Princess of Thebe in Mysia and wife of Hector in the Greek epic tradition, Andromache is the figure of the woman and mother struck by the Trojan War. Immortalized by Homer in the Iliad and by Racine in his eponymous tragedy (1667), she embodies conjugal fidelity and grief.
Andromache
Andromache
8 min read
Frequently asked questions
Famous Quotes
« Must I forget him, if he remembers no more? — attributed to Andromache by Racine (Act I, Scene IV)»
« Come, my son, let me embrace you once more — an evocation of the Racinian tradition»
Key Facts
- Daughter of Eetion, king of Thebe in Mysia, according to the Greek epic tradition transmitted by Homer
- Her husband Hector is killed by Achilles beneath the walls of Troy (the central scene of the Iliad, Book XXII)
- Their farewell on the ramparts of Troy (Iliad, Book VI) is one of the most celebrated scenes in ancient literature
- After the fall of Troy, she becomes the captive of Neoptolemus (Pyrrhus), son of Achilles, according to post-Homeric traditions
- Racine made her the heroine of his tragedy Andromache (1667), a masterpiece of French Classicism
Works & Achievements
Homer dedicates the most moving scenes of the epic to Andromache. The farewell scene in Book VI and the lament in Book XXII have forever shaped the image of the grieving wife and mother.
Euripides portrays Andromache as a slave of Neoptolemus, threatened by Hermione. The play explores her resistance and dignity in the face of the humiliations of captivity.
In this anti-war tragedy, Andromache witnesses the death of her son Astyanax. She embodies the absolute grief of a mother stripped of everything.
The encounter between Aeneas and Andromache at Buthrotum is one of the most poignant episodes in Latin epic poetry. Andromache appears trapped by her own memories, recreating Troy in exile.
A masterpiece of French classical theater, the play places Andromache at the center of a chain of tragic passions. She becomes the embodiment of loyalty and maternal sacrifice in French culture.
Baudelaire invokes Andromache in this poem of melancholy and exile: "Andromache, I think of you!" She comes to symbolize all the exiles and the uprooted of the modern world.
Anecdotes
In Homer's Iliad, Andromache tries to hold Hector back before he returns to battle, reminding him that he is her father, her mother, her brother, and her husband. This Farewell scene in Book VI is one of the most moving in all of ancient literature: little Astyanax bursts into tears at the sight of his father's crested helmet, and Hector must remove it to comfort the child.
According to the epic tradition, Andromache was the daughter of Eetion, king of Thebes in Mysia. Achilles slew her father and her seven brothers during the sack of the city, then sold her mother into slavery. Andromache thus found herself bereft of father and brothers even before Hector's death, making her the ultimate figure of accumulated grief.
After the fall of Troy, Andromache was assigned as a slave to Neoptolemus, the son of Achilles — the man whose father had killed her husband. She bore him several sons. Later, as Virgil recounts in the Aeneid, Aeneas finds her at Buthrotum in Epirus, where she rules alongside Helenus, another Trojan exile, and has built a miniature Troy, forever turned toward her past.
In Racine's tragedy (1667), Andromache stands at the center of a chain of passions: Pyrrhus (Neoptolemus) loves her, and she resists in order to remain faithful to Hector's memory and protect her son Astyanax. She ultimately agrees to a sham marriage, resolved to take her own life after the ceremony so as not to betray her oath to Hector — embodying the tension between conjugal duty and maternal instinct.
Primary Sources
"Andromache came to him weeping, and with her a handmaid carrying at her bosom the little child, the tender son of Hector [...] Hector smiled as he looked upon his son, but Andromache stood close beside him weeping, and she clasped his hand."
"Andromache had as yet heard nothing [...] But when from the tower she saw and recognized Hector being dragged before the city, dark night covered her eyes and she fell backward."
"Andromache was offering funeral gifts to the ashes and the shade of Hector [...] She stood frozen, her gaze fixed upon me, and the warmth left her bones."
"Take me, carry me away as a slave to the ends of the earth [...] I weep for Hector, and for you, my child, your brief life coming to its end."
"I was making my way to the place where my son is kept. Since once a day you allow me to see him, alas! I was going, my lord, to weep with him."
