Vintage Boots: Astyanax

Wednesday, 15 August 2012

Astyanax

In Greek mythology, Astyanax Ancient Greek: Ἀστυάναξ – Astyánax, gen.: Ἀστυάνακτος) was the son of Hector, Crown Prince of Troy and Princess Andromache of Cilician Thebe.^[1] His birth name was Scamandrius (in Greek Σκαμάνδριος or Σκάμανδρος, after the river Scamander^[2]), but the people of Troy nicknamed him Astyanax (i.e. high king, or overlord, of the city), because he was the son of the city's great defender (Iliad VI, 403) and the heir apparent's firstborn son.

During the Trojan War, Andromache hid the child in Hector's tomb but the child was discovered, and his fate was debated by the Greeks, for if he were allowed to live.