Briseis

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Briseis

Hippodameia Briseís is a Trojan

Troy

Troy is a legendary city and center of the Trojan War, as described in the Epic Cycle, and especially in the Iliad, one of the two epic poems attributed to Homer....
woman captured by the Greeks in the Iliad
ILiad

The iLiad is an electronic handheld device, or e-book device, which can be used for document reading and editing. Like the Sony Reader or Amazon Kindle, the iLiad makes use of an electronic paper display....
. She was first Achilles

Achilles

Trojan War

In Greek mythology, the Trojan War was waged against the city of Troy by the Achaeans after Paris of Troy stole Helen from her husband Menelaus, the king of Sparta....
; he fell in love with her. She was then taken by King Agamemnon

Agamemnon

In Greek mythology, Agamemnon / is the son of King Atreus of Mycenae and Queen Aerope, the brother of Menelaus and the husband of Clytemnestra; different mythological versions make him the king either of Mycenae or of Argos....
, but later returned to Achilles

Achilles

In Greek mythology, Achilles was a Greeks hero of the Trojan War, the central character and the greatest warrior of Homer's Iliad, which takes for its theme ; the Wrath of Achilles....
.

a class="link1" onMouseover='showByLink("m291380",this)' onMouseout='hide("m291380")'href="http://www.absoluteastronomy.com/topics/Greek_mythology">Greek mythology

Greek mythology

Greek mythology is the body of myths and legends belonging to the Ancient Greece concerning their List of Greek mythological figures#Immortals and Greek hero cult, Cosmology#Metaphysical cosmology, and the origins and significance of their own cult and ritual practices....
, Hippodameia, a daughter of Briseus

Briseus

In Greek mythology, Briseus is the father of Briseis , a maiden captured by the Greeks during the Trojan War, as recorded in the Iliad. Eustathius of Thessalonica, a commentator on Homer, says Briseus and Chryses were brothers, as sons of Ardys, with Briseus dwelling in Pedasus, and Chryses residing in Chrysa; both were towns in the Troa...
and more often called by her patronym of Briseís (Greek

Greek language

Greek is an Indo-European languages native to the southern Balkan peninsula, the language of the Greek people. It forms an independent branch within Indo-European....
: ???s???) was a Trojan

Troy

Troy is a legendary city and center of the Trojan War, as described in the Epic Cycle, and especially in the Iliad, one of the two epic poems attributed to Homer....
widow from Lyrnessus

Lyrnessus

In Greek mythology Lyrnessus was a town or city in Dardania , inhabited by Cilicians. It was closely associated with the nearby Cilician Thebe....
. When Achilles

Achilles

Trojan War

In Greek mythology, the Trojan War was waged against the city of Troy by the Achaeans after Paris of Troy stole Helen from her husband Menelaus, the king of Sparta....
, her three brothers died, as did, at Achilles' hands, her husband (possibly King Mynes of Lyrnessus); she was given to Achilles as a prize.

After an oracle

Oracle

An oracle is a person or agency considered to be a source of wise counsel or prophecy opinion; an infallible authority, usually Spirituality in nature....
forced Agamemnon

Agamemnon

Chryseis

In Greek mythology, Chryseis was a Troy woman, the daughter of Chryses. Chryseis, her apparent name in the Iliad, means simply "Chryses' daughter"; later writers give her real name as Astynome....
, he ordered his heralds, Talthybius

Talthybius

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Encyclopedia

Hippodameia Briseís is a Trojan

Troy

Achilles

Trojan War

Agamemnon

Achilles

In Greek mythology, Achilles was a Greeks hero of the Trojan War, the central character and the greatest warrior of Homer's Iliad, which takes for its theme ; the Wrath of Achilles....
.

Story

In Greek mythology

Greek mythology

Briseus

Greek language

Greek is an Indo-European languages native to the southern Balkan peninsula, the language of the Greek people. It forms an independent branch within Indo-European....
: ???s???) was a Trojan

Troy

Troy is a legendary city and center of the Trojan War, as described in the Epic Cycle, and especially in the Iliad, one of the two epic poems attributed to Homer....
widow from Lyrnessus

Lyrnessus

In Greek mythology Lyrnessus was a town or city in Dardania , inhabited by Cilicians. It was closely associated with the nearby Cilician Thebe....
. When Achilles

Achilles

Trojan War

Oracle

An oracle is a person or agency considered to be a source of wise counsel or prophecy opinion; an infallible authority, usually Spirituality in nature....
forced Agamemnon

Agamemnon

Chryseis

Talthybius

Talthybius was herald and friend to Agamemnon in the Trojan War. He was the one who took Briseis from the tent of Achilles. Preceding the duel of Menelaus and Paris, Agamemnon charges him to fetch a sheep for sacrifice....
and Eurybates, to take Briseis from Achilles as compensation. Achilles was offended by this seizure and, as a result, withdrew from the fighting. Despite Agamemnon's grand offers of treasure and women, he did not return to the fray until the death of Patroclus

Patroclus

In Greek mythology, as recorded in the Iliad by Homer, Patroclus, or Patroklos , son of Menoetius , was Achilles? beloved comrade and, according to some , his lover....
.

