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In Greek mythology
Greek mythology

Greek mythology is the body of myths and legends belonging to the Ancient Greece concerning their List of Greek mythological figures#Immortals and Greek hero cult, Cosmology#Metaphysical cosmology, and the origins and significance of their own cult and ritual practices....
, Astyanax (Ancient Greek
Ancient greek language

#REDIRECT Ancient Greek...
: ?st???a?, Astyánax) was the son of Hector
Hector

In Greek mythology, Hector , or Hektor, is a Troy prince and one of the greatest fighters in the Trojan War. He is the son of Priam and Hecuba, descendant of Dardanus, who lived under Mount Ida, and of Tros, the founder of Troy....
 and Andromache
Andromache

In Greek mythology, Andromache was the wife of Hector and daughter of Eetion, and sister to Podes. She was born and raised in the city of Cilician Thebe, over which her father ruled....
. His birth name was Scamandrius (in Greek S?aµ??d???? or S??µa?d???, after the river Scamander
Karamenderes River

Karamenderes is the modern name of the river Scamander, along the lower course of which, according to the Iliad, the battles of the Trojan War were fought. It flows entirely within the Turkey province of ?anakkale Province....
), but the people of Troy
Troy

Troy is a legendary city and center of the Trojan War, as described in the Epic Cycle, and especially in the Iliad, one of the two epic poems attributed to Homer....
 nicknamed him Astyanax (i.e. high king, or overlord, of the city), because he was the son of the city's great defender (Iliad
ILiad

The iLiad is an electronic handheld device, or e-book device, which can be used for document reading and editing. Like the Sony Reader or Amazon Kindle, the iLiad makes use of an electronic paper display....
 VI, 403) and the heir apparent's firstborn son.

During the Trojan War
Trojan War

In Greek mythology, the Trojan War was waged against the city of Troy by the Achaeans after Paris of Troy stole Helen from her husband Menelaus, the king of Sparta....
, 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, it was feared he would avenge his father and rebuild Troy.






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In Greek mythology
Greek mythology

Greek mythology is the body of myths and legends belonging to the Ancient Greece concerning their List of Greek mythological figures#Immortals and Greek hero cult, Cosmology#Metaphysical cosmology, and the origins and significance of their own cult and ritual practices....
, Astyanax (Ancient Greek
Ancient greek language

#REDIRECT Ancient Greek...
: ?st???a?, Astyánax) was the son of Hector
Hector

In Greek mythology, Hector , or Hektor, is a Troy prince and one of the greatest fighters in the Trojan War. He is the son of Priam and Hecuba, descendant of Dardanus, who lived under Mount Ida, and of Tros, the founder of Troy....
 and Andromache
Andromache

In Greek mythology, Andromache was the wife of Hector and daughter of Eetion, and sister to Podes. She was born and raised in the city of Cilician Thebe, over which her father ruled....
. His birth name was Scamandrius (in Greek S?aµ??d???? or S??µa?d???, after the river Scamander
Karamenderes River

Karamenderes is the modern name of the river Scamander, along the lower course of which, according to the Iliad, the battles of the Trojan War were fought. It flows entirely within the Turkey province of ?anakkale Province....
), but the people of Troy
Troy

Troy is a legendary city and center of the Trojan War, as described in the Epic Cycle, and especially in the Iliad, one of the two epic poems attributed to Homer....
 nicknamed him Astyanax (i.e. high king, or overlord, of the city), because he was the son of the city's great defender (Iliad
ILiad

The iLiad is an electronic handheld device, or e-book device, which can be used for document reading and editing. Like the Sony Reader or Amazon Kindle, the iLiad makes use of an electronic paper display....
 VI, 403) and the heir apparent's firstborn son.

