For My Daughter

The Golden Stairs, Edward Burne-Jones, 1880

Some fathers wish for Helen's beauty at their daughters' birth.
That's nice if you can get it, but there's gifts of much more worth.

The first thing I would wish for you is something much in need:
The wisdom of Cassandra whether others choose to heed.

Be brave as Iphigenia no matter what you face.
The hardships others flee in fear, may you approach with grace.

To steady you in times of storm, and tyrants' cruel displays,
Have Polyxena's iron will; Death shrinks before her gaze.

I pray you will be generous and never bow to greed.
Like Hesione, give your all to all you find in need.

Another treasure may you hold, a gift beyond belief:
Andromache's great heart, but may you never share her grief.

And what more precious than that which through history resounds?
The patience of Penelope, whose faithfulness abounds.

This next, I hope I'm worthy. I will strive my whole life through.
As Electra loved her father, may you always love me too.

As Antigone her brothers, may you love that noisy pair,
Even when they are a handful, have us pulling out our hair.

There's one thing left, my wife appends, one last request to make:
I pray that you have Atalanta's speed, for Mother's sake.

Notes

• Helen of Troy’s famous beauty was said to be the cause of the Trojan War. Of her, Christopher Marlowe wrote, “Was this the face that launched a thousand ships, / And burnt the topless towers of Ilium?”

• Cassandra, a daughter of King Priam of Troy, was gifted with the power of true prophecy. However, she was also cursed so that no one would believe the prophecies she delivered.

• Iphigenia was a daughter of the Mycenaean King Agamemnon. At the outset of the Trojan War, he sacrificed her to Artemis to secure the favorable winds he needed so his army could sail to Troy. In some versions of the story, including Euripides’ Iphigenia at Aulis, the goddess substituted a deer for her at the last moment, sparing her life. Nevertheless, Iphigenia willingly faced her death with courage and dignity, shaming the gathered Achaean warriors.

• Polyxena was the youngest daughter of Priam of Troy. After the war, she was captured by the Achaean army, who decided to sacrifice her to secure favorable winds for the voyage home. Like Iphigenia, she met her death with dignity, although she was not spared in the end. Cruel Neoptolemus, the son of Achilles, could not bear to look in her defiant eyes as he killed her. The gods did not respond favorably to her murder, and many of the Achaeans were killed in violent storms on the journey home.

• Hesione was the sister of Podarces. These two children of the Trojan King Laomedon were captured and enslaved by Heracles and Telamon following the First Trojan War. Hesione bought her brother’s freedom with a veil woven from pure gold. From then on, he was known by the name Priam, or “Ransomed,” and he returned home to rule Troy until its destruction in the Second Trojan War. She married Telamon and gave birth to Teucer, half-brother and best friend to the great warrior Ajax.

• Andromache was a Cilician princess who married Hector, Priam’s greatest son. She is the subject of perhaps the most touching scene in the Iliad, a brief, beautiful moment Hector spends with his family before returning to the war. Hector’s death was the beginning of her long suffering, but eventually she came to rule over the kingdom that had belonged to Achilles, her husband’s killer. In Virgil’s Aeneid we see that she had remade it into the image of Troy and still honored Hector’s legacy for the rest of her life.

• Penelope was the wife of Odysseus, who, after ten years of war, was delayed from returning home for another ten years. During this time Penelope was pursued by over a hundred suitors who, insisting that Odysseus must have died, demanded that she choose a new husband. She remained heroically faithful and held onto the hope that Odysseus would one day return. Her reunion with her husband at the end of the Odyssey is perhaps one of the most satisfying moments in the history of literature.

• Electra was a daughter of Agamemnon, and is known for her great love for her father. When Agamemnon returned home from Troy, he was murdered by his wife Clytemnestra and her lover Aegisthus. While mourning Agamemnon, Electra reunited with her brother Orestes, and the two together avenged their father’s death.

• Antigone was a daughter of Oedipus. When her two brothers, Polynices and Eteocles, warred for the throne of Thebes, both were killed. Antigone’s uncle Creon ascended to the throne, and decreed that Polynices would not receive an honorable burial. Antigone defied his orders and buried her brother, and Creon buried her alive as punishment. The fallout from this decision ended up destroying Creon’s family.

• Atalanta was the fastest woman alive and refused to marry any man who could not beat her in a race. The only man who succeeded, Hippomenes, did so by cheating. My wife loves to run, so she would be delighted to have a fast daughter who can share her hobby.