In the play Hamlet by William Shakespeare, Hamlet's vengeance parallels Priam and Pyrrhus' classical tale. When Priam kills Pyrrhus's father, the latter tries to kill Priam in revenge. The tragedy is clarified in Hamlet's case by the repetition of the scenario, but Hamlet finds it hard to succeed in his vengeance; he escapes certain lucky circumstances and only destroys Claudius at the end of the play.
In act 2, scene 2 of the play Hamlet draws a parallel between him and Pyrrhus:
“The rugged Pyrrhus, he whose sable arms,
Black as his purpose, did the night resemble,
When he lay couched in the ominous horse,
Hath now this dread and black complexion smeared
With heraldry more dismal.”
Hamlet recalls the story of Priam and Pyrrhus and asks the player to present a speech about it because Hamlet believes that it closely resembles his visualization of future events in his own situation, that of Pyrrhus (representing Hamlet himself) killing King Priam (representing his uncle, Claudius) in revenge for the death of his father, while Priam's wife, Hecuba (representing Hamlet's mother, Gertrude), stands by helplessly.