Prince Aesacus as the kingdom's heir.
King Priam, son of Laomedon, was the only male survivor in the Ilian branch of the House of Dardanus. During a prior invasion from the west, Priam had watched his many brothers die at the hands of Heracles.
Priam's Father
- Laomedon, King of Troy (Homer Iliad 20.237, etc)
Priam's Potential Mothers
- Zeuxippe (Alcman 71 PMG)
- Strymo, daughter of Scamander, the river god (Hellanicus of Lesbos 4F29, Apollodorus Library 3.146)
- Thoosa, daughter of Teucer (Skamon of Mytilene 476F1)
- Leucippe (Tzetzes on Lycophron 18, Apollodorus Library 3.146)
- Placia, daughter of Otreus, King of the Phrygians (Apollodorus Library 3.146)
Priam's Siblings
- Lampus, Clytius, and Hicetaeon: full brothers of Priam (Homer: Iliad 20.234, Pseudo-Apollodorus: Library 3.146)
- Tithonus: full brother of Priam (Homer: Iliad 20.234, Pseudo-Apollodorus: Library 3.146 half brother of Priam as son of Laomedon and an unnamed woman (Lycophron Alexandra 18 half-brother of Priam as son of Laomedon and Strymo or Rhoeo, daughter of Scamander, where Priam is son of Laomedon and Leucippe (Tzetzes on Lycophron 18)
- Ganymede: full brother of Priam (Little Iliad fragment 6)
- Thymoetes: full brother of Priam (Diodorus Siculus Library of History 3.67.5)
- Bucolion: eldest brother and half-brother of Priam, as son of Laomedon and an unnamed woman (Homer Iliad 6.23,), half-brother of Priam, as son of Laomedon and Calybe, a nymph (Apollodorus Library 3.146)
- Hesione: full sister of Priam (Sophocles Ajax 1299, Hellanicus of Lesbos 4F26b, Apollodorus Library 3.146)
- Cilla: full sister of Priam (Apollodorus Library 3.146)
- Astyoche: full sister of Priam (Apollodorus Library 3.146, E6.15c)
- Antigone: full sister of Priam (Ovid Metamorphoses 6.93)
- Aethylla: full sister of Priam (Conon Narrations 13, Apollodorus Library E6.15c)
- Medesicaste: full sister of Priam (Apollodorus Library E6.15)
- Proclea: full sister of Priam (Tzetzes on Lycophron 232)
Hecuba's Potential Fathers
- Dymas, King of Phrygia (Homer: Iliad 16.718, Pseudo-Apollodorus: Library 3.148, Ovid: Metamorphoses 11.761, Hyginus: Fabulae 91, Pherecydes of Athens 3F136a and 3F136b)
- Cisseus, King of Thrace (Euripides: Hecuba 3, Pseudo-Apollodorus: Library 3.148, Hyginus: Fabulae 91, Athenaeon 546F2a)
- Sangarius, a river god (Scholiast on Euripides: Hecuba 3, Apollodorus: Library 3.148)
Hecuba's Potential Mothers
- Evagora, a Nereid (Pherecydes of Athens 3F136a, Scholiast on Euripides: Hecuba 3)
- Glaucippe, daughter of Xanthus, a river god (Pherecydes of Athens 3F136a)
- Euthoe, a nymph (Pherecydes of Athens 3F136b)
- Telecleia, daughter of Ilus, King of Troy (Athenaeon 546F2a)
- Metope (Apollodorus Library 3.148)
Hecuba's Siblings
- Asius: Phrygian Prince, full brother of Hecuba, as son of Dymas and an unnamed woman (Homer Iliad 16.717 full brother of Hecuba, as son of Dymas and Euthoe, a nymph (Pherecydes of Athens 3F136b full brother of Hecuba, as son of Cisseus and Telecleia (Athenaeon 546F2a half-brother of Hecuba, only sharing the same unnamed mother and as son of Dymas, where Hecuba is daughter of Cisseus (T Scholia on Iliad 16.718, Eustathius on Iliad 16.718)
- Otreus and Mygdon: Phrygian princes, full brothers of Hecuba, as son of Dymas (D scholia on Iliad 3.186)
- Theano: priestess, full sister of Hecuba, as daughter of Cisseus and Telecleia (Scholia on Euripides Hecuba 3)
The Crown Prince
Prince Aesacus had been born to Priam's first wife, Arisbe, the former queen from whom Priam had divorced. Aesacus was himself a seer or no small talent, having inherited his maternal grandfather's gift of prophecy. Aesacus had foreseen his own potential to become a great warrior and king, until Herophile delivered a new plan of the gods, in which Aesacus was instead destined to hurl himself off a cliff, lovelorn from an affair gone wrong. On the way down he would be transformed by a sympathetic goddess into a cliff-diving bird, and the duties of defending Troy would fall onto the shoulders of Priam's next eldest son, Hector.
Priam first married Arisbe daughter of Merops, and with her he had a son, Aisacos. ... Priam gave Arisbe to Hyrtacos and got married for a second time to Hecabe daughter of Dymas or, according to some, daughter of Cisseus or, according to others, of the river Sangarios and Metope. Hector was her first born.— Pseudo-Apollodorus: Library 3.147
c. 61/60 BCE-2nd Century CE
Smith and Trzaskoma, p.64.
This bird descended from Hector's brother's line; and if that brother had not turned bird too young, he would have been a famous Hector too. While Hecuba gave birth to the first boy, Alexiroe (so it was rumoured) came to bed with Aesacus [hidden under Ida’s shade] – and she, if I am right, was daughter of two-horned Granicus. Her boy disliked the life at court, the gaudy palaces, the streets of Troy. He took his pleasures in primitive surroundings, up the mountains, and seldom met the people down at Troy. Yet he was not ungainly in his habits, [nor impregnable to love's appeal].— Ovid: Metamorphoses 11.760-765
c. 8 CE
Gregory, p.320
bracketed additions from More.
Hector spoke with a slight lisp. His complexion was fair, his hair curly. His eyes would blink attractively. His movements were swift. His face, with its beard, was noble. He was handsome, fierce, and high-spirited, merciful to the citizens, and deserving of love.— Dares Phrygius: History of The Fall of Troy 12
c. 3rd Century CE
Frazer.
Stesichorus and Euphorion say that Hector is Apollo’s son, as does the poet Alexander the Aetolian.— Stesichorus fragment 224 PMG
c. Early-Mid 6th Century BCE
Euphorion of Chalcis fragment 56
c. Mid-Late 3rd Century BCE
Alexander Aetolus unplaced fragment
c. 280 BCE
as cited in John Tzetzes on Lycophron Alexandra 265
Campbell, p.157.
Porphyry in his Omissions says that Hector is Apollo’s son in the versions of Ibycus, Alexander, Euphorion and Lycophron.— Ibycus fragment 295 PMG
c. Mid-Late 6th Century BCE
Euphorion of Chalcis fragment 56
c. Mid-Late 3rd Century BCE
Alexander Aetolus unplaced fragment
c. 280 BCE
unplaced fragment
as cited in Porphyry On the Names Omitted by Homer
as cited in A Scholia on Homer Iliad 3.314
Campbell, p.261.
The dearest nursling of all thy brothers [Hector], dearest to thee and to his sire the Lord of Ptoön [Apollo].— Lycophron Alexandra 260
c. 190 BCE
Mair.
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