PRIAM

the ineffectual king of Troy in Shakespeare's Troilus and Cressida. Priam leaves key decisions to his sons and fails to provide the leadership needed to break the siege of Troy by the Greeks. in Greek mythology, the last king of Troy. He succeeded his father, Laomedon, as king and extended his control over the Hellespont. He married first Arisbe (a daughter of Merops the seer) and then Hecuba, by whom he had many children, including his favourites, Hector and Paris. Homer described Priam as an old man, powerless but kindly, not even blaming Helen, the wife of Paris, for all his personal losses resulting from the Trojan War. In the final year of the conflict, Priam saw 13 sons die: the Greek warrior Achilles killed Polydorus, Lycaon, and Hector within one day. The death of Hector, which signified the end of Troy's hopes, also broke the spirit of the king. Priam's paternal love impelled him to brave the savage anger of Achilles and to ransom the corpse of Hector; Achilles, respecting the old man's feelings and foreseeing his own father's sorrows, returned the corpse. When Troy fell, Neoptolemus, the son of Achilles, butchered the old king on an altar. Both Priam's death and his ransoming of Hector were favourite themes of ancient art. See also Hecuba.