Source Verification: Neoptolemus

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

What is Neoptolemus known for?

He is known for finishing his father's war and for the killings that ended it. Apollodorus's Epitome says the seer Helenus told the Greeks that Troy would not fall unless Neoptolemus fought for them, so Odysseus and Phoenix fetched him from Scyros. In Homer's Odyssey, Odysseus remembers him as the one leader who showed no fear inside the wooden horse. In the sack of the city he killed Priam at an altar, as Apollodorus's Epitome and Virgil's Aeneid both tell it.

Source: Apollodorus, Epitome 5.10-5.11

Was Neoptolemus evil?

The ancient sources disagree. Homer's Odyssey admires him as a fearless fighter and a sound speaker in council. Euripides and Virgil show him killing the helpless. Euripides's Hecuba has him cut the throat of Priam's daughter Polyxena on Achilles's grave. Virgil's Aeneid has him kill Priam's son Polites before the old king's eyes, then kill Priam at the altar. Sophocles's Philoctetes gives him a conscience: he refuses to keep a bow he won by a lie and hands it back.

Source: Virgil, Aeneid 2.469-558

Who killed Neoptolemus?

The sources name different killers, but all place his death at Delphi. In Euripides's Andromache, Orestes plans the ambush and a Delphian strikes the fatal blow. Apollodorus's Epitome says Orestes killed him, or that Machaereus the Phocian did after Neoptolemus plundered the temple. Pindar's seventh Nemean ode tells of a quarrel over sacrificial meat and a man with a knife. Pausanias says the priest of Apollo killed him at the temple hearth.

Source: Apollodorus, Epitome 6.14

Who was Neoptolemus in the Odyssey?

He is talked about but never appears. In the underworld, the ghost of Achilles asks Odysseus for news of his son. Odysseus says he brought the boy from Scyros himself. He was always first to speak in council, and in battle he ran far ahead of the rest. He killed Eurypylus, son of Telephus, and sailed home from Troy unwounded. In Book 4, Menelaus sends his daughter Hermione to marry him, as he had promised at Troy.

Source: Homer, Odyssey 11.505-540

Why is Neoptolemus called Pyrrhus?

Pyrrhus was his first name. Apollodorus's Library says Achilles, hidden at the court of King Lycomedes on Scyros, fathered a son on Deidamia who was named Pyrrhus and later called Neoptolemus. Pausanias cites the lost epic Cypria for the reason. Lycomedes named him Pyrrhus, and Phoenix renamed him Neoptolemus, young soldier, because Achilles was young when he went to war. Homer uses only Neoptolemus. Virgil's Aeneid mostly calls him Pyrrhus.

Source: Pausanias, Description of Greece 10.26.4

Where Accounts Differ

Pyrrhus or Neoptolemus
who fetched him from Scyros
where Priam died
who killed Astyanax
Hermione's marriage
who killed Neoptolemus
Homer's hero or the tragedians' killer

His two names are explained differently. Apollodorus's Library says he was born Pyrrhus and later called Neoptolemus. Pausanias cites the Cypria: Lycomedes named him Pyrrhus and Phoenix renamed him Neoptolemus. Homer uses only Neoptolemus, and Virgil's Aeneid mostly Pyrrhus.
Who fetched him from Scyros differs. Homer's Odyssey names Odysseus alone. Apollodorus's Epitome names Odysseus and Phoenix. In Sophocles's Philoctetes, Neoptolemus says Odysseus came with the man who fostered his father.
Where Priam died differs. Apollodorus's Epitome puts it at the altar of Zeus of the Courtyard, and Euripides's Hecuba and Virgil's Aeneid also place it at an altar. Pausanias reports that Lescheos had Priam dragged from the altar and killed at his palace gate.
Who killed Astyanax differs. Pausanias reports that Lescheos made it Neoptolemus's own act. Euripides's Trojan Women makes it a decision of the Greek assembly on Odysseus's advice. Apollodorus's Epitome says only that the Greeks threw him from the battlements.
His marriage to Hermione is told differently. Homer's Odyssey has Menelaus keep a promise made at Troy. Euripides's Andromache says Hermione was betrothed to Orestes first. Apollodorus's Epitome says Neoptolemus carried her off when Orestes went mad. Euripides's Orestes has Apollo say Neoptolemus will never marry her.
Who killed him and why he went to Delphi differ. Euripides's Andromache has him come to make amends to Apollo and die in an ambush planned by Orestes, struck by a Delphian. Euripides's Orestes says he will die by a Delphian sword when he demands satisfaction for his father. Apollodorus's Epitome names Orestes, or Machaereus the Phocian after Neoptolemus robbed and burned the temple. Pindar's seventh Nemean ode tells of a quarrel over sacrificial meat, and his sixth Paean makes Apollo the killer. Pausanias names the priest of Apollo, and elsewhere says the Pythia ordered the Delphians to kill him.
Homer's Odyssey admires him and brings him home safe. The killings of Priam, Polyxena and Astyanax come from the later epics, as Apollodorus and Pausanias report them, and from Euripides and Virgil. Sophocles's Philoctetes shows him refusing to profit from a lie.

Sources

Primary sources

Homer, Iliad 19.326-333
Homer, Odyssey 3.188-190
Homer, Odyssey 4.1-9
Homer, Odyssey 11.505-540
Pindar, Nemean Odes 7.33-7.47
Pindar, Nemean Odes 7.102-7.105
Sophocles, Philoctetes 50-95
Sophocles, Philoctetes 343-360
Sophocles, Philoctetes 895-915
Sophocles, Philoctetes 1222-1234
Sophocles, Philoctetes 1286-1292
Sophocles, Philoctetes 1433-1440
Euripides, Andromache 10-15
Euripides, Andromache 49-55
Euripides, Andromache 967-981
Euripides, Andromache 1085-1165
Euripides, Andromache 1239-1245
Euripides, Hecuba 21-24
Euripides, Hecuba 518-570
Euripides, Trojan Women 15-17
Euripides, Trojan Women 270-275
Euripides, Trojan Women 709-725
Euripides, Trojan Women 1123-1142
Euripides, Orestes 1653-1657
Virgil, Aeneid 2.469-558
Apollodorus, Library 3.13.8
Apollodorus, Epitome 5.10
Apollodorus, Epitome 5.11
Apollodorus, Epitome 5.12
Apollodorus, Epitome 5.21
Apollodorus, Epitome 5.23
Apollodorus, Epitome 6.12
Apollodorus, Epitome 6.13
Apollodorus, Epitome 6.14
Pausanias, Description of Greece 1.11.1
Pausanias, Description of Greece 1.13.9
Pausanias, Description of Greece 4.17.4
Pausanias, Description of Greece 10.7.1
Pausanias, Description of Greece 10.24.4
Pausanias, Description of Greece 10.24.6
Pausanias, Description of Greece 10.25.9
Pausanias, Description of Greece 10.26.4
Pausanias, Description of Greece 10.27.2