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InsightHorizon Digest

Who is Priam and why does he go to Achilles camp

Author

James Bradley

Updated on April 19, 2026

Who is Priam, and why does he go to Achilles camp? Priam is the father of the deceased Hector. He visits the Greek’s camp to ask Achilles for Hectors body back.

Why does Priam go to the camp of Achilles?

Hecuba fears that Achilles will kill her husband, but Zeus reassures her by sending an eagle as a good omen. Priam sets out with his driver, Idaeus, and a chariot full of treasure. Zeus sends Hermes, disguised as a benevolent Myrmidon soldier, to guide Priam through the Achaean camp.

What was Priam's role in the Trojan War?

During the Trojan War though Priam is famous for one act, for he braved the camp of the enemy when his son Hector was slain by Achilles. The rage of Achilles had been such that the body of Hector had been desecrated, and the heralds of Troy had been unable to ransom the body.

What did Priam do when he met Achilles?

By kissing Achilles’ hands instead of avenging Hektor’s death, Priam breaks a taboo, and by this act, Priam humbles himself before Achilles. Priam’s act causes Achilles to see Priam as he sees his own father, and the awakening of sympathy within Achilles begins.

What happened to Priam?

Priam is killed during the Sack of Troy by Achilles’ son Neoptolemus (also known as Pyrrhus). … Priam rebukes Neoptolemus, throwing a spear at him, harmlessly hitting his shield. Neoptolemus then drags Priam to the altar and there kills him too. Priam’s death is alternatively depicted in some Greek vases.

Who helps Priam Enter Achilles camp how?

Each day for the next nine days, Achilles drags Hector’s body in circles around Patroclus’s funeral bier. At last, the gods agree that Hector deserves a proper burial. Zeus sends the god Hermes to escort King Priam, Hector’s father and the ruler of Troy, into the Achaean camp.

How does Priam convince Achilles?

When he arrived with the ransom, Priam knelt before Achilles and appealed to Achilles’ love for his father to explain Priam’s grief and explain how awful it is for a father to bury his son. This is what convinced Achilles to not merely release the body but also give the Trojans time to mourn Hector.

What did King Priam bring to Achilles to ransom Hectors body?

Priam has brought with him a generous ransom for his son’s dead body: Hector’s weight in gold. I assume that you are talking about what happens in Book XXIV, the last book of this epic. By the time that this book takes place, Achilles has already killed Hector.

Who is Priam in ransom?

Priam, in Greek mythology, the last king of Troy. He succeeded his father, Laomedon, as king and extended Trojan control over the Hellespont. He married first Arisbe (a daughter of Merops the seer) and then Hecuba, and he had other wives and concubines. He had 50 sons, according to Homer’s Iliad, and many daughters.

Why does Priam want Hector's body back?

Priam desperately wants his son’s body to be returned so that he can give it the proper funeral rites. When Priam comes to Achilles’s tent, he kneels before the Greek hero and kisses his hand in supplication. This is a sacred act and one that cannot easily be ignored.

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Why does Achilles relent and allow Priam to take Hector's body back to Troy?

Achilles takes pity on Priam when he connects Priam to his own father, Peleus. Achilles considers his impending death and the recent death of his friend Patroclus. Achilles relates the two fathers because they will both outlive their sons. The final reason Achilles returns Hector’s body to Priam is the ransom.

What happened to Priam after the fall of Troy?

Following the fall of Troy, Priam was killed by Achilles’ son, Neoptolemus, as he was seeking refuge on the altar of Zeus. Neoptolemus caught Priam, brought him to the altar and killed him there.

What was Priam role in the Iliad?

In The Iliad, an epic poem by Homer, King Priam is that dad. King Priam is the king of Troy and the father of Hector and Paris (in addition to 50 other children). He has many strengths, which include courage, a desire to protect his people, empathy, and love for his sons.

Why was Achilles moved?

Achilles has accepted his own death, but in Priam’s grief for Hector he can see how his own death will affect his father, and it moves him in a way he hadn’t been since making his choice to act.

What does the name Priam mean?

In Greek Baby Names the meaning of the name Priam is: King of Troy.

Who are Priam children?

Hekabe) alone, nineteen sons; among them Hector, Paris, Deiphobus, Helenus, Polydorus, Troilus; by his first, Arisbe, Aesacus. Among his daughters were Creusa, the wife of Aeneas, Cassandra, and Polyxena.

Does Priam forgive Achilles?

This is seen when Priam goes to Achilles and asks for his “forgiveness”. … In front of Priam’s humiliation, Achilles seems to forgive Hector’s hand in the fall of Patroclus – he had his revenge, a life for a life. In having his son’s body returned to him, Priam forgives Achilles’ actions against it .

Was it easy for King Priam to ransom the body of Hector from their enemies camp Why do you say so?

It was dangerous for King Priam to claim the body of his son Hector because he had to go into the Greek camp all by himself. He might have been killed or taken prisoner before he ever reached Achilles’ tent. Then he had no way of knowing what sort of reception to expect from Achilles himself.

When Priam enters Achilles camp what does Achilles threaten to do to him?

38. What does Achilles promise Priam he will do? Give an 11 day truce so that they can bury Hector properly.

What part of Achilles did Priam kiss that moved Achilles to tears?

— Book 24, line 618–624; Priam kisses Achilles’ hands. Achilles continues mourning Patroclus and abusing Hector’s body, dragging it around his dead companion’s tomb. Apollo, meanwhile, protects Hector’s corpse from damage and rot and staves off dogs and scavengers.

What does Priam call somax?

His search for Hector is also a search for himself, to reinvent who he is and how he wishes others to remember him. Meanwhile, Somax is designated as the king’s herald, with the name Idaeus. He secretly notes his unhappiness with this name appointment, since he is ‘Somax, not Idaeus’.

How does somax change Priam?

Eager to appease the king and not affront him, Somax presents Priam to the “simple pleasures” of the outside world. Indeed, Somax’s actions have an impact on Priam as the “coolness of the water” and the “griddlecakes” ease the burden of the journey, Page 2 making him feel “comfortably restored”.

Who is King Priam and Queen Hecuba?

Hecuba, sometimes known as Hecabe, was the wife of King Priam making her queen of Troy. She was his second wife and mother to 19 of his children, including Hector and Paris, important characters in The Iliad.

What does Aeneas say happened to Priam?

Waking, Aeneas, disillusioned by the disastrous events revealed in his dream, armed himself and went out into the city, desperately planning to die in combat. … Pyrrhus rashly murdered Priam’s son, Politës, in front of the king, and then he killed Priam himself at the altar of Jupiter.

Who is Achilles in Troy?

Achilles, in Greek mythology, son of the mortal Peleus, king of the Myrmidons, and the Nereid, or sea nymph, Thetis. Achilles was the bravest, handsomest, and greatest warrior of the army of Agamemnon in the Trojan War.

When did Achilles give Hector's body back?

520–500 BC. Eventually Hector’s father Priam, with the assistance of the god Hermes, makes the dangerous journey to the Greek camp to see Achilles and beg for the return of his son’s corpse for burial.

Who escorted Priam to the achaeans camp?

Hermes escorts Priam through the Achaean camp. On two occasions the gods fight on the battlefield among themselves, and even are wounded (see above, under Diomedes).