Daughter of Eetion of Cilician Thebe in the Homeric and later tradition, Andromache is introduced in the Trojan narrative as the devoted wife of Hector. In the Iliad she functions as exemplar of the domestic and mourning roles allocated to Trojan women: she loses husband and son amid the fall of Troy, is taken as spoil by the victors (concorded in later sources as concubine to Neoptolemus), and in some post-war accounts marries Hector's brother Helenus and becomes a queen in Epirus/Buthrotum. Variants in later authors record differing progeny and post-war settlements (e.g., Molossus, Pergamus in some traditions), reflecting divergent epic and local traditions.
Homeric epic focuses on Andromache's social role rather than a physical portrait; later or non-Homeric descriptive traditions (summarized from Malalas and Dares Phrygius) depict her as tall, fair, and attractive: "above average height, thin... blondish hair long in back... dimples on her cheeks" (Malalas summary) and "bright-eyed and fair, with a tall and beautiful body" (Dares). These physical descriptions are attached in the sources to moral attributes such as modesty, chastity, and wisdom.
Andromache possesses no supernatural powers in the cited literature; her 'abilities' are social and emotional: exemplary fidelity, steadfast mourning, leadership in formal lamentation, and sustained ritual devotion to the memory of her husband (e.g., offerings at Hector's cenotaph). She is portrayed as subject to violence and dispossession (the loss of her son Astyanax and being taken as concubine), not as a source of supernatural threat or action.
Abas
Abas (Ancient Greek: Ἄβας, gen.: Ἄβαντος) is not a single mythic being but a recurring personal name borne by multiple mortals and minor mythic figures in Greek epic and genealogical traditions — kings, founders, seers, warriors, attendants, a centaur, and a youth transformed by a goddess. The name is glossed in the sources as 'guileless' or 'good-hearted' and appears across Argive, Theban, Trojan, Euboean, and other local cycles.
Adrastus
Adrastus (Ancient Greek: Ἄδραστος or Ἄδρηστος) is a legendary king of Argos in the Greek mythic-historical tradition, best known as the leader of the expedition of the Seven against Thebes and as a figure tied to oracular counsel, dynastic marriages, and local hero cults.
Ajax (Aias)
Ajax (Ancient Greek: Aias) is a human heroic figure of the Trojan-cycle tradition and the tragic protagonist of Sophocles' play Ajax. In the surviving tradition he is a mortal Salaminian warrior celebrated for physical strength and martial reputation whose wounded honor, rage, and resulting suicide are the focus of Sophocles' drama.
Ajax the Great
Ajax the Great (Ancient Greek: Αἴας, Aíās) is a mortal heroic figure of the Trojan War cycle, famed as a towering, steadfast Greek champion and defender of the Achaean ships. Prominent in Homer’s Iliad, he is portrayed as second only to Achilles in martial standing and as a paragon of defensive strength and reliability.
Alcinous
Alcinous (Ancient Greek: Ἀλκίνοος, Alkínoos, "mighty mind") is a legendary human king of the Phaeacians in Greek epic tradition. He is portrayed as an ideal hospitable monarch who receives wandering heroes (notably Odysseus and the Argonauts), presides over feasts and games, adjudicates disputes, and provides ships, gifts, and safe passage. Variant genealogies and island-identifications appear across sources, but his role as a beneficent royal host is consistent.
Alcmeonis
A lost early Greek epic poem (Ancient Greek: Ἀλκμεωνίς / Ἀλκμαιωνίς) traditionally counted among the Theban cycle; known only from a small number of fragmentary references, it narrated the story of Alcmaeon’s killing of his mother Eriphyle in vengeance for the death of his father Amphiaraus.
Amphialus (Amphialos)
Amphialus (Ancient Greek: Άμφίαλος, Amphialus/Amphialos, lit. 'of two seas') is a recurring personal name in classical Greek epic, genealogical tradition, and later pastoral/romance literature. The name is applied to several distinct mortal figures — a Phaeacian athlete in the Odyssey, various seafaring companions and suitors in Homeric summaries, a son of Neoptolemus and Andromache in genealogical accounts, and a noble/warrior character in early modern Arcadian romances — rather than to a single supernatural being.
Amphinomus
Amphinomus (Ἀμφίνομος) is a personal name borne by several human figures in Greek tradition, most notably a princely suitor of Penelope in Homer's Odyssey; other bearers appear in local genealogies, a Catanian civic legend, and a later historical record as a geometer. The sources treat Amphinomus as mortal personages rather than a supernatural being.
Antimachus of Teos
Antimachus of Teos (Greek: Ἀντίμαχος ὁ Τήϊος) is an early Greco-Ionian epic poet cited in later antiquity as the putative author or ascription-anchor for fragmentary Theban-cycle material (notably sometimes the Epigoni). Later authors quote or reference him for sententiae and as a chronological marker; his identity is contested and sometimes conflated with the much later Antimachus of Colophon.
Antiphus
Antiphus (Ancient Greek Ἄντιφος) is a personal name borne by several mortal men in Greek myth and epic traditions rather than a single supernatural being. Multiple figures named Antiphus appear in genealogies and narratives as princes, warriors, companions of heroes, colonists, and victims in the heroic age (generation of Heracles, the Trojan War, and the Odyssey).
Argos
Argos is the loyal hunting dog of Odysseus in Homer's Odyssey, remembered for recognizing his master upon Odysseus's covert return to Ithaca after a twenty-year absence. Presented as a domesticated, neglected animal, Argos functions as a moral and emotional emblem of fidelity and the effects of prolonged absence in the epic.
Asius
Asius (Ancient Greek: Asios) is a personal name borne by several mortal leaders allied with Troy in Greek epic and mythographic tradition. The figures called Asius appear in leader-lists, genealogies, and battle narratives of the Trojan War cycle rather than as a distinct supernatural entity.
Community Record
- [1]Andromache - Wikipedia. Wikipedia: Andromache (summary of ancient sources including Homer, Virgil, Pausanias, Malalas, Dares Phrygius)wiki
- [2]Troilus and Cressida, Act V Scene III - Shakespeare (reference to Andromache). Shakespeare, Troilus and Cressida, Act V Scene III (modern edition online)literary
- [3]Drama on 3 : BBC Radio 3 : Andromache (Racine adaptation broadcast). BBC Radio 3 broadcast of Racine's Andromaque (archival record)other
- [4]Andromache - Archive.org (fan/wiki mirror). Archive copy summarizing reception and traditionsother