Greek mythology Greek mythology is the body of myths originally told by the Ancient Greece, ancient Greeks, and a genre of ancient Greek folklore, today absorbed alongside Roman mythology into the broader designation of classical mythology. These stories conc ...

, Deidamia (;

Ancient Greek Ancient Greek (, ; ) includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the classical antiquity, ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Greek ...

: Δηϊδάμεια ''Deïdameia'') is a daughter of King

Lycomedes In Greek mythology, Lycomedes (), also known as Lycurgus (mythology), Lycurgus, was the most prominent king of the Dolopians in the island of Skyros, Scyros near Euboea during the Trojan War. Family Lycomedes was the father of seven daughters ...

, who lives on the island of Scyros. She marries

Achilles In Greek mythology, Achilles ( ) or Achilleus () was a hero of the Trojan War who was known as being the greatest of all the Greek warriors. The central character in Homer's ''Iliad'', he was the son of the Nereids, Nereid Thetis and Peleus, ...

, by whom she becomes the mother of

Neoptolemus In Greek mythology, Neoptolemus (; ), originally called Pyrrhus at birth (; ), was the son of the mythical warrior Achilles and the princess Deidamia, and the brother of Oneiros. He became the progenitor of the ruling dynasty of the Molossian ...

. Following the

Trojan War The Trojan War was a legendary conflict in Greek mythology that took place around the twelfth or thirteenth century BC. The war was waged by the Achaeans (Homer), Achaeans (Ancient Greece, Greeks) against the city of Troy after Paris (mytho ...

, her son gives her in marriage to

Helenus of Troy In Greek mythology, Helenus (; , ''Helenos'', ) was a gentle and clever seer. He was also a Troy, Trojan prince as the List of children of Priam, son of King Priam and Queen Hecuba of Troy, and the twin brother of the prophetess Cassandra. M ...

. She is sometimes said to have a second son, Oneiros, or to have only been Neoptolemus's nurturer (rather than his mother).

Mythology

Deidamia was one of King Lycomedes' seven daughters with whom

was concealed. Some versions of this story state that Achilles was hidden in Lycomedes' court as one of the king's daughters, some say as a lady-in-waiting under the name "

Pyrrha In Greek mythology, Pyrrha (; ) was the daughter of Epimetheus and Pandora and wife of Deucalion of whom she had three sons, Hellen, Amphictyon, Orestheus; and three daughters Protogeneia, Pandora and Thyia. According to some accounts, Hell ...

". The two soon became romantically involved to the point of intimacy. After

Odysseus In Greek mythology, Greek and Roman mythology, Odysseus ( ; , ), also known by the Latin variant Ulysses ( , ; ), is a legendary Greeks, Greek king of Homeric Ithaca, Ithaca and the hero of Homer's Epic poetry, epic poem, the ''Odyssey''. Od ...

arrived at Lycomedes's palace and exposed Achilles as a young man, the hero decided to join the

, along with his ''therápon'' Patroclus, leaving behind his wife Deidamia. Years later, Deidamia tried to persuade their son, Neoptolemus, not to join his father in the same war. After the death of Achilles, his father, Neoptolemus went to the Trojan War as the next ''

Aristos Aristos may refer to * ''Aristos (Saga of the Skolian Empire)'' * ''The Aristos'', a 1964 book by John Fowles * Aristos Papandroulakis (born 1965), celebrity chef * RKVV Aristos, a former Dutch amateur football club See also

* {{disambig ...

Achaion'' "Best of the Achaeans (Greeks)". After the war, Deidamia was given in marriage by Neoptolemus to his slave

, the son of Priam who he had brought to Epirus. Later on, Neoptolemus was eventually killed by

Orestes In Greek mythology, Orestes or Orestis (; ) was the son of Agamemnon and Clytemnestra, and the brother of Electra and Iphigenia. He was also known by the patronymic Agamemnonides (), meaning "son of Agamemnon." He is the subject of several ...

when the son of

Agamemnon In Greek mythology, Agamemnon (; ''Agamémnōn'') was a king of Mycenae who commanded the Achaeans (Homer), Achaeans during the Trojan War. He was the son (or grandson) of King Atreus and Queen Aerope, the brother of Menelaus, the husband of C ...

went mad. In a different version of Neoptolemus's childhood,

Iphigenia In Greek mythology, Iphigenia (; , ) was a daughter of King Agamemnon and Queen Clytemnestra, and thus a princess of Mycenae. In the story, Agamemnon offends the goddess Artemis on his way to the Trojan War by hunting and killing one of Artem ...

rather than Deidamia is his mother, though the latter does raise him. According to the Alexandrine grammarian Ptolemy Hephaestion, Achilles and Deidamia had another son, Oneiros. This son was killed by Orestes (who was unable to recognize him) in

Phocis Phocis (; ; ) is one of the regional units of Greece. It is part of the administrative region of Central Greece. It stretches from the western mountainsides of Parnassus on the east to the mountain range of Vardousia on the west, upon the Gu ...

while the two were fighting over a place to pitch a tent. The tragedians

Euripides Euripides () was a Greek tragedy, tragedian of classical Athens. Along with Aeschylus and Sophocles, he is one of the three ancient Greek tragedians for whom any plays have survived in full. Some ancient scholars attributed ninety-five plays to ...

and

Sophocles Sophocles ( 497/496 – winter 406/405 BC)Sommerstein (2002), p. 41. was an ancient Greek tragedian known as one of three from whom at least two plays have survived in full. His first plays were written later than, or contemporary with, those ...

