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Andromache, a MythSource painting
Greek

Andromache

Hector's Wife · Eëtion's Daughter · Astyanax's Mother

01Identity

Andromache in Greek tradition

After Troy falls, Andromache, Hector's wife and Astyanax's mother, is separated from her young son when the Greeks order his death. Astyanax is thrown from the city walls, while Andromache is taken captive and assigned to Neoptolemus. She later bears Molossos, and some traditions place her beside Helenus in Epirus, where they raise descendants of Troy.

Top questions

The quick answers

02Family

Andromache’s family, at a glance

Parents above, children below, and the figure’s consorts named in between, the same family data as the fact box, laid out as a chart instead of a field list.

Eetion
AndromachePodes

with Hector, Helenus, Neoptolemus

AmphialusAstyanaxCestrinusLaodamasMolossusOxyniusPergamusPielus
03The names

The names Andromache answers to

Daughter of Eëtion

Child of Eëtion, king of Thebes in Cilicia

SourceWar in Greek Mythology

Wife of Hector

Hector's Trojan wife

SourceWar in Greek Mythology

Mother of Astyanax

Mother of Hector's son

SourceClassical Mythology a to Z

04The myths

The myths of Andromache

3 myths, each traced to its primary text and corpus sources, with 1 reviewed modern rework linked where the evidence supports it.

Andromache and Astyanax at the Fall of Troy

The Greek soldiers drove the Trojan women from the burning city. Andromache held her son Astyanax in her arms. He was still a small child, and she believed that the victors would allow her to take him with her. Around her, the other women mourned their lost homes and husbands. Their children cried as the Greeks led them towards the ships.

A herald came from the Greek camp. He told Andromache that she must not hate him for the message he had been forced to bring. Astyanax could not go with her. The Greeks had condemned him to die because they feared that Hector’s son would grow up and avenge his father. Their plan was to throw him from the walls of Troy.

Andromache understood that no one could help her. She said farewell to her child and held him close. She kissed him and told him that he could not know what awaited him. She imagined his fall from the high wall and the broken body that no one would pity. The soldiers then took Astyanax from her. They carried him to the ramparts and hurled him down as Troy was being destroyed.

Andromache was left among the captive women. She had lost Hector, and she was destined to become the concubine of Neoptolemus, Achilles’ son. Polyxena had also been killed as a sacrifice at Achilles’ tomb. The fate of Astyanax had been foreseen when Hector was still alive, but its cause and the person who carried it out vary between accounts.

Andromache and Astyanax at the Fall of Troy, a MythSource painting of the scene

In the modern world

Troy: Fall of a City

Television

The separation of Andromache from her son during the Greek sack, the child's death by being thrown from the walls (here carried out by Odysseus on Agamemnon's order), and Andromache's captivity as a war prize all survive into the series.

3 sources· checked 2026-08-18

  1. 1The Library of Greek Mythology (Oxford World's Classics)T1
  2. 2Homer, OdysseyT1

    Quote

    “After Troy’s destruction, Andromache was taken from her home, while Astyanax was left to the victors and Hector’s household was broken.”

    Homer, Odyssey

  3. 3War in Greek MythologyT1

Andromache Becomes Neoptolemus's Captive

As the Greeks took Troy, they killed its defenders, set the city on fire, and divided the spoils. They sacrificed to the gods. Astyanax, the son of Hector and Andromache, was hurled from the walls. Polyxena was killed on Achilles’ tomb. Andromache, Hector’s widow, was assigned to Neoptolemus. Agamemnon received Cassandra, and Odysseus received Hecuba. The account attributed to Apollodorus records these events in the Epitome.

Neoptolemus was the son of Achilles and Deidameia, daughter of Lycomedes. He had remained on Scyros, where Odysseus found him. Odysseus promised him gifts from the Greeks and the golden armour of Achilles. Menelaus was also said to have promised him Hermione as his wife if Troy was captured. Deidameia wept when her son left, dressed in mourning. Neoptolemus promised to return with Troy’s spoils, or to die after deeds worthy of Achilles. He was also called Pyrrhos. The sources explain this name either by his youth when he went to war or by his red hair.

After the fall of Troy, Neoptolemus took Andromache and remained on Tenedos for two days, as Thetis had advised. He then travelled overland towards the country of the Molossians with Helenos. Phoenix died on the journey, and Neoptolemus buried him. He defeated the Molossians in battle and became their king. Andromache bore him Molossos. Some traditions also name Pielus and Pergamus as their sons.

Helenos founded a city in Molossia. Neoptolemus gave him Deidameia as a wife. When the sons of Acastos expelled Peleus from Phthia and Peleus died, Neoptolemus recovered his father’s kingdom. Later, sources differ about his death. One says that Orestes killed him at Delphi over Hermione. Another says that Neoptolemus attacked Apollo’s temple and was killed after plundering its offerings.

Andromache Becomes Neoptolemus's Captive, a MythSource painting of the scene

In the modern world

No modern rework confirmed yet.

3 sources· checked 2026-08-18

  1. 1The Library of Greek Mythology (Oxford World's Classics)T1
  2. 2Apollodorus, The LibraryT1

    Quote

    “After Troy’s fall, Andromache was awarded to Neoptolemus, who travelled with Helenos to Molossia, ruled there, and fathered Molossos by her.”

    Apollodorus, The Library

  3. 3War in Greek MythologyT1

Andromache and Helenus in Epirus

Andromache joined Helenus in Epirus, where they became rulers. They raised Molossus and Cestrinus among the surviving descendants of Troy. Helenus was a son of Priam and Hecuba and the twin brother of Cassandra. Homer’s Iliad gives both twins the gift of prophecy and calls Helenus the best of the augurs.

Another tradition, preserved in the account attributed to Apollodorus in the Epitome, connects Andromache with the Molossians after the fall of Troy. Neoptolemos travelled overland to their country with Helenus. Phoenix died during the journey, and Neoptolemos buried him. He then defeated the Molossians in battle and became their king. Andromache bore him a son, Molossus. Helenus founded a city in Molossia and settled there.

A different account makes Andromache the wife of a victorious Greek chief. She bore him a son. After his death, she governed the country as regent for the child. The traditions therefore differ over Andromache’s husband and over the order of rule in Molossia. The account that places her with Helenus presents them as rulers in Epirus, with Molossus and Cestrinus among the surviving Trojan family.

Andromache and Helenus in Epirus, a MythSource painting of the scene

In the modern world

No modern rework confirmed yet.

3 sources· checked 2026-08-18

  1. 1The Library of Greek Mythology (Oxford World's Classics)T1
  2. 2War in Greek MythologyT1
  3. 3Apollodorus, The LibraryT1

    Quote

    “Helenus founded a city in Molossia, and Andromache, after bearing Molossus to Neoptolemus, came to live and rule there with him.”

    Apollodorus, The Library

Also appears in

The myths across MythSource where Andromache features, each on that figure’s page.

The film

The Underdrawing video on Andromache embeds here once it publishes.