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Cassandra
Andromache is the widow of the Trojan prince Hector and the mother of his infant son, Astyanax. She is Hecabe and Priam’s daughter-in-law. Andromache is among the Trojan women waiting on the shore after the city’s destruction. Despite her significant suffering (Neoptolemus murders Astyanax and then takes her as a concubine), Andromache attempts to find happiness in her life after Troy.
Andromache Quotes in A Thousand Ships
The A Thousand Ships quotes below are all either spoken by Andromache or refer to Andromache. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
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Chapter 6: The Trojan Women Quotes
[Hecabe] was not so foolish as to believe that she herself would have the chance to punish all the traitors and murderers and wrongdoers who had contributed to the downfall of her city. But she would have the gods remember who they were.
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She would have been startled to discover that her daughter-in-law was doing precisely the opposite thing in her mind. Creusa, Theano, Crino: three Trojan women at least who were free, either in death or in life. Andromache marked each one with a silent joy. Everywhere she looked she could see only women in her own condition: fallen into slavery, the property of soldiers and thugs. But there were three who belonged to no one.
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Chapter 41: The Moirai Quotes
She felt no sorrow for these souls, because if she thought at all about the consequences of her actions, she would become paralysed and never spin again. But she did prefer it if one of the others made a mistake, because that led—as often as not—to a longer life rather than a shorter one. When the thread would not form, it could only mean a grieving mother, standing over a cradle, howling at the unhearing sky.
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Chapter 42: Andromache Quotes
She wove the cloak poorly, although she had once been a fine craftswoman. The last cloak she had woven had been for Hector—dark and bright for him to wear into battle—and it had been exquisite. It was slashed in two by Achilles when he drove his fierce blade into her husband’s body […]
But sometime during the process of weaving [the cloak], she found herself wanting to finish it so she would not be cold. And although she did not understand it immediately, this was the first sign of her life after death.
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Andromache Character Timeline in A Thousand Ships
The timeline below shows where the character Andromache appears in A Thousand Ships. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 3: The Trojan Women
Hecabe waits with her daughters, Polyxena and Cassandra, and her daughter-in-law, Andromache, who was Hector’s wife. None of them weep—they share the knowledge that men lose their...
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Chapter 6: The Trojan Women
...She envies his family’s fate but vows to curse him in her prayers. In contrast, Andromache (Hector’s widow, who is holding her baby) is privately grateful that some of their people...
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Chapter 9: The Trojan Women
...the women among themselves and contemplates which of her daughters she’d prefer to remain with. Andromache is not her daughter by blood, and Cassandra is unbearable. Ever since she wandered into...
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Chapter 16: The Trojan Women
Andromache blames both Helen and Paris, but Hecabe insists Helen bears most of the blame. Helen...
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Chapter 19: The Trojan Women
On the shore, Andromache asks why Cassandra is screaming. The seer claims her youngest brother, Polydorus (the one Hecabe...
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Chapter 22: The Trojan Women
...well he’d never kill the baby. Helen argues that Troy’s destruction is not Hecabe’s fault. Andromache insists Polydorus would also understand. The women wash Polydorus’s body and throw dust over him...
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Chapter 24: The Trojan Women
...Odysseus of gloating, while he feels she is misrepresenting herself as a “poor old woman.” Andromache notes that Odysseus enjoys arguing with Hecabe. Odysseus wants to ensure no one will take...
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Chapter 34: The Trojan Women
...next. Talthybius, the Greeks’ herald, arrives with more soldiers. They demand Hector’s infant son, Astyanax. Andromache wails and clutches her baby as Hecabe protests. Talthybius claims the child will certainly grow...
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Chapter 36: Cassandra
In the present, Cassandra tries to see beyond Andromache’s screaming as her baby is taken, but there is too much horror. She sees her...
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Chapter 42: Andromache
Unlike the mountains of Troy, the mountains of Epirus make Andromache feel trapped. But it’s easier to miss Troy instead of everything else she’s lost. Unaccustomed...
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Despite the cloak, Andromache feels inescapable cold as she submits to Neoptolemus. When she becomes pregnant, Andromache worries the...
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One night in bed, Neoptolemus tries to comfort Andromache by telling her he killed Polyxena as “painlessly” as he was able. The Greeks refused...
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...He claims to be punishing some impiety despite his family’s own offenses against the gods. Andromache weeps for herself, once again defenseless in the world. Despite her life’s many tragedies, she...
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