Hecuba's life was one of grief and sorrow. She witnessed her eldest son Hector killed and insulted by Achilles. She saw her son Polites slain before her by Pyrrhus. She watched as her aged husband, Priam, was dragged to the household altar and ruthlessly butchered.
After the fall of Troy, she was enslaved. Her misfortune continued as she saw her daughter Polyxena, her sole consolation in bondage, sacrificed at the tomb of Achilles. She then suffered the fate of finding the corpse of her youngest son, Polydorus, washed ashore. She had entrusted him to the Thracian king for safekeeping, only for him to be murdered for his gold.
With all fifty of her children dead, she became the undisputed queen of sorrows. Yet, in her distress and despair, she mustered the courage to avenge herself upon the Thracian king. Later, as Dionysus had prophesied, she was transformed into a dog with bloodshot eyes. Unable to endure this new misery, she leapt into the sea, ending her tragic life.