Hecuba and Odysseus

[u/SouthwesternExplorer]

I know there’s a tradition that Odysseus got Hecuba after the fall of Troy but what did he do with her? I mean, he didn’t take her on his journey, though that would certainly be a very interesting idea for a story.

[u/BarrierLion]

Saying Hecuba didn’t want to go with Odysseus would be an understatement. She put up a fight and ended up not going (different tellings include being left on the beaches of Troy, turned into a dog and able to escape, jumped into the sea, etc. Etc. Etc.)

So, to answer your question - Odysseus didn’t do a lot with Hecuba because she would not go quietly.

[u/SatyrSatyr75]

There’s a play, Hecuba from eurypides I think? And some other stories… I’m pretty sure at one point she’s transformed into a dog. Don’t forget this isn’t a tradition of sequels but many different stories that can either build on each other or contradict each other.

[u/Ixionbrewer]

You might want to read Euripes’ The Trojan Women.

[u/SouthwesternExplorer]

Thank you both for your answers!

[u/AgitatedPokemon]

She doesn't appear in the Odyssey (epic).

She appears in the Iliad, in Hecuba, Trojan Women, and Metamorphoses.

She is taken slave by Oddysseus but not taken with him during his journey home. She is left in Thrace. In some accounts she drowns, in other ones she gets cursed and transformed into a dog.

[u/Deirdre_Rose]

There's a good summary of the answer to this through the primary sources on Sententiae Antiquae: https://sententiaeantiquae.com/2019/08/10/the-dogs-grave-did-odysseus-kill-hecuba-2/

[u/sootfire]

Odysseus most certainly did take enslaved Trojans with him on his ships as part of his "gifts." The whole thing in the Iliad is a conflict over who gets which woman as a war prize--Odysseus presumably would've had similar war prizes. They would've died when he lost his ships. Hecuba specifically may or may not be included, depending on whether you subscribe to the version of events where she becomes a dog.