The retirement of Achilles to his tent is the first event of Homer

Homer

Homer is traditionally held to be the author of the ancient Greek language epic poems the Iliad and the Odyssey, as well as of the Homeric Hymns....
's Iliad
ILiad

The iLiad is an electronic handheld device, or e-book device, which can be used for document reading and editing. Like the Sony Reader or Amazon Kindle, the iLiad makes use of an electronic paper display....
. With Achilles removed from the conflict, the Trojans enjoyed a period of success. After Achilles' return to the fighting, Agamemnon restored Briseis to him.

In the Iliad, Achilles loves Briseis, comparing their relationship with that of man and wife (he refers to her as his wife and bride often).

Are the Atreidai of all mortal men
the only ones who love their wives? I think not.
Every sane decent fellow loves his own
and cares for her, as in my heart I loved
Briseis, though I won her by the spear.

Achilles is quite angry at Agamemnon, and seethes in his tent. He is, understandably, made furious by the thought of Agamemnon sleeping with her. When the quarrel is resolved,and Achilles returns to the fighting, Agamemnon swears to Achilles that he and Briseis never shared a bed.

In medieval romances

Romance (genre)

As a literary genre of high culture, romance or chivalric romance refers to a style of heroic prose and Verse narrative that was particularly current in aristocratic literature of Middle Ages and Early Modern Europe, that narrated fantastic stories about the marvellous adventures of a chivalrous, heroic knight, often of super-human ab...
, starting with the Roman de Troie, Briseis becomes Briseida and is the daughter of Calchas

Calchas

In Greek mythology, Calchas , son of Thestor, was a Argive seer, with a gift for interpreting the flight of birds that he received of Apollo: "as an augur, Calchas had no rival in the camp"....
. She loves and is loved by Troilus

Troilus

Troilus is a legendary character associated with the story of the Trojan War. The first surviving reference to him is in Homer's Iliad which is believed to have been written in the late 9th century BC or 8th century BC....
and then Diomedes

Diomedes

Diomedes or Diomed is a hero in Greek mythology, mostly known for his participation in the Trojan War. He was born to Tydeus and Deipyle and later became King of Argos, succeeding his grandfather, Adrastus....
. She is later confused with Chryseis

Chryseis

Cressida

Cressida is a character who appears in many Medieval literature and Renaissance literature retellings of the story of the Trojan War. She is a Trojan woman, and portrayed as the daughter of Chryses, or in later versions, Calchas....
.

Cultural references

In The Firebrand
The Firebrand

The Firebrand by Marion Zimmer Bradley Kassandra, the tortured prophetess daughter of Priam, receives little page-time in Homer?s Iliad, but in The Firebrand, a 1986 novel by Marion Zimmer Bradley, Kassandra is placed center stage in the saga of Troy....
by Marion Zimmer Bradley
Marion Zimmer Bradley

Marion Eleanor Zimmer Bradley was an United States author of fantasy novels such as The Mists of Avalon and the Darkover series, often with a feminist outlook....
, Briseis fell in love with Achilles and chose to leave Troy to be with him.
The novel Daughter of Troy by Sarah B. Franklin
Dave Duncan (writer)

David Duncan is a Canadian fantasy author. He was born in 1933 in Scotland, and educated there at the High School of Dundee and at the University of St Andrews....
is written from Briseis' point of view with a substantial pre-history before the events of the Illiad unfold.
In Christa Wolf
Christa Wolf

Christa Wolf is a German literary critic, novelist, and essayist. She is one of the best-known writers to emerge from the former East Germany....
's novel Kassandra
Cassandra (novel)

Cassandra was written by German author Christa Wolf in 1984. It has then been translated into many different languages....
, aspects of the Homeric and medieval versions of Briseis's story are blended so that the character is steadily degraded from being Troilus' lover to Agamemnon and Achilles' plaything.
Briseis is also featured in the 2004 film Troy
Troy (film)

Troy is an epic film released on May 14, 2004, concerning the Trojan War. It is loosely based on Homer's Iliad, but includes material from Virgil's Aeneid and other sources, and frequently diverges from myth....
. In the film, Briseis (Rose Byrne
Rose Byrne

Rose Judith Esther Byrne is a Golden Globe-nominated Australia actress....
) is a cousin of the Trojan princes Hector
Hector

In Greek mythology, Hector , or Hektor, is a Troy prince and one of the greatest fighters in the Trojan War. He is the son of Priam and Hecuba, descendant of Dardanus, who lived under Mount Ida, and of Tros, the founder of Troy....
and Paris
Paris (mythology)

Paris , the son of Priam, king of Troy, appears in a number of Greek mythology. Probably the best-known was his elopement with Helen, queen of Sparta, this being one of the immediate causes of the Trojan War....
, and falls in love with Achilles (Brad Pitt
Brad Pitt

William Bradley "Brad" Pitt is an American actor and film producer. He has been cited as one of the world's most attractive men and his off-screen life is widely reported....
). She later kills Agamemnon
Agamemnon

In Greek mythology, Agamemnon / is the son of King Atreus of Mycenae and Queen Aerope, the brother of Menelaus and the husband of Clytemnestra; different mythological versions make him the king either of Mycenae or of Argos....
(Brian Cox
Brian Cox

Brian Denis Cox, Order of the British Empire is a BAFTA- and Emmy Award-winning and Golden Globe-nominated Scotland actor....
) during the Sack of Troy.