Laodamia of Phylace

In the surviving accounts, Laodamia is presented as the wife of Protesilaus and a daughter of Acastus. Protesilaus leads forces from Phylace to Troy and is the first Greek to die in the Trojan War. Stricken with grief, Laodamia’s devotion and mourning occasion divine pity: several sources state that the gods brought Protesilaus up from Hades to see her. That visitation is explicitly temporary and contingent on the gods’ mercy. Variant traditions sometimes name Polydora in the wife’s role, but the cited accounts repeatedly identify Laodamia of Phylace in this narrative.

The sources do not give a sustained physical portrait; descriptions are limited to social markers. Ovid’s Heroides stages Laodamia as a noble bride/widow of Phylace: she is urged to put on royal garments, is attended by the matrons of her city, and has her hair combed by attendants. Beyond these conventional signs of noble status and ritualized preparation, the texts supply no detailed features such as complexion, hair color, or stature.

Laodamia is depicted as a mortal woman without supernatural powers. Her notable behaviors are intense, faithful mourning for Protesilaus, the creation of a likeness or image of her deceased husband with which she continues to consort, and the elicitation of divine pity that results in a temporary reunion with the returned dead. The narrative emphasizes that the gods — not Laodamia herself — effect the brief crossing of the boundary between life and Hades.