Hecuba

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Hecuba (also Hekuba or Hekabe) was a Trojan queen in Greek mythology, daughter of Dymas.

With her husband, King Priam, Hecuba had twenty children including Creusa, Hector, Antiphus, Deiphobus, Ilione, Laodice, Polydorus, Polites, Helenus, Paris and Cassandra.

With the god Apollo, Hecuba had a son named Troilius. An oracle prophesied that Troy would not be defeated as long as Troilius reached the age of twenty alive. He and his sister, Polyxena, were ambushed and killed by Achilles during the Trojan War.

Polydorus, Priam's youngest son, was sent with gifts of jewelry and gold to the court of King Polymestor to keep him safe during the Trojan War. The fighting grew vicious and Priam was frightened for the child's safety. After Troy fell, Polymestor threw Polydorus to his death to take the treasure for himself. Hecuba, though she was enslaved by the Achaeans when the city fell, eventually avenged her son.

In another tradition, Hecuba went mad upon seeing the corpses of her children Polydorus and Polyxena.

Hecuba is seen as the leading character in the play, The Trojan Women (in Greek, Troiades) and Hecuba, both tragedies by the Greek playwright Euripides.