Astyanax
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- This article is about the mythological character; for the fish genus, see Astyanax (fish).
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, because he was the son of Hector. 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.
Astyanax is also the name of a video game which was released in North America under license by Jaleco in 1990 for the NES platform. It is a side-scrolling adventure game which features ancient Greek battle themes.
Source: Encyclopedia Mythica, http://www.pantheon.org/articles/a/astyanax.html
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