What is life like for King Priam?

Priam's backstory is tragic, but it explains exactly why he might think that the gods intend for him to be a joke. If they have treated him so poorly once before, it could happen again. Priam's recollection of something that happened to him decades ago highlights how important the past is, and how sometimes it never truly vanishes. Just as Patroclus can never escape the reality of having killed his friend as a child, Priam can never escape the fact that he avoided a life of slavery only by pure chance.

His name is a testament to the way that he rose above his circumstances: even though it was chosen to humiliate him, he keeps it to remind him that the small allowance he was given was enough for him to work with. Heracles, as another demigod, acts as a parallel to the demigod that Priam is about to face (Achilles). And just like Heracles gave Priam to his sister as a ransom, Priam now needs Achilles to give him Hector as a ransom. For both scenarios, he cannot be wearing the full weight of his position, but needs to be himself. Back when he was a child, he needed to be a younger brother; now as an adult, he needs to be an old father, asking for his son back.