That man who robbed me of many sons, brave boys,
cutting them down or selling them off as slaves,
shipped to islands half the world away…
Even now there are two, Lycaon and Polydorus –
I cannot find them among the soldiers crowding Troy,
those sons Laothoe bore me, Laothoe queen of women.
But if they are still alive in the enemy’s camp,
then we’ll ransom them back with bronze and gold.
– Homer
The Iliad, Book 22, lines 51-58. As Priam watches Achilles coming towards the city of Troy, he is unaware of the fate of his two sons Lycaon and Polydorus. He speaks of paying a ransom for their return if they are still alive in the enemy’s camp. This is an example of dramatic irony, as the audience has already heard that Achilles killed them both in battle (Books 20, 21).