Hecuba

Hecuba, also spelled Hecabe, is a prominent figure in Greek mythology as the queen of Troy. She is traditionally described as the wife of King Priam and mother to many of Priam’s children, including Hector, Cassandra, Polyxena, and Troilus; some accounts also name Aeneas among her offspring. In various sources, she is noted as the daughter of Dymas, king of Phrygia, or as coming from a Royal Phrygian line, though exact lineage varies by tradition.

Her story centers on the events of the Trojan War and its aftermath. Hecuba endures the destruction of Troy and the deaths of many of her sons, while she and other Trojan women are subjected to hardship in the Greek camps. The myths emphasize her role as a grieving, protective mother and a formidable, if sometimes embittered, matriarch who speaks for the suffering of her people. In some versions, the tragedy deepens with the murder of Polydorus, one of Priam’s sons, at the hands of Polymestor, a Thracian king, a deed that sparks her pursuit of vengeance.

In classical literature, Euripides wrote a tragedy titled Hecuba (c. 5th century BCE) that dramatizes her life after the fall of Troy and her response to loss and injustice. The character has appeared in other Greek plays and later Western literature as a symbol of maternal grief, endurance, and the human costs of war.

Today, Hecuba remains a recurring reference in discussions of Trojan myth, tragedy, and the portrayal of royal motherhood in ancient storytelling.