A Cyclopaedia of Female Biography/Andromache
ANDROMACHE,
Wife of the valiant Hector, son of Priam king of Troy, and the mother of Astyanax, was daughter of Eetion, king of Thebes, in Cilicia. After the death of Hector, and the destruction of Troy, B. C. 1184, she was given to Pyrrhus, son of Achilles, and one of the most celebrated Greek warriors, who married her. Helenus, son of Priam, was also a captive to Pyrrhus, and having given him advice, which resulted favourably, Pyrrhus bestowed Andromache upon him, with part of the country of Epulis. She had children by Pyrrhus; and some authors are of opinion that all the kings of Epirus, to that Pyrrhus who made war against the Romans, were descended from a son of Andromache. The princess had seven brothers, who were killed by Achilles, together with their father, in one day. One author tells us, that she accompanied Priam when he went to desire Achilles to sell him the body of Hector; and that to move him to greater compassion, she carried her son with her, who was an infant. She was of a large stature, if the poets are good authority; but though her beauty of person would never have made her celebrated like Helen, the purity of her mind and the beauty of her character have given her a much nobler celebrity. The tragedy of Euripides is a monument to her memory; and her dialogue with Hector in the Sixth Book of the Iliad is one of the most beautiful parts of that poem.