ANDROMACHE

[Greek heroic] Andromache was the daughter of Eetion, ruler of the Cilician city of Thebe; she was the wife of the Trojan hero Hector and the mother of Astyanax. Andromache's father and brothers were killed by Achilles when he captured Thebe during the Trojan War; her mother was spared and ransomed, but died in Troy before its fall. During the seige of Troy, Achilles also killed her husband, Hector, and then desecrated his body. Andromache herself became the slave and concubine of Neoptolemus, Achilles' son, when Troy was captured; her son Astyanax was flung by the Greeks from the walls of Troy. After the end of the Trojan War, Andromache was taken to Greece by Neoptolemus and bore him a son, Molossus, who gave his name to the Molossian people. Following Neoptolemus' death, Andromache married Helenus, one of the few surviving children of King Priam of Troy; Helenus became the ruler of the Greek region of Epirus.