InGreek mythology,Astyanax (/əˈstaɪ.ənæks/;Ancient Greek:ἈστυάναξAstyánax, "lord of the city") was the son ofHector, the crown prince of Troy, and of his wife, PrincessAndromache ofCilician Thebe.[1] His birth name wasScamandrius (in Greek: Σκαμάνδριος Skamandrios, after the riverScamander[2]), but the people ofTroy 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 theheir apparent's firstborn son.
During theTrojan 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.[2] In the version given by theLittle Iliad and repeated byPausanias (x 25.4), he was killed byNeoptolemus (also called Pyrrhus), who threw the infant from the walls,[1] as predicted by Andromache in the Iliad.[3] Another version is given inIliou persis, in whichOdysseus kills Astyanax. It has also been depicted in some Greek vases that Neoptolemus killsPriam, 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.[4]
InOvid'sMetamorphoses, the child is thrown from the walls by the Greek victors (13, 413ff). InEuripides'sThe Trojan Women (719 ff), the heraldTalthybius reveals to Andromache that Odysseus has convinced the council to have the child thrown from the walls, and the child is in this way killed. InSeneca's version ofThe Trojan Women, the prophetCalchas declares that Astyanax must be thrown from the walls if the Greek fleet is to be allowed favorable winds (365–70), but once led to the tower, the child himself leaps off the walls (1100–3). For Hector's mother,Hecuba, Astyanax was the only hope and consolation, and his death's announcement was a terrible climax of the catastrophe.[5] Other sources for the story of the Sack of Troy and Astyanax's death can be found in theBibliotheca (Pseudo-Apollodorus),Hyginus (Fabula 109),Tryphiodorus (Sack of Troy 644–6).[6]
An engraving showing the child Astyanax thrown from the walls of Troy as his mother Andromache looks on
Dictys Cretensis has Neoptolemus give "the sons of Hector" toHelenus as a reward for betraying his family.[7]Conon records how he and his brotherOxynios were sent toLydia for safety, then returned after the war to rebuild Troy.[8] In Abas' lostTroika, it is said Astyanax takes over the city after its destruction. He is ousted from the throne byAntenor but then restored byAeneas.[9]
There are also stories from theMiddle Ages andRenaissance that have Astyanax survive the destruction of Troy:
In one version[which?], eitherTalthybius finds he cannot bear to kill him or else kills a slave's child in his place. Astyanax survives to found settlements inCorsica andSardinia.
TheChronicle of Fredegar contains the oldest mention of a medieval legend linking theFranks to the Trojans.[10] One legend, as further elaborated through the Middle Ages, established Astyanax, renamed "Francus", as the founder of theMerovingian dynasty and forefather ofCharlemagne.
InMatteo Maria Boiardo'sOrlando innamorato (1495), Andromache saves Astyanax by hiding him in a tomb, replacing him with another child who is killed along with her by the Greeks. Taken to Sicily, Astyanax becomes the ruler ofMessina, killing the giant-king ofAgrigento (named Agranor) and marries the queen ofSyracuse. He is killed treacherously byAegisthus, but his wife escapes to Reggio and bears a son (Polidoro), from whom the epic heroRuggiero is descended (III, v, 18-27). In this tradition, the epic heroRoland's swordDurendal is the very sword used by Hector, and Roland wins the sword by defeating a Saracen knight (Almonte, the son ofAgolant) who had defeated Ruggiero II.
InLudovico Ariosto'sOrlando Furioso, a continuation of Boiardo's poem, Astyanax is saved from Odysseus (36.70) by substituting another boy of his age for himself. Astyanax arrives inSicily, eventually becomes King of Messina, and his heirs later rule overCalabria (36.70–73). From these rulers is descended Ruggiero II, father of the hero Ruggiero, legendary founder of thehouse of Este.
Based on the medieval legend,Jean Lemaire de Belges'sIllustrations de Gaule et Singularités de Troie (1510–12) has Astyanax survive the fall of Troy and arrive in Western Europe. He changes his name to Francus and becomes King ofCeltic Gaul (while, at the same time,Bavo, cousin ofPriam, comes to the city ofTrier) and founds the dynasty leading toPepin andCharlemagne.[13]
Lemaire de Belges' work inspiredPierre de Ronsard's epic poemLa Franciade (1572). In this poem, Jupiter saves Astyanax (renamed Francus). The young hero arrives in Crete and falls in love with the princess Hyanthe with whom he is destined to found the royal dynasty of France.
InJean Racine's playAndromaque (1667), Astyanax has narrowly escaped death at the hands of Odysseus, who has unknowingly been tricked into killing another child in his place. Andromache has been taken prisoner inEpirus by Neoptolemus (Pyrrhus) who is due to be married toHermione, the only daughter of theSpartan kingMenelaus andHelen of Troy.Orestes, son ofAgamemnon andClytemnestra, brother toElectra andIphigenia, and by now absolved of the crime ofmatricide prophesied by the Delphic oracle, has come to the court of Pyrrhus to plead on behalf of the Greeks for the return of Astyanax.
^ab"Astyanax".Oxford Classical Dictionary. Oxford, 1949, p. 101 (s.v. "Ἀνδρομάχη").
^abA Classical Manual: Being a Mythological, Historical, and Geographical Commentary on Pope's Homer and Dryden's Aeneid of Virgil. J. Murray, 1833, p. 189.
^Troy Between Greece and Rome: Local Tradition and Imperial Power. Erskine, Andrew (2001).
^(in French) Hasenohr, Geneviève and Zink, Michel (eds.)Dictionnaire des lettres françaises: Le Moyen Age. Collection: La Pochothèque. Paris: Fayard, 1992, p. 472,ISBN2-253-05662-6.
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