Pyrrhic victory | Definition, Origin, & Examples (2024)

Pyrrhic victory, a success that brings such significant harm to the victor that it differs little from defeat. Although the triumphant party in a Pyrrhic victory is considered the overall winner, the costs incurred and their future repercussions diminish the sense of genuine success. It is sometimes known as a hollow victory.

The origin of the term Pyrrhic victory can be traced to King Pyrrhus of Epirus. In 281 bce Pyrrhus arrived at Tarentum (modern Taranto) in Magna Graecia on the southern Italian coast with 20 elephants and roughly 25,000 soldiers to defend his fellow Greeks against the advancing Romans. Pyrrhus won the initial two battles, at Heraclea (280 bce) and Asculum (279 bce), but at a significant cost. Gravely depleted, Pyrrhus’s forces lost their momentum and were defeated by the Romans in the final, decisive battle at Beneventum in 275 bce. Even though the Romans suffered a greater number of casualties in both of Pyrrhus’s initial victories, their losses were less severe given the larger size of their army.

In the late 16th century, the term Pyrrhic emerged as an adjective referring to victories resembling that of Pyrrhus. The earliest known usages of the concept appear in Christopher Marlowe’s works, and by the early 19th century Pyrrhic had begun to be paired with victory, rendering the precise meaning of a victory achieved at excessive cost.

In the context of warfare, a Pyrrhic victory is a triumph achieved at great expense, where the victorious party suffers significant losses that diminish the overall sense of success. For example, if side A prevails over side B in a particular battle but suffers a significant number of casualties in the process, the outcome might be a Pyrrhic victory. Although side A has won the immediate conflict, the repercussions of their losses may have a negative impact on their future campaigns. The notion of winning the battle but losing the war is the primary understanding of Pyrrhus’s deeds in the 3rd century bce.

Examples of Pyrrhic victories

There are several other notable Pyrrhic victories in military history. During Napoleon’s invasion of Russia, the French were the victors at the Battle of Borodino (September 7, 1812). Although the French army subsequently occupied Moscow, the Russian government refused to come to terms with Napoleon. Unwilling to risk wintering in Moscow, Napoleon tried to withdraw, but he found his way blocked by Russian Gen. Mikhail Kutuzov. By the time Napoleon’s Grande Armée completed its retreat from Russia, it had lost some 80 percent of its strength.

During the American Civil War the Battle of Chancellorsville (April 30–May 5, 1863) is regarded by many as Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee’s greatest triumph, but the battlefield victory came at an enormous cost. Lee audaciously divided his army in the face of the much larger Union force and routed Gen. Joseph Hooker’s Army of the Potomac. In the pursuit of Union troops, however, Lee’s ablest lieutenant, Gen. Thomas (“Stonewall”) Jackson, was mistakenly shot by his own men and later succumbed to his wounds. Lee’s success at Chancellorsville also inspired him to mount a disastrous invasion of Pennsylvania; the Union victory at the Battle of Gettysburg (July 1–3, 1863) would prove to be one of the turning points of the war.

During the Vietnam War the Tet Offensive (January 31, 1968) concluded with a clear victory for the forces of the United States and South Vietnam. In deviating from their proven guerrilla tactics, the North Vietnamese suffered a crushing tactical defeat, but the scale of their attack undermined support for the war among the American public. In the wake of Tet, U.S. commander Gen. William C. Westmoreland requested a significant increase in troops, thinking that the time was right to strike the weakened North Vietnamese military. To the increasingly vocal antiwar movement, however, this appeal seemed to confirm that U.S. involvement in Vietnam was escalating in the face of an unfaltering and seemingly unbeatable enemy at the cost of American lives.

Pyrrhic victories in other contexts

Like many metaphors of war, the concept of a Pyrrhic victory also applies in nonmilitary contexts. In sports, for example, one might call it a Pyrrhic victory if team A defeats team B in a football game but loses its most valuable player to a season-ending injury in the process, a cost so great that it diminishes their sense of accomplishment and ability to succeed in the future. In business, if a small business sues a larger competitor with greater resources and legal representation, even if the smaller entity obtains a favourable verdict, the lengthy litigation process may inflict significant harm and costs on the business.