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Astyanax

Mythology
Pronunciation

Understanding ARPABET Pronunciation

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The pronunciation guide uses the ARPABET phonetic system—the same system used in speech recognition and text-to-speech applications.

Vowel Examples:
AE1 = cat, bat
EH1 = bed, head
IY1 = see, me
OW1 = go, boat
UW1 = boot, do
Stress Numbers:
0 = no stress (unstressed)
1 = primary stress (loud)
2 = secondary stress (medium)
Example:
AH0 TH IY1 N AH0
= a-THEE-na (Athena)

The stressed syllable (marked with 1) is pronounced louder and clearer than others.

Quick Definition

Infant son of Hector and Andromache, hurled from Troy’s walls; poignant emblem of innocence destroyed by war.

Detailed Definition
Astyanax, whose name means “lord of the city,” was thrown from Troy’s walls by Greeks fearing he’d avenge his father. His death epitomizes war’s cruelty toward the innocent. Poets reference him to evoke pathos, the tragedy of lost futures, and the brutal logic of conquest.
Example
Example in poetry:
Homer’s Iliad portrays Astyanax as Hector’s infant son, doomed after Troy’s fall; Euripides’ Trojan Women dramatizes his death at Greek hands; Ovid references his fate in Metamorphoses as emblematic of war’s cruelty; Virgil’s Aeneid alludes to him as a symbol of Troy’s lost future; Later tragedy uses Astyanax to evoke pathos and innocence destroyed.
Additional Notes
Astyanax (“lord of the city”), son of Hector and Andromache, is thrown from Troy’s walls after the city falls. Euripides’ Trojan Women dramatizes his death as emblematic of war’s cruelty to the innocent. Students should analyze how his fate contrasts with Aeneas’s son Ascanius—symbolizing Troy’s end vs. Rome’s beginning. His name itself is ironic, given his powerlessness. Related: Hector, Andromache, Trojan War aftermath.
Also Known As
Astyanax the Little Prince Son of Hector Scamandrius Doomed Heir of Troy
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