Hermione (mythology)
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- For other uses of the name, see Hermione.
In Greek mythology, Hermione was a daughter of Menelaus and Helen. While her parents were away fighting (and being seduced, in Helen's case), Hermione was being raised by her aunt, Clytemnestra. Before the Trojan War began, she was betrothed to Orestes, her cousin through Menelaus' brother, Agamemnon. In the play Orestes by Euripides, Orestes takes her hostage and threatens to kill her. Later, her father wanted her to marry Neoptolemus, son of Achilles. Her jealousy is the center of Andromache, another play by Euripides, in which she attempted to have Andromache and her child by Neoptolemus murdered. Andromache had been made a slave by Neoptolemus at the end of the Trojan War, and Hermione did not want to share her love with him. After failing this, she escaped with Orestes. The two men fought over her and Neoptolemus was killed. Hermione gave birth to Orestes' heir, Tisamenus.
