Neoptolĕmus
（
Νεοπτόλεμος, also called
Pyrrhus; i. e. the ruddy).
1.
The son of Achilles and Deïdamia. He was brought up by his grandfather Lycomedes
in Scyros. After Achilles' death, however, he was led by Odysseus to Troy, since, according
to the prophecy of Helenus, that town could be taken only by a descendant of Aeacus. Here,
like his father, he distinguished himself above all by a courage which none could withstand.
He slew Eurypylus, son of Telephus, and was one of the heroes in the wooden horse, where he
alone remained undaunted. Later legend depicts him as fierce and cruel: at the taking of Troy
he killed the aged Priam at the altar of Zeus, hurled Hector's son, Astyanax, down from the
walls, and offered up Polyxena upon his father's tomb. In Homer he arrives safely with much
booty at Phthia, his father's home, and weds Menelaüs's daughter
Hermioné, who was promised him during the siege of Troy (
Od. iv. 5). Later legend represents him as accompanied by
Andromaché, Hector's wife, who is allotted him as a part of his booty, and
Helenus, and then, on the strength of a prophecy of Helenus, as going to Epirus and settling
there. It was to a son of his by Lanassa, granddaughter of Heracles, that the later kings of
Epirus traced back their descent, and accordingly styled themselves Aeacidae; while from his
son by Andromaché, Molossus, the district of Molossia was said to derive its name
(Pausan. i. 11). He afterwards went to Phthia, to reinstate his grandfather Peleus in his
kingdom whence he had been expelled by Acastus and wedded Hermioné. He soon,
however, met his death at Delphi, whither, according to one story, he had gone with
dedicatory offerings, or, according to another, to plunder the temple of Apollo in revenge
for his father's death. The accounts of his death vary, some attributing it to Orestes, the
earlier lover of Hermioné; others to the Delphians, at the instance of the
Pythian priestess; others again to a quarrel about the meat-offerings. The scene of his death
was the altar, a coincidence which was regarded as a judgment for his murder of Priam. His
tomb was within the precincts of the Delphic temple, and in later times he was worshipped as
a hero with annual sacrifices by the Delphians, as he was said to have vouchsafed valuable
assistance against the Gauls when they threatened the sacred spot (B.C. 279) (Pausan. x.
23).
2.
A king of Epirus, father of Alexander I. and of Olympias, the mother of Alexander the
Great. He died about B.C. 360.
3.
A king of Epirus, the son of Alexander I. and grandson of the preceding
(
Pyrr.).
4.
A general of Alexander the Great. He obtained the government of Armenia after Alexander's
death. He was slain in battle by
Eumenes (q.v.)
(
Plut. Eum. 4Plut. Eum.,
7).
5.
A general of Mithridates (
App. Mith. 17).