During the Trojan War
Trojan War

In Greek mythology, the Trojan War was waged against the city of Troy by the Achaeans after Paris of Troy stole Helen from her husband Menelaus, the king of Sparta....
, 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, it was feared he would avenge his father and rebuild Troy. In the version given by the Little Iliad
Little Iliad

The Little Iliad is a lost Epic poetry of ancient Greek literature. It was one of the Epic Cycle, that is, the "Trojan" cycle, which told the entire history of the Trojan War in epic verse....
 and repeated by Pausanius
Pausanias (geographer)

Pausanias was a Roman Greece traveller and geographer of the 2nd century AD, who lived in the times of Hadrian, Antoninus Pius and Marcus Aurelius....
 (x 25.4), he was killed by Neoptolemus
Neoptolemus

In Greek mythology, Neoptolemus was the son of the warrior Achilles and the princess Deidamia . Achilles' mother foretold many years before Achilles birth that there would be a great war....
 (also called Pyrrhus), who threw the infant from the walls. Another version is given in Iliou persis
Iliou persis

The Iliou persis is a lost Epic poetry of ancient Greek literature. It was one of the Epic Cycle, that is, the "Trojan" cycle, which told the entire history of the Trojan War in epic verse....
. (It has also been depicted in some Greek vases that Neoptolemus kills Priam
Priam

In Greek mythology, Priam was the king of Troy during the Trojan War and youngest son of Laomedon. Modern scholars derive his name from the Luwian compound Priimuua, which means "exceptionally courageous"....
, 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.) In Ovid
Ovid

Publius Ovidius Naso was a Roman Empire poet known as Ovid to the English language-speaking world, who wrote about love, seduction, and Roman mythology transformation....
's Metamorphoses, the child is thrown from the walls by the Greek victors (13, 413ff). In Euripides
Euripides

Euripides was the last of the three great tragedy of classical Athens . Ancient scholars thought that Euripides had written ninety-five plays, although four of those were probably written by Critias....
's The Trojan Women
The Trojan Women

'The Trojan Women' is a tragedy by the Ancient Greece playwright Euripides. Produced during the Peloponnesian War, it is often considered a commentary on the capture of the Aegean Sea island of Melos and the subsequent slaughter and subjugation of its populace by the Athens earlier in 415 BC , the same year the play premiered....
 (719 ff), the herald Talthybius
Talthybius

Talthybius was herald and friend to Agamemnon in the Trojan War. He was the one who took Briseis from the tent of Achilles. Preceding the duel of Menelaus and Paris, Agamemnon charges him to fetch a sheep for sacrifice....
 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. In Seneca
Seneca the Younger

Lucius Annaeus Seneca was a Ancient Rome Stoicism philosopher, statesman, dramatist, and in one work humorist, of the Silver Age of Latin literature....
's version of The Trojan Women, the prophet Calchas
Calchas

In Greek mythology, Calchas , son of Thestor, was a Argive seer, with a gift for interpreting the flight of birds that he received of Apollo: "as an augur, Calchas had no rival in the camp"....
 declares that Astyanax must be thrown from the walls if the Greek fleet is to be allowed favorable winds (365-370), but once led to the tower, the child himself leaps off the walls (1100-1103). Other sources for the story of the Sack of Troy and Astyanax's death can be found in the Bibliotheca (Pseudo-Apollodorus)
Bibliotheca (Pseudo-Apollodorus)

The Bibliotheca , in three books, provides a grand summary of traditional Greek mythology and heroic legends, "the most valuable mythographical work that has come down from ancient times," Aubrey Diller observed, whose "stultifying purpose" was neatly expressed in the epigram noted by Patriarch Photius I of Constantinople:...
, Hyginus
Hyginus

Hyginus can refer to:*Gaius Julius Hyginus , Roman poet, author of Fabulae, reputed author of Poeticon astronomicon*Hyginus Gromaticus, Roman surveyor...
 (Fabula 109), Tryphiodorus
Tryphiodorus

Tryphiodorus , fl. 3rd or 4th century, was an epic poet native to Egypt. His only surviving work is The Taking of Ilios, in 691 verses. Other recorded titles include Marathoniaca and The Story of Hippodamea....
 (Sack of Troy 644-6).

