Priam, << PRY uhm >>, in Greek mythology, was the last king of Troy and ruler of the city during the Trojan War with Greece. He was noted for his kindness, dignity, and respect for the gods. Priam’s wife was Hecuba (or Hecube). By her and various other women, Priam had 50 sons and 50 daughters. The most famous were the sons Hector and Paris and the daughter Cassandra.
Most of Priam’s sons died in the war. The king went alone at night to the tent of the Greek warrior Achilles to beg for Hector’s body so he might give it a proper burial. Achilles pitied the old man and returned the body to him. Later, as Priam clung to the altar of Zeus on the night that Troy fell, Achilles’ son Neoptolemus (or Pyrrhus) killed him.
