Hecuba in other classical works
Stesichorus states that after the sack of Troy, Apollo, Hecuba's former lover, took her to safety and placed her in Lycia.
The Bibliotheca (Library) of Pseudo-Apollodorus states that Hecuba had a son named Troilus with the god Apollo. An oracle prophesied that Troy would not be defeated if Troilus reached the age of 20 alive. Troilus is killed by Achilles.
Hecuba is a main character in two plays by Euripides: The Trojan Women and Hecuba. The Trojan Women describes the aftermath of the fall of Troy, including Hecuba's enslavement by Odysseus. Hecuba also takes place just after the fall of Troy. Polydorus, the youngest son of Priam and Hecuba, is sent to King Polymestor for safekeeping, but when Troy falls, Polymestor murders Polydorus. Hecuba learns of this, and when Polymestor comes to the fallen city, Hecuba, by trickery, blinds him and kills his two sons.
Another story says that when she was given to Odysseus as a slave, she snarled and cursed at him, so the gods turned her into a dog, allowing her to escape. Hecuba, as a dog, is later taken in by Hecate as one of her Familiars.
In another tradition Hecuba went mad upon seeing the corpses of her children Polydorus and Polyxena. Dante described this episode, which he derived from Italian sources:
—Inferno XXX: 13–20
Another legend has it that Hecuba threw herself into the sea and was transformed into "a she-dog with fiery eyes" and that she was buried in a "wretched" place called Kynosema ('dog's grave'), a "landmark for sailors". The Kynosema is said to be a promontory located in modern day Kilidülbahir. According to Lycophron, she was rescued by the goddess Hecate and became one of her canine familiars.
Photius writes that Helen and Paris had a daughter, whom they named Helen after Helen won a game of knucklebones to decide the child's name. He adds that Hecuba killed the girl when Troy fell.
In an epigram attributed to Plato and preserved in the Greek Anthology and written in memory of Dio of Syracuse, Plato writes that the Fates shed tears for Hecuba and the Trojan women from the very hour of their birth. He uses their tragic destiny as a reflection of Dio's own fate, suggesting that even those who achieve greatness cannot escape the suffering that fate may bring.
