Hecuba is Hector’s wife. When she is kidnapped by Ulysses after Troy loses the war, Hecuba smuggles Hector’s ashes with her. After watching her daughter Polyxena be sacrificed and learning that her son has been murdered by a greedy king, Hecuba flies into a rage. She goes to visit the greedy king, pretending to have money for him, and claws apart his face. She is transformed into a sorrowfully howling dog.
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Hecuba Character Timeline in Metamorphoses
The timeline below shows where the character Hecuba appears in Metamorphoses. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Book 13: The Fall of Troy
...but the Greeks drag them on board the ships setting sail for Greece. Ulysses finds Hecuba—King Priam’s wife—wandering among the graves of the Trojans. He drags her away, but she manages...
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Book 13: The Sufferings of Hecuba
...by sacrificing Polyxena, King Priam’s last daughter. The Greeks obey Achilles and seize Polyxena from Hecuba’s arms.
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...can die untouched. She says that she is Priam’s daughter, not a slave, and that Hecuba deserves to bury her after she dies. Moved by her speech, the Greek soldiers reluctantly...
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Hecuba laments that she thought Polyxena would be safe from death because she was a girl....
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Hecuba steps off the ship in Thrace. Suddenly, she notices Polydorus’s murdered body washed up on...
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Book 13: Memnon
All the gods mourn for Hecuba except Aurora. Aurora is busy mourning her own son Memnon, who was killed by Achilles....
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