Astyanax

In Greek mythology, Astyanax (; Astyánax, "lord of the city") was the son of Hector, the crown prince of Troy, and of his wife, Princess Andromache of Cilician Thebe. His birth name was Scamandrius (in Greek: Σκαμάνδριος Skamandrios, after the river Scamander), 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.

== Mythology == During the Trojan War, Andromache hid the child in Hector's tomb, but the child was discovered. His fate was debated by the Greeks, for if he were allowed to live, it was feared he would avenge his father and rebuild Troy. In the version given by the Little Iliad and repeated by Pausanias (x.25.9), he was killed by Neoptolemus (also called Pyrrhus), who threw the infant from the walls, as predicted by Andromache in the Iliad. Another version is given in Iliou persis, in which Odysseus kills Astyanax. It has also been depicted in some Greek vases that Neoptolemus kills Priam, who has taken refuge near a sacred altar, using Astyanax's dead body to club the old king to death, in front of horrified onlookers.