Briseis

Briseis

Briseis

HeroCaptivity, Grief

A princess of Lyrnessus whose household Achilles destroyed in a raid early in the war — her husband Mynes and three brothers all fell to his spear on the same day. She was allotted to Achilles as his prize of honour, and when Agamemnon, forced to return Chryseis to her father, took Briseis from Achilles's tent in compensation, the insult triggered the wrath that is the subject of the Iliad (Homer *Iliad* 1.184-347). After Patroclus's death she keened over his body in Achilles's hut, remembering that it was Patroclus who had promised to make her Achilles's wedded wife (*Iliad* 19.282-302).

Origin

Daughter of Briseus, a priest of the Lyrnessian region near Troy.

Associated Places

LyrnessusTroy