There are numerous traditions up through the Middle Ages and the Renaissance that have Astyanax survive the destruction of Troy:
  • In one version, either Talthybius
    Talthybius

    Talthybius was herald and friend to Agamemnon in the Trojan War. He was the one who took Briseis from the tent of Achilles. Preceding the duel of Menelaus and Paris, Agamemnon charges him to fetch a sheep for sacrifice....
     finds he can't bear to kill him or else kills a slave's child in his place. Astyanax survives to found settlements in Corsica
    Corsica

    Corsica is the Mediterranean islands#By area in the Mediterranean Sea . It is located west of Italy, southeast of the France mainland, and north of the island of Sardinia....
     and Sardinia
    Sardinia

    Sardinia is the Mediterranean islands#By area island in the Mediterranean Sea . The area of Sardinia is . The island is surrounded by the France island of Corsica, the Italian Peninsula, Tunisia and the Balearic Islands....
    .
  • The Chronicle of Fredegar
    Chronicle of Fredegar

    The Chronicle of Fredegar is a chronicle that recounts the events of Frankish Empireish Gaul from 584 to around 641. Later authors continued the history to the coronation of Charlemagne and his brother Carloman on 9 October 768....
     contains the oldest mention of a medieval legend linking the Franks
    Franks

    The Franks or Frankish people were a West Germanic ethnic group first identified in the 3rd century as living north and east of the Lower Rhine River....
     to the Trojans. One legend, as further elaborated through the Middle Ages, established Astyanax, renamed "Francus
    Francus

    Francus is a legendary eponymous king of France, a descendant of the Troys, founder of the Merovingian dynasty and forefather of Charlemagne. In the Renaissance, Francus was generally considered to be another name for the Trojan Astyanax saved from the destruction of Troy....
    ", as the founder of Merovingian dynasty and forefather of Charlemagne
    Charlemagne

    Charlemagne was List of Frankish kings from 768 to his death. He expanded the Franks kingdoms into a Carolingian Empire that incorporated much of Western Europe and Central Europe....
    .
  • In Matteo Maria Boiardo
    Matteo Maria Boiardo

    Matteo Maria Boiardo , was an Italy Renaissance poet.Boiardo was born at, or near, Scandiano ; the son of Giovanni di Feltrino and Lucia Strozzi, he was of noble lineage, ranking as Count of Scandiano, with seignorial power over Arceto, Casalgrande, Gesso, and Torricella....
    's Orlando innamorato
    Orlando Innamorato

    Orlando Innamorato is an epic poem written by the Italian language Renaissance author Matteo Maria Boiardo. The poem is written in the ottava rima stanza rhythm consisting of 68 cantos and a half....
     (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 became the ruler of Messina, killed the giant king of Agrigento
    Agrigento

    Agrigento , is a city on the southern coast of Sicily, Italy, and capital of the province of Agrigento. It is renowned as the site of the ancient Greek city of Akragras , one of the leading cities of Magna Graecia during the golden age of Ancient Greece....
     (named Agranor) and married the queen of Syracuse. He was killed treacherously by Aegisthus
    Aegisthus

    In Greek mythology, Aegisthus was the son of Thyestes and of his daughter, Pelopia.Thyestes felt he had been deprived of the Mycenae throne unfairly by his brother, Atreus....
    , but his wife escaped to Reggio and bore a son (Polidoro), from whom the epic hero Ruggiero
    Ruggiero (character)

    Ruggiero is a leading character in the Italy romantic epics Orlando innamorato by Matteo Maria Boiardo and Orlando furioso by Ludovico Ariosto....
     is descended (III, v, 18-27). In this tradition, the epic hero Roland
    Roland

    Roland is a character in medieval literature and Renaissance literature, the chief paladin of Charlemagne and a central figure in the Matter of France....
    's sword Durendal
    Durendal

    As told in the Matter of France, Durendal or Durandal is the sword of Charlemagne's paladin Roland . According to Ludovico Ariosto's Orlando Furioso it once belonged to Hector of Troy, and was given to Roland by Maugris ....
     was the very sword used by Hector, and Roland wins the sword by defeating a Saracen knight (almonte, the son of Agolant
    Agolant

    Agolant or Agolante is a fictional character in Medieval and Renaissance romance Epic poetrys dealing with the Matter of France, including Orlando innamorato by Matteo Maria Boiardo and Orlando furioso by Ludovico Ariosto....
    ) who had defeated Ruggiero II.
  • In Ludovico Ariosto
    Ludovico Ariosto

    Ludovico Ariosto was an Italians poet. He is best known as the author of the romance Epic poetry Orlando Furioso . The poem, a continuation of Matteo Maria Boiardo's Orlando Innamorato, describes the adventures of Charlemagne, Roland, and the Franks as they battle against the Saracen with divergents into many side plots....
    's Orlando Furioso
    Orlando Furioso

    Orlando Furioso is an Italian literature romance epic poem by Ludovico Ariosto which has exerted a wide influence on later culture. The earliest version appeared in 1516, although the poem was not published in its complete form until 1532....
    , a continuation of Boiardo's poem, Astyanax is saved from Ulysses by Hector (36.70) who substitutes another baby. Astyanax arrives in Sicily
    Sicily

    Sicily is an Autonomous regions with special statute of Italy. Of all the regions of Italy, Sicily covers the largest land area at 25,708 km? and currently has just over five million inhabitants....
     and eventually becomes king of Messina, and his heirs later rule over Calabria
    Calabria

    Calabria , is a Regions of Italy in Southern Italy Italy, south of Naples, located at the "toe" of the Italian peninsula. It is bounded to the north by the region of Basilicata, to the south-west by the region of Sicily, to the west by the Tyrrhenian Sea, and to the east by the Ionian Sea....
     (36.70-73). From these rulers is descended Ruggiero II, father of the hero Ruggiero, legendary founder of the house of Este
    Este

    The House of Este is a European princely dynasty. It is split into two branches; the elder is known as the House of Welf-Este or House of Welf, the younger, as the House of Fulc-Este or later simply as the House of Este....
    .
  • Based on the medieval legend, Jean Lemaire de Belges
    Jean Lemaire de Belges

    Jean Lemaire de Belges was a Wallonia poet and historian who lived primarily in France.He was born in County of Hainaut , the godson and possibly a nephew of Jean Molinet, and spent some time with him at Valenciennes, where the elder writer held a kind of academy of poetry....
    's Illustrations 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 of Celtic Gaul
    Gaul

    Gaul is the name used for the region of Western Europe comprising part of present day northern Italy, France, Belgium, western Switzerland and the parts of the Netherlands and Germany on the west bank of the River Rhine....
     (while, at the same time, Bavo, cousin of Priam
    Priam

    In Greek mythology, Priam was the king of Troy during the Trojan War and youngest son of Laomedon. Modern scholars derive his name from the Luwian compound Priimuua, which means "exceptionally courageous"....
    , comes to the city of Trier
    Trier

    Trier is a city in Germany on the banks of the Moselle River. It is the oldest city in Germany, founded in or before 16 BC. Trier is not the only city claiming to be Germany's oldest, but it is the only one that bases this assertion on having the longest history as a city, as opposed to a mere settlement or army camp....
    ) and founds the dynasty leading to Pepin and Charlemagne
    Charlemagne

    Charlemagne was List of Frankish kings from 768 to his death. He expanded the Franks kingdoms into a Carolingian Empire that incorporated much of Western Europe and Central Europe....
    .
  • Lemaire de Belges' work inspired Pierre de Ronsard
    Pierre de Ronsard

    Pierre de Ronsard was a France poet and "prince of poets" ....
    's epic poem La 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.
  • In Jean Racine
    Jean Racine

    Jean Racine was a France dramatist, one of the "big three" of 17th century France , and one of the most important literary figures in the Western tradition....
    's play Andromaque
    Andromaque

    Andromaque is a tragedy in five acts by the France playwright Jean Racine written in alexandrine verse. It was first performed on 17 November 1667 before the court of Louis XIV in the Louvre in the private chambers of the Queen, Marie Th?r?se, by the royal company of actors, called "les Grands Com?diens", with Th?r?se Du Parc in the title...
     (1667), Astyanax has narrowly escaped death at the hands of Ulysses, who has unknowingly been tricked into killing another child in his place. Andromache has been taken prisoner in Epirus
    Epirus

    The name Epirus, from the Greek language "?pe????" meaning continent may refer to:...
     by Neoptolemus (Pyrrhus) who is due to be married to Hermione
    Hermione

    Hermione is a female given name and may refer to:Persons*Hermione of Ephesus , an early Christian martyr*Hermione Baddeley , English actress...
    , the only daughter of the Sparta
    Sparta

    Sparta was a city-state in ancient Greece, situated on the Eurotas River in the southern part of the Peloponnese. From circa 650 BC it rose to become the dominant military power in the region and as such was recognized as the overall leader of the combined Greek forces during the Greco-Persian Wars....
    n king Menelaus
    Menelaus

    Menelaus may refer to;*Menelaus, one of the two most known Atrides, a king of Sparta and son of Atreus and Aerope*Menelaus on the Moon, named after Menelaus of Alexandria....
     and Helen of Troy
    Helen

    In Greek mythology, Helen , better known as Helen of Sparta later Helen of Troy, was the daughter of Zeus and Leda , wife of King Menelaus of Sparta and sister of Castor and Pollux, Castor and Pollux and Clytemnestra....
    . Oreste
    Orestes

    Orestes was the son of Agamemnon in Greek mythology; Orestes may also refer to:Drama*Orestes , an Classical Athens tragedy from 408 BCE by Euripides...
    , son of Agamemnon
    Agamemnon

    In Greek mythology, Agamemnon / is the son of King Atreus of Mycenae and Queen Aerope, the brother of Menelaus and the husband of Clytemnestra; different mythological versions make him the king either of Mycenae or of Argos....
     and Clytemnestra
    Clytemnestra

    Clytemnestra was the wife of Agamemnon, king of the Ancient Greece kingdom of Mycenae or Argos. In the Oresteia by Aeschylus, she was a femme fatale who murdered her husband, Agamemnon—said by Euripides to be her second husband—and his concubine Cassandra....
    , brother to Electra
    Electra

    In Greek mythology, Electra was an Argosian princess and daughter of King Agamemnon and Queen Clytemnestra, and was a sibling to sisters Iphigeneia, Chrysothemis, and brother Orestes....
     and Iphigenia, and by now absolved of the crime of matricide
    Matricide

    Matricide is the act of killing one's mother. As for any type of killing, Motive can vary a great deal....
     prophesied by the Delphic oracle
    Delphi

    Delphi is an archaeology site and a modern town in Greece on the south-western spur of Mount Parnassus in the valley of Phocis. Delphi was the site of the Pythia, the most important oracle in the classical Greek world, when it was a major site for the worship of the god Apollo after he slew the Python , a deity who lived there and protecte...
    , has come to the court of Pyrrhus to plead on behalf of the Greeks for the return of Astyanax.
  • In David Gemmell
    David Gemmell

    David Andrew Gemmell was a bestselling British author of heroic fantasy. A former journalist and newspaper editor, Gemmell's first fiction work published in 1984....
    's Troy Series
    Troy Series

    The Troy Series is a sequence of historical fantasy novels by writer David Gemmell, adapting events surrounding the Epic cycle of the Trojan War....
    , Astyanax is the son of Andromache and Aeneas/Helikaon(though he is unaware of this for most of the story). After the Trojan War, Aeneas escapes from Troy with Andromache and Astyanax to Seven hills, a colony in Italy Aeneas and Odysseus found.


Other uses

Another Astyanax was the son of Heracles
Heracles

In Greek mythology, Heracles or Herakles meaning "glory of Hera", or "Glorious through Hera" Alcides or Alcaeus " was a hero, the son of Zeus and Alcmene, foster son of Amphitryon and great-grandson of Perseus....
 and Epilais, daughter of Thespius
Thespius

Thespius was a legendary king of Thespiae, Boeotia. His life account is considered part of Greek mythology....
. Astyanax
Mexican tetra

The Mexican tetra or Blind Cave Fish is a freshwater fishof the characin family oforder Characiformes.The type species of its genus, it is native to the Nearctic ecozone, originating in the lower Rio Grande and the Nueces River and Pecos Rivers in Texas as well as the central and eastern parts of Mexico....
 is a genus of fish in the American freshwater family Characidae
Characidae

The Characidae, characids or characins are a Family of Fresh water subtropical and tropical fish, belonging to the Order Characiformes....
.

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