Galaxy/The codex of Hecamede

In Homer's Iliad, Hecamede is the fair-haired daughter of Arsinous, taken from Tenedos when Achilles sacked the island and allotted to Nestor as a war prize. Her memorable scene is the mixing of a restorative kykeon of Pramnian wine for Nestor and the wounded Machaon — a brief but vivid portrait of household care inside the Achaean camp.

Adapted from Wikipedia, "Hecamede" · CC BY-SA 4.0

I.Nestor's captive

The Achaeans chose Hecamede for Nestor after the sack of Tenedos. She appears again when Nestor brings the arrow-wounded Machaon into his hut: she sets a table, grates goat's-milk cheese into Pramnian wine with barley, and serves the warm potion that restores the old king and the healer.

A later vase-painting tradition sometimes identifies a cup-tondo scene of a woman mixing drink for a white-haired warrior as Hecamede with Nestor. She remains a named Iliadic figure rather than the heroine of an independent saga.

AT A GLANCE

Greek nameHekamēdē (Ἑκαμήδη)
Typemortal
DomainsNestor's cupbearer · daughter of Arsinous · prize from Tenedos
Cult centersTenedos (capture) · Achaean camp at Troy (service to Nestor)
EtymologyAncient Greek Ἑκαμήδη (Hekamḗdē).
READ MOREWikipedia