Source Verification: Briseis
Every claim below is either what a named ancient source attests, in its own line or section, or a point where the sources themselves disagree.
What the Sources Attest
Were Achilles and Briseis in love?
The Iliad says Achilles loved her. In Book 9 he calls her his wife and says he loved her with all his heart, though she was only the captive of his spear. In Book 19 she says Patroclus promised to make her Achilles's wedded wife. The poem never shows her answering with love of her own. Her one speech grieves for Patroclus and for the husband and brothers she lost.
Source: Homer, Iliad 9.335-343
Did Agamemnon sleep with Briseis?
Agamemnon says he did not, and he swears it twice. In Book 9 he offers her back with a great oath that he never went up into her bed. In Book 19 he swears again that he never laid a hand on her. The Iliad gives no scene that contradicts him. Achilles himself says in Book 9 that Agamemnon may lie by her side and take his joy, in bitter irony.
Source: Homer, Iliad 19.256-265
What was Briseis known for?
She is known as the cause of the quarrel of the Iliad. Agamemnon takes her to replace his own captive, Achilles withdraws from the fighting in anger, and the poem follows the consequences through the death of Patroclus. The poem uses her as a measure of Achilles's honor. Her own words in the poem are few, and nearly all of them mourn Patroclus. Homer names Eris, goddess of Strife, who stirs up fighting among the Achaeans and Trojans (Iliad 4.440-445).
Source: Homer, Iliad 1.182-187
What happened to Briseis after the death of Achilles?
Homer does not say, because the Iliad closes with the funeral of Hector, before Achilles dies. The later epic of Quintus Smyrnaeus has her mourn Achilles, tear her own skin, and fear that another Achaean will take her to Sparta or Argos. The sources checked here do not say whether that fear came true. Her fate after the war is not recorded.
Source: Homer, Iliad 24.675-676
Did Achilles and Briseis have a child?
No source checked here gives them one. The Iliad names no child of hers. Apollodorus says Achilles fathered a son on Scyros, by Deidamia, daughter of King Lycomedes, and that the boy was called Pyrrhus and later Neoptolemus. That is the only child of Achilles named in the sources checked. Claims of a child with Briseis do not come from the ancient texts.
Source: Apollodorus, Library 3.13.8
Where Accounts Differ
- whether Briseis is a prize or a wife
- what happened to Briseis after Achilles died
- The Iliad speaks of Briseis in two ways. Agamemnon treats her as a prize to be given back with gifts (Iliad 9.128-134). Achilles calls her his wife, though a captive of his spear (Iliad 9.335-343), and Briseis says Patroclus promised to make her his wedded wife (Iliad 19.282-302).
- Briseis's fate after Achilles's death is told only outside the Iliad. Homer's poem ends before Achilles dies. Quintus Smyrnaeus, writing centuries later, has her mourn him in Posthomerica 3 and fear being taken to Sparta or Argos. The sources checked here give no later outcome. The registry notes that Quintus's line numbers differ between translations, so only the book is cited.
Sources
- Homer, Iliad 1.182-187
- Homer, Iliad 1.318-348
- Homer, Iliad 2.688-694
- Homer, Iliad 9.128-134
- Homer, Iliad 9.335-343
- Homer, Iliad 19.256-265
- Homer, Iliad 19.282-302
- Homer, Iliad 24.675-676
- Apollodorus, Library 3.13.8
- Quintus Smyrnaeus, Posthomerica