Helenus

A Trojan seer. Helenus (Ἕλενος) was the son of Priam, the king of Troy, and Hecuba. Helenus was the brother of Hector, Paris, Deiphobus and Cassandra.

As a seer, Helenus knew that Troy was doomed. Helenus failed to dissuade Paris from sailing to Sparta to fetch Helen. Helenus seemed to be a good fighter during the war. His role in the Iliad however was minor.

According to the Little Iliad and Sophocles' Philoctetes, Odysseus captured Helenus before Paris' death. It was Helenus who told the Greeks of the requirements of winning the war, such as Neoptolemus and Philoctetes with the bow of Heracles were needed at Troy, the bones of Pelops needed to be relocated, and the Palladium had to be stolen from the altar of Athena.

In Apollodorus' Epitome, Helenus was captured after Paris' death. It was Calchas who foretold that the Greeks needed to fetch Philoctetes and the bow of Heracles. See Philoctetes about Odysseus and one of his companions fetching the bow of Heracles.

Once Philoctetes rejoined the Greeks, healed of his wound, Philoctetes killed or mortally wounded Paris with his deadly arrow.

When Paris died, Helenus and his other brother Deiphoubus contended with one another for the hand of Helen in marriage. When Deiphobus won and married Helen, Helenus left Troy for Mount Ida.

Odysseus captured Helenus to reveal how Troy might be captured. Helenus was easy to persuade, and told the Greeks that Neoptolemus, the son of Achilles, had to come and fight at Troy. They also had to bring the bones of Pelops to Troy for burial. Helenus also told them that Troy would not fall unless the Palladium was taken out of the altar of Athena.

When Troy fell, Neoptolemus received Helenus as a slave. Andromache, the widow of Hector and sister-in-law of Helenus, became Neoptolemus' concubine. Helenus knew that the most of the Greek fleet would be destroyed after the Lesser Ajax had raped his sister Cassandra, at Athena's temple. Helenus advised Neoptolemus to go home by land rather than sea. According to Apollodorus, it was Thetis, Neoptolemus' grandmother, who advised Neoptolemus to stay on the island of Tenedos for two days before setting out on land, through Thrace.

Neoptolemus safely reached his father's home where he met his grandfather (Peleus) for the first time. Rather than taking over the kingdom from Peleus, at Helenus' suggestion, Neoptolemus went to Epeirus to found his own kingdom.

Helenus lived with Neoptolemus and Andromache, acting more like a close adviser than a slave. When Neoptolemus decided to marry Hermione, the daughter of Menelaus and Helen, the hero set Helenus and Andromache free, and Helenus was allowed to found his own kingdom in Epeirus. When Hermione and her lover Orestes murdered Neoptolemus, Helenus took care of Neoptolemus' sons. Andromache had a son by him, and it is believed that Andromache became Helenus' wife. However, Apollodorus said that Neoptolemus gave his mother Deidameia to Helenus as wife; not Andromache.

In Virgil's Aeneid, Helenus met Aeneas and his followers who were looking for a new home. Helenus revealed to Aeneas that his new home would be in Central Italy.