| The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition. 2001-07. |
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| Neoptolemus |
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(n ´´ ptl´ m s) (KEY) , in Greek legend, son of Achilles. In the Trojan War he proved himself brave but cruel. He killed Priam at the altar of Zeus and threw Astyanax, son of Hector, from the wall of Troy. After the war he took Andromache as a slave to his kingdom in Epirus. Later he abandoned her for Hermione. He was killed at Delphi for an outrage he committed against the shrine. In Euripides’ Andromache, Orestes murders him to win the love of Hermione. He was sometimes called Pyrrhus. |
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| | | The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition. Copyright © 2007 Columbia University Press. |
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