Deidamía

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Joseph Pollet (1814 - 1870): Achilles and Deidamy (Achille et Déidamie, 1854). Queen's House, Luxembourg Palace.

In Greek mythology, Deidamia or Deidamea (in Greek Δηϊδάμεια) was the daughter of Lycomedes, king of Scyros. In Cypria , Achilles sails to Skyros after a failed expedition to Troy, marries Princess Deidamia and they have Neoptolemus, until Achilles is called to arms again. According to another tradition (not appears in Homer's Iliad), several years before the Trojan War, Achilles hid at his father's court, disguised as a maiden. They maintained a loving relationship, the result of which Achilles' only son, Pirro, was born, who received the name of Neoptolemus after being called to replace his father on the plains of Ilium (Troy).

In the most detailed and elaborate version of the story, the one that appears in the Roman poem of Statius' Achilleid, Achilles arrives in Scyros at the instigation of his mother, Thetis, who hopes that he won't. the prophecy of his death in Troy is fulfilled, and he is presented to Lycomedes as the "daughter" of Thetis. Licomedes agrees to take care of the "girl" and her daughters, suspecting nothing, accept Achilles into his company as another maiden. After some time, he develops a particularly close friendship with Deidamia and Achilles finds it increasingly difficult to hide his romantic and sexual interests in her. Finally, at a nocturnal festival in honor of Dionysus, where men are not normally allowed to attend, Achilles gives in to his sexual desires and rapes Deidamia. Then, trying to comfort her, he reveals her true name and origin. Despite being frightened by what happened, Deidamía does not want Achilles to suffer punishment at the hands of his father and decides to keep the incident and his identity a secret, as well as the fact that he has given birth to a son, Pyrrhus, in secret.

When Odysseus and his comrades arrive in Scyros in search of them, Achilles, long annoyed by his disguise as a woman, is about to reveal himself, but Deidamia stops him. Odysseus then carries out a deception, giving the princesses gifts and weapons and then blowing war trumpets. Hearing them, Achilles rushes to grab a weapon, thus revealing his secret. Achilles, upon hearing Deidamia crying, confesses to Lycomedes that they have had a son together. As the Achaeans are about to set sail for war, Deidamia, heartbroken at the impending loss of Achilles, asks if she could go with him, but this seems impossible; she then implores him that she keep her child in her thoughts and that she never have children with other women. Achilles vows to one day return to Deidamia's arms, but the reader knows that she must die in Troy.

When Deidamia gave birth to Neoptolemus, Thetis took him away. Years later, Deidamia tried to persuade his son not to join his father in the same war, but after Achilles' death, Neoptolemus went to the Trojan War as the next best of the Achaeans (ἄριστος Ἀχαιῶν). Neoptolemus was cold and cruel, unlike Deidamia, for he had been raised by Thetis.After the war, Neoptolemus gave Deidamia in marriage to her slave Helenus, son of Priam.

In some versions of the story, Achilles and Deidamia had another son, Oniros (Ὄνειρος). He died at the hands of Orestes, who did not recognize him, on Phocis, while they were fighting for a place to pitch a tent.In other versions of the story, Deidamia sets off after Achilles disguised as a man.

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