Polydorus

In Greek mythology, Polydorus (/ˌpɒlᵻˈdɔːrəs/ or /ˌpɒlᵻˈdɒrəs/; Ancient Greek: Πολύδωρος, i.e. "many-gift[ed]") or Polydoros referred to several different people.

In art, Polydorus was:

Notes

Polydorus (son of Priam)

Polydorus (Polydoros; Ancient Greek: Πολύδωρος) is the youngest son of Priam and Hecuba in the mythology of the Trojan War. Polydorus is an example of the fluid nature of myth, as his role and story vary significantly in different traditions and sources.

In Hecuba and Metamorphoses

In Euripides' tragedy Hecuba, the ghost of Polydorus is a character, and his death is the cause of the main conflict of the play. Polydorus’ ghost presents the prologue of the play, explaining that he was sent to Thrace under the protection of King Polymestor in case Troy fell. With his son, Priam sent gold so that if Troy should fall his son could continue to support himself. Once Troy fell, however, Polymestor killed Polydorus by throwing him into the sea and stole the gold. Polydorus laments the fact that his body is adrift in the sea without the proper death rites.

Later in the play, a slave woman tells Hecuba that Polydorus’ body has been found washed up on shore. Hecuba explains that she saw the murderer of Polydorus in a dream and it is Polymestor. Aided by Agamemnon and the other captive women, Hecuba proceeds to avenge her son’s murder by killing Polymestor’s sons and blinding him. This same story of Polydorus is the subject of an episode in Ovid’s Metamorphoses.

Polydorus (son of Astyanax)

In Greek mythology, Polydorus or Polydore (Ancient Greek: Πολύδωρος) was the son of Astyanax, prince of Troy. Astyanax was killed by either Neoptolemos (Achilles' son) or by Odysseus. According to another legend, Astyanax was brought to Greece to take Neoptolemos.

In Frankish legend, Polydore was an ancestor of Clovis I, Peppin III and Charlemagne.

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