Helenus and Andromache in Epirus: The Molossian Settlement

Catalogue ID: 04-trojan-cycle/205-helenus-andromache-epirus-molossians

Cycle: Trojan — Nostoi aftermath / Epirote foundation

Version line: Apollodorean / Pausanian — after Neoptolemus’s death Helenus holds Andromache; Molossian line

Sources: Apollodorus, *Epitome* 6.12–13; Pausanias 1.11.1–2, 2.23.6; cf. Euripides, *Andromache* (Phthian earlier stage)

Source file: /workspace/greek-myth-catalogue/04-trojan-cycle/205-helenus-andromache-epirus-molossians.md

Characters

Andromache — Hector’s widow; formerly Neoptolemus’s captive; wife of Helenus
Helenus — Priamid seer; husband of Andromache in Epirus; local king
Molossian kings — claim descent from Molossus
Molossus — son of Andromache and Neoptolemus; eponym of the Molossians
Pyrrhus — dead at Delphi; prior lord of Andromache

Places

Molossia — settlement and kingdom
Mount Helicon — place of Neoptolemus’s death (prelude)

Themes

Narrative

After Neoptolemus is killed at Delphi, handbook and local tradition place Andromache and her son Molossus (by Neoptolemus) with Helenus son of Priam, who had become Neoptolemus’s companion and seer. Helenus takes Andromache as wife and rules in Epirus; from Molossus the Molossian kings of Epirus claim descent. Pausanias ties Helenus’s tomb and Epirote lore to this settlement; Apollodorus compresses the succession after Delphi. Catalogue Helenus and Andromache in Epirus as the post-Phthian nostos foundation—distinct from the Euripidean Phthia play and from the sack allotment.