Mnemosyne — Classical Greek Myth Library

On the wall at the Scaean Gates, Hector reaches for his infant son Scamandrius—called Astyanax, “king of the city,” by the Trojans—but the child shrieks and shrinks from his father’s bronze helmet and horsehair crest. Hector and Andromache laugh; Hector removes the helmet, kisses his son, and tosses him gently in his arms. He prays to Zeus and the other gods: grant that this boy be as I am, outstanding among the Trojans, and rule Ilion in strength; let men say “He is far better than his father” when he comes from battle, and let him kill his enemy and bring back bloody spoils to gladden his mother’s heart. The prayer’s tragic irony—audience and tradition know Astyanax will die at the sack—is Homeric pathos at its sharpest. Catalogue the helmet-fright and the prayer as a distinct atom inside the wider farewell scene.