Hesione was a princess of Troy, the daughter of King Laomedon and sister to the future king Priam. King Laomedon had hired the gods Apollo and Poseidon to build the walls of Troy, but when they had done the work, the refused to pay them. The angry Apollo sent a plague upon the city. In order to avert the plague, Laomedon agreed to offer up his own daughter Hesione as a sacrifice to a savage sea monster (Poseidon was god of the seas). Heracles showed up and offered to rescue Hesione if Laomedon agreed to give him some wonderful horses that happened to be in Laomedon's possession. Laomedon agreed, whereupon Heracles rescued Hesione and killed the sea monster... but again Laomedon refused to pay. Heracles got his revenge by killing Laomedon and all his sons, except for Priam. So, the next time you think about all the woes that Priam suffered later in life, you might also ponder the troubled family life of the young Priam, too!
You can also find more myths and legends for the week of March 25-31 here. For more information and links to the actual javascript code, see the Myths & Legends Widget Reference Page.