Key Places
Andromache's hometown in Asia Minor, ruled by her father Eetion. Destroyed by Achilles, it represents Andromache's first great loss — before the Trojan War had even reached her.
The legendary city of Asia Minor where Andromache lived as Hector's wife. It was from Troy's walls that she witnessed her husband's death, and then the fall of her adopted homeland.
The mythic site of Hector and Andromache's farewell in the Iliad. It is here that Hector leaves his family to face Achilles — and never returns.
A city in Epirus where Andromache settles with Helenus after the death of Neoptolemus, according to Virgil. There she recreates a small Troy in exile, a sign of her melancholy devotion to the past.
The kingdom of Neoptolemus to which Andromache is taken as a slave after the fall of Troy. It is the setting of Euripides' tragedy Andromache.
Typical Objects
Andromache is often depicted veiled, a sign of grief and modesty. In the Iliad, she tears off her veil upon learning of Hector's death — a gesture of absolute despair.
In the Farewell scene, Hector removes his helmet with its gleaming crest, which frightens little Astyanax. This object symbolizes the violence of war intruding even into the intimacy of family life.
Andromache was weaving a purple cloth embroidered with flowers when she learned of Hector's death in Book XXII. Weaving is the quintessential feminine activity in Greek epic poetry.
In the Aeneid, Andromache makes offerings before an empty cenotaph dedicated to Hector at Buthrotum. The funerary urn represents her eternal attachment to her husband's memory.
The everyday garment of high-ranking Trojan women, often white or dyed. Andromache is described wearing fine-quality clothing, a mark of her status as a princess and later as wife of the crown prince.
The child himself is almost a symbolic object in depictions of Andromache: the son she carries, protects, and ultimately loses embodies both the hope of Troy and its destruction.
School Curriculum
Vocabulary & Tags
Key Vocabulary
Daily Life
Morning
Andromache rises at dawn in the women's quarters of the palace of Troy. She performs her prayers and libations to the household gods, then oversees the servants in their domestic duties. Her mornings are shadowed by the anxiety of the siege: she watches for news from the front from the palace terraces.
Afternoon
The afternoon is devoted to weaving, the central occupation of any noblewoman in the Greek world. Andromache embroiders fine fabrics while caring for Astyanax and conversing with the other Trojan women. Quiet moments are rare — the sounds of battle punctuate every hour of the day.
Evening
In the evenings, when Hector returns from combat, Andromache sees to his bath, his meal, and his rest. She shares her fears and prayers with him, trying to keep him by her side. After Hector's death, her evenings are given over to mourning — to funeral laments and vigils beside his body or cenotaph.
Food
Like the archaic Greek aristocracy, Andromache's diet consists mainly of barley or wheat bread, olive oil, olives, sheep's cheese, and legumes. Roasted meats — lamb and beef — are reserved for banquets and sacrificial feasts. Watered wine is the everyday drink.
Clothing
Andromache wears a white linen or purple-dyed tunic (peplos or chiton) fastened with golden fibulae, and a large veil that covers her head — a mark of modesty and marital status. Her jewelry is gold: necklaces, bracelets, and hairpins. She wears leather-strapped sandals.
Housing
She lives in the women's quarters (gynaeceum) of Priam's palace on the citadel of Troy. The rooms are built of stone, adorned with frescoes and brightly colored wool hangings. Interior courtyards house the looms. The royal apartments overlook the ramparts, from which the women watch the battles below.
Historical Timeline
Period Vocabulary
Visual Style
Style inspiré de la céramique grecque à figures rouges et de la peinture néoclassique : drapés amples, palette terracotta et pourpre, expression de deuil digne et contenu.
Sound Ambience
Ambiance sonore de Troie assiégée : bruits de guerre au loin, pleurs de femmes, métier à tisser et berceuses dans les appartements du palais.
Liens externes & ressources
Références
Œuvres
Iliade (chants VI, XXII, XXIV)
VIIIe siècle av. J.-C.
Andromaque (tragédie d'Euripide)
c. 425 av. J.-C.
Les Troyennes (Euripide)
415 av. J.-C.
Énéide, Livre III (Virgile)
c. 29-19 av. J.-C.
Andromaque (tragédie de Jean Racine)
1667
Le Cygne (poème de Baudelaire, Les Fleurs du Mal)
1857