, both of whom date to the 5th century BC, each composed a work titled ''Skyroi'', in which Deidamia was an important figure. In a poem in the ''

Greek Anthology The ''Greek Anthology'' () is a collection of poems, mostly epigrams, that span the Classical Greece, Classical and Byzantine periods of Greek literature. Most of the material of the ''Greek Anthology'' comes from two manuscripts, the ''Palatine ...

'', she was instead referred to as Pyrrha.''RE'', s.v. Deidameia (1).

Notes

References

Apollodorus Apollodorus ( Greek: Ἀπολλόδωρος ''Apollodoros'') was a popular name in ancient Greece. It is the masculine gender of a noun compounded from Apollo, the deity, and doron, "gift"; that is, "Gift of Apollo." It may refer to: :''Note: A ...

, ''The Library'' with an English Translation by Sir James George Frazer, F.B.A., F.R.S. in 2 Volumes, Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1921
Online version at the Perseus Digital Library.Greek text available from the same website
* Bion of Phlossa, ''The Greek Bucolic Poets'' translated by Edmonds, J M. Loeb Classical Library Volume 28. Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1912
Online version available at the Theoi
* Bloch, Rene, "Deidamia (1)", in ''

Brill's New Pauly The Pauly encyclopedias or the Pauly-Wissowa family of encyclopedias, are a set of related encyclopedia An encyclopedia is a reference work or compendium providing summaries of knowledge, either general or special, in a particular field o ...

: Encyclopaedia of the Ancient World. Antiquity, Volume 4'', Cyr – Epy, edited by Hubert Cancik and Helmuth Schneider, Brill, 2004. . *

Dictys Cretensis Dictys Cretensis, i.e. Dictys of Crete (, ; ) of Knossos was a legendary companion of Idomeneus during the Trojan War, and the purported author of a diary of its events, that deployed some of the same materials worked up by Homer for the ''Iliad'' ...

'', from The Trojan War.'' ''The Chronicles of Dictys of Crete and Dares the Phrygian'' translated by Richard McIlwaine Frazer, Jr. (1931-). Indiana University Press. 1966
Online version at the Topos Text Project.
*

, ''Andromache'' with an English translation by David Kovacs. Cambridge. Harvard University Press. 1994
Online version at the Perseus Digital Library.Greek text available from the same website
*

Hyginus Hyginus may refer to: People *Hyginus, the author of the '' Fabulae'', an important ancient Latin source for Greek mythology. *Hyginus, the author of the ''Astronomia'', a popular ancient Latin guide on astronomy, probably the same as the author ...

, ''Fabulae from The Myths of Hyginus'' translated and edited by Mary Grant. University of Kansas Publications in Humanistic Studies
Online version at the Topos Text Project.
*

Quintus Smyrnaeus Quintus Smyrnaeus (also Quintus of Smyrna; , ''Kointos Smyrnaios'') was a Greek epic poet whose ''Posthomerica'', following "after Homer", continues the narration of the Trojan War. The dates of Quintus Smyrnaeus' life and poetry are disputed: by ...

, ''The Fall of Troy'' translated by Way. A. S. Loeb Classical Library Volume 19. London: William Heinemann, 1913
Online version at theio.com
* Quintus Smyrnaeus, ''The Fall of Troy''. Arthur S. Way. London: William Heinemann; New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons. 1913
Greek text available at the Perseus Digital Library
* ''

Realencyclopädie der classischen Altertumswissenschaft The Pauly encyclopedias or the Pauly-Wissowa family of encyclopedias, are a set of related encyclopedias on Greco-Roman world, Greco-Roman classical studies, topics and scholarship. The first of these, or (1839–1852), was begun by compiler A ...

'', Band IV, Halbband 2, Stuttgart, J. B. Metzler, 1901
Wikisource
*

Statius Publius Papinius Statius (Greek language, Greek: Πόπλιος Παπίνιος Στάτιος; , ; ) was a Latin poetry, Latin poet of the 1st century CE. His surviving poetry includes an epic in twelve books, the ''Thebaid (Latin poem), Theb ...

, ''The Achilleid'' translated by Mozley, J H. Loeb Classical Library Volumes. Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1928
Online version at the theoi.com
*

, ''The Achilleid. Vol. II''. John Henry Mozley. London: William Heinemann; New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons. 1928
Latin text available at the Perseus Digital Library.

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Deidamia (Mythology) Princesses in Greek mythology Women of the Trojan war Skyros