Astyanax

Proper noun

Astyanax

1. (Greek) The nickname of Scamandrius, child son of