Priămus

, the last king of Troy, was son of Laomedon by Strymo, called Placia by some. When Hercules took the city of Troy [ See: Laomedon ], Priam was in the number of his prisoners, but his sister Hesione redeemed him from captivity, and he exchanged his original name of Podarces for that of Priam , which signifies bought or ransomed . See: Podarces . He was also placed on his father’s throne by Hercules, and he employed himself with well-directed diligence in repairing, fortifying, and embellishing the city of Troy. He had married, by his father’s orders, Arisba, whom now he divorced for Hecuba the daughter of Dimas, or Ci eus, a neighbouring prince. He had by Hecuba 17 children, according to Cicero, or, according to Homer, 19; the most celebrated of whom are Hector, Paris, Deiphobus, Helenus, Pammon, Polites, Antiphus, Hippo no us, Troilus, Creusa, Laodice, Polyxena, and Cas sandra. Besides these he had many others by concubines. Their names, according to Apollo dor us, are Melampus, Gorgythion, Philæmon, Glaucus, Agathon, Evagoras, Hippo thous, Chersidamas, Hippo dam as, Mestor, Atas, Dorcylus, Dryops, Lycaon, As tyg on us, Bias, Evander, Chromius, Telestas, Melius, Cebrion, Laodocus, Idomeneus, Arc he mach us, Echephron, Hyper i on, As can i us, Arrhetus, Democoon, Dejoptes, Echemon, Clovius, Ægioneus, Hypirychus, Lysithous, Poly med on, Medusa, Lysimache, Me desi caste, and Aristo deme. After he had reigned for some time in the greatest prosperity, Priam expre ed a desire to recover his sister Hesione, whom Hercules had carried into Greece, and married to Telamon his friend. To carry this plan into execution, Priam manned a fleet, of which he gave the command to his son Paris, with orders to bring back Hesione. Paris, to whom the godde of beauty had promised the fairest woman in the world [ See: Paris ], neglected in some measure his father’s injunctions, and as if to make reprisals upon the Greeks, he carried away Helen the wife of Menelaus king of Sparta, during the absence of her husband. Priam beheld this with satisfaction, and he countenanced his son by receiving in his palace the wife of the king of Sparta. This rape kindled the flames of war; all the suitors of Helen, at the request of Menelaus [ See: Menelaus ], a embled to revenge the violence offered to his bed, and a fleet, according to some, of 140 ships under the command of the 69 chiefs that furnished them, set sail for Troy. Priam might have averted the impending blow by the restoration of Helen; but this he refused to do, when the amba adors of the Greeks came to him, and he immediately raised an army to defend himself. Troy was soon besieged; frequent skirmishes took place, in which the succe was various, and the advantages on both sides inconsiderable. The siege was continued for 10 succe ive years, and Priam had the misfortune to see the greatest part of his children ma acred by the enemy. Hector, the eldest of these, was the only one upon whom now the Trojans looked for protection and support; but he soon fell a sacrifice to his own courage, and was killed by Achilles. Priam severely felt his lo , and as he loved him with the greatest tenderne , he wished to ransom his body, which was in the enemy’s camp. The gods, according to Homer, interested themselves in favour of old Priam. Achilles was prevailed upon by his mother, the godde Thetis, to restore Hector to Priam, and the king of Troy pa ed through the Grecian camp conducted by Mercury the me enger of the gods, who with his rod had made him invisible. The meeting of Priam and Achilles was solemn and affecting; the conqueror paid to the Trojan monarch that attention and reverence which was due to his dignity, his years, and his misfortunes, and Priam in a suppliant manner addre ed the prince whose favours he claimed, and ki ed the hands that had robbed him of the greatest and the best of his children. Achilles was moved by his tears and entreaties; he restored Hector, and permitted Priam a truce of 12 days for the funeral of his son. Some time after Troy was betrayed into the hands of the Greeks by Antenor and Æneas, and Priam upon this resolved to die in defence of his country. He put on his armour and advanced to meet the Greeks, but Hecuba by her tears and entreaties detained him near an altar of Jupiter, whither she had fled for protection. While Priam yielded to the prayers of his wife, Polites, one of his sons, fled also to the altar before Neoptolemus, who pursued him with fury. Polites, wounded and overcome, fell dead at the feet of his parents, and the aged father, fired with indignation, ventured the most bitter invectives against the Greek, who paid no regard to the sanctity of altars and temples, and raising his spear darted it upon him. The spear hurled by the feeble hand of Priam touched the buckler of Neoptolemus, and fell to the ground. This irritated the son of Achilles; he seized Priam by his grey hairs, and without compa ion or reverence for the sanctity of the place, he plunged his dagger into his breast. His head was cut off, ♦ and the mutilated body was left among the heaps of slain. Dictys Cretensis , bk. 1 , . — Dares Phrygius. — Hero dot us , bk. 2 , ch. 120 .— Pausanias , bk. 10 , ch. 25 .— Homer , Iliad , bk. 22 , . — Euripi des , Troades .— Cicero , Tusculanæ Dis put at i ones , bk. 1 , ch. 35 .— Quintus Smyrnæus , bk. 1 .— Virgil , Æneid , bk. 2 , li. 507 , . — Horace , ode 10, li. 14 .— Hyginus , fable 110.— Quintus Calaber [Smyrnæus] , bk. 15 , li. 226 . ♦ ‘und’ replaced with ‘and’