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Scamander (/skəˈmændər/), alsoSkamandros (Ancient Greek:Σκάμανδρος) orXanthos (Ξάνθος), was a river god inGreek mythology.
The meaning of this name is uncertain. The second element looks as though it is derived from Greekἀνδρός (andrós), meaning "of a man", but there are sources who doubt this. The first element is more difficult to pinpoint; it could be derived fromσκάζω (skázō), "to limp, to stumble (over an obstacle)", or fromσκαιός (skaiós), meaning "left(-handed), awkward". The meaning of the name might then perhaps be "limping man" or "awkward man".[1] This would refer to the many bends and winds (meanders) of the river, which does not run straight, but "limps" its way along.[2]
TheScamander River was named after the river god Scamander. The Scamander River was the river that surrounded Troy. The god Scamander took the side of the Trojans in the Trojan War.
According toHesiod, Scamander is the son of theTitansOceanus andTethys.[3] He is alternately described as a son ofZeus.[4]
Scamander was the father ofKing Teucer whose mother was thewater nymphIdaea. He was also mentioned as the father ofGlaucia, lover ofDeimachus. Additionally, Xanthus was credited to be the father ofEurythemista who borePelops andNiobe toTantalus.[5]Strymo orRhoeo, wife ofLaomedon, king ofTroy was also called his daughter.[6] Lastly, he also became the father of the priestMelus by an unknown woman or nymph.[7]
Scamander fought on the side of theTrojans during theTrojan War (Iliad XX, 73/74; XXI), after theGreek heroAchilles insulted him. Scamander was also said to have attempted to kill Achilles three times, and the hero was only saved due to the intervention ofHera,Athena andHephaestus. In this context, he is the personification of theScamander River that flowed fromMount Ida across the plain beneath the city of Troy, joining theHellespont north of the city. TheAchaeans, according toHomer, had set up their camp near its mouth, and their battles with the Trojans were fought on the plain of Scamander. InIliad XXII (149ff), Homer states that the river had two springs: one produced warm water; the other yielded cold water, regardless of the season.
According to Homer, he was calledXanthos by gods and Scamander by men, which might indicate that the former name refers to the god and the latter one to the river itself.[8]
In a story byPseudo-Plutarch,[9] Scamander went mad during the mysteries ofRhea and flung himself into the river Xanthus, which was then renamed to Scamander.
