Priam's Sorrow: "I have endured what no one on earth has ever done before – I put my lips to the hands of the man who killed my son."
And why it matters
Priam when he visits Achilles in the Greek Myths, says to the young warrior; “I have endured what no one on earth has ever done before – I put my lips to the hands of the man who killed my son.”
This scene which is shown and acted perfectly in Troy is one of the most gripping and moving and heart-breaking scenes ever produced in cinema. It is a scene which shows Priam the King of Troy and father of Hector utterly broken and humiliated before Achilles.
In a way, it lies at the heart of the story of the Iliad, as Achilles rages and rages, bringing down ‘untold sorrows upon the Acheans’ even as Priam mourns and mourns for the suffering of his beloved city and people. It is not until death visits itself truly upon his house though that he learns the true meaning of suffering.
It is upon Hector’s broad shoulders that the hopes of Troy reside, and it is upon them that Priam hoped to one day lay the burdens of kingship. Already in most depictions of the story of the War of Troy, practically co-King as his father has become wizened with age and is 80 years old while Hector is a man in his prime, with his own son now.
The reason that this scene is particularly galling is that it involves the humiliation of a man who has spent the whole of his life caring for others, and whom loved and adored all of his children, notably Hector who was the apple of his eye.
Few of Priam’s children measured up to the greatness of Hector, so that he was truly in the myths bereft of reasons to remain hopeful after the man’s fall.
The reason for this lies as much in Hector outshining the rest as it does in many of the other children either not shining all that brightly, or they did shine, such as Laodice, Creusa and Paris just differently.
The war’s cause though is one that any big brother could sympathize with, as Paris stole away Helen and the King of the Mycenean Greeks hungry for Anatolia Minor and the rich trade there lunged unto the excuse Helen provided when she fled with Paris as mentioned.
The tragedy of the war is well known, but the most heart-rending scene in most depictions is that of Hector’s death. This is certainly the case in the 2004 movie Troy, where Hector is bluntly told when he begs for his corpse to be treated with honour and dignity, at which point he is denied by the cruel Achilles.
The indignity of what Achilles says stuns the mind, especially those of us from the West, and also those who are from the East. The reason for this is that for those of European & Asian descent, a corpse is more than a mere object. That was an ancestor, and the desire to respect someone’s body, to treat it with dignity and honour and the filial duty of paying proper homage and seeing to burial rites has been an integral part of our histories for the past 5000 years or so.
The fact is that Hector had every right to beg for his body to be treated properly, he had done so for Patroclus, Achilles’ cousin. So to be denied this service, this small act of politeness of sorts is unconsciounable to us.
The actual scene though in some depictions such as that of Troy has the two men commiserating over their shared losses so that for one singular moment, hatred is forgotten as they both endure such pain that none others can imagine.
It is one of the most heart-rending scenes in all of literary history. It is a scene that could tear out even the most macho of men’s hearts.
No parent should ever have to bury a child, and no father should ever have to endure the desecration of his corpse, nor should he be forced to endure having to kiss the hands of his son’s murderer.
The great tragedy of this myth is that Priam would have to endure the destruction of his city.
Wonderful essay; pretty sure I shed tears over that scene.
And now I want to watch Troy and Alexander.