Talthybius was the one who took
Briseis from the tent of
Achilles. Preceding the duel of
Menelaus and
Paris, Agamemnon charges him to fetch a sheep for sacrifice. He died at
Aegium in
Achaia, according to
Pausanias. Talthybius appears in
Euripides'
Hecuba and
The Trojan Women. In addition, he has a small role in The
Iliad. In Book IV, Agamemnon orders Talthybius to fetch the medic
Machaon after Menelaus is wounded with an arrow shot by
Pandarus. In
Hecuba and
The Trojan Women, Talthybius seems to always be the bearer of bad news. In
The Trojan Women, he tells Hecuba that all of the women are being divided up and given to different Greek Heroes as slaves. He says that
Cassandra will be given to Agamemnon and that Hecuba herself will be given to
Odysseus. Furthermore, Talthybius is the one who tells
Andromache of the Greeks' plan to kill
Astyanax, her son by
Hector. The plan is to throw Astyanax (who is only a small child) from the towers of Troy because it would not be wise to let the son of a Trojan hero reach adulthood. In
Hecuba, Talthybius brings an order from Agamemnon to Hecuba, telling her to bury her daughter,
Polyxena, who was sacrificed to Achilles. He exercises significant independence in the way he carries out his orders given to him from the commanders. He served in the
Trojan War alongside his followers and others who supported him. Talthybius was committed to the interests of the Greek commanders and takes care to avoid their disapproval. In his dealings with the captive women he is felt in the main to be a sympathetic figure. == Worship ==