Hesione

Hesione was a name given to various figures in Greek mythology, but the best known is a princess of Troy. She was the daughter of King Laomedon and the sister of Priam. Heracles saved her from a sea monster, and after he captured Troy he gave her to Telamon, king of Salamis, as a prize; she was the mother of Teucer.

Family

According to Apollodorus, Laomedon had five sons, Tithonus, Lampus, Clytius, Hicetaon and Podarces, and three daughters, Hesione, Cilla and Astyoche (Library 3.12.3). Podarces was later called Priam.

The Sea Monster

Hesione’s main myth begins when Apollo and Poseidon, taking the shape of men, built the walls of Troy for Laomedon for wages, and he refused to pay them. Apollo sent a plague and Poseidon sent a sea monster that snatched away the people of the plain. Oracles promised relief if Laomedon exposed his daughter Hesione to the monster, and he fastened her to rocks beside the sea (Apollodorus, Library 2.5.9; compare Iliad 21.441–457).

Heracles, who was returning from his expedition against the Amazons, saw her and promised to save her if Laomedon would give him the horses that Zeus had given as compensation for Ganymede. Laomedon agreed and Heracles killed the monster, but the king would not hand over the horses. Heracles sailed away, threatening war (Apollodorus, Library 2.5.9). In the Iliad the Trojans and Athena built a wall for Heracles to shelter behind from the monster (Iliad 20.144–148), and Homer says that Heracles later sacked Troy because of Laomedon’s horses (Iliad 5.638–651).

The Capture of Troy

After finishing his servitude, Heracles sailed against Troy with eighteen ships. Telamon was the first to breach the wall, and Heracles, who wanted the honour for himself, drew his sword on him, until Telamon began to pile up stones and said he was building an altar to Heracles the Glorious Victor. Heracles took the city, shot down Laomedon and his sons except Podarces, and gave Hesione to Telamon as a prize (Apollodorus, Library 2.6.4).

She was allowed to take one of the captives with her, and she chose her brother Podarces. Heracles said that he must first be a slave and then be ransomed by her. When he was being sold she took the veil from her head and gave it as the price, and from this, Apollodorus says, Podarces was called Priam, from the Greek verb meaning “to buy” (Library 2.6.4).

Hesione and Telamon

Hesione went to Salamis with Telamon and bore him a son, Teucer (Apollodorus, Library 3.12.7). Telamon’s other son, Ajax, was born to Periboea, daughter of Alcathous, so Hesione is not the mother of Ajax. In the Iliad, Agamemnon calls Teucer Telamon’s illegitimate son, whom Telamon raised in his own house (Iliad 8.281–284). Virgil mentions that Priam visited his sister Hesione in Salamis when he was young (Aeneid 8.157–158). No ancient source describes her later life or death.

Other Hesiones

Hesione is also the name of an Oceanid, the wife of Prometheus, whom the chorus in Aeschylus recall as having been brought to his bed with gifts (Prometheus Bound 555–560). The Hesione of Troy is the one this page describes.

Hesione Sources

Homer, Iliad 5.638–651, 8.281–284, 20.144–148, 21.441–457; Apollodorus, Library 2.5.9, 2.6.4, 3.12.3, 3.12.7; Aeschylus, Prometheus Bound 555–560; Virgil, Aeneid 8.157–158.

See Also: Laomedon, Priam, Telamon, Apollo, Poseidon, Heracles, Teucer, Trojan War