Astyanax
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- This article is about the mythological character; for the fish genus, see Astyanax (fish). For the Nintendo game, see Astyanax (video game)
In Greek mythology, Astyanax (Greek Ἀστυάναξ, prince of the city) was the son of Hector and Andromache. His real name was Scamandrius, but people of Troy nicknamed him Astyanax ("Lord of the City"), because he was the son of Hector, a great Trojan hero. He was killed during the Trojan War by Neoptolemus, who threw the infant from a wall and told his mother "Since my father (Achilles) killed his father (Hector) he might try to avenge the death. He also could become King of Troy, and we want no more kings of Troy!" (Iliad VI, 403, 466; Aeneid II, 457) Homer's Odyssey tells a different version of Astyanax's death in which Odysseus throws the infant over the wall of Troy. This is one of the moral transgressions for which he must atone in his long homecoming in the Odyssey.
In another version of the story either Odysseus finds he can't do it or else kills a slave's child in his place. Astyanax survives to found settlements in Corsica and Sardinia and become the ancestor of Roland, who in the Song of Roland carries the very sword used by Hector.
Another Astyanax is the son of Heracles and Epilais, daughter of Thespius.
[edit] External links
- Astyanax on Encyclopedia Mythica
