Andromache
Hector’s wife, whose fears as wife and mother expose the human cost of heroic warfare.
Overview
Andromache is wife of Hector and mother of Astyanax. Iliad Book 6 gives her one of epic’s clearest civilian and domestic perspectives on war: Achilles has already killed her father and brothers, leaving Hector as her surviving family. She asks him to defend the wall rather than seek battle and predicts precisely that his death will mean enslavement for her and the loss of protection for their child. When Hector’s helmet frightens the boy, he removes it and lifts his son, briefly turning a heroic emblem back into an ordinary family object. The sack tradition later fulfils Andromache’s fears, linking prediction and consequence across different works.
Key facts
The choice at the wall
Andromache proposes a defensive strategy and states what Hector’s death will mean for wife and child.
Further spoiler details are available in the interactive atlas.
Relationships
- Hectormarried to
Hector and Andromache are married.
- Troylives in
Andromache waits inside Troy for news from battle.
- Sack of Troyis captured after
Andromache is allocated to Neoptolemus among the captives.
Story appearances
- The Trojan WarWife and mother who foresees defeat’s cost
Urges Hector to defend the wall and foresees captivity, which the sack tradition fulfils.
Ancient sources
MythWeave distinguishes ancient-source evidence from later adaptations and modern interpretation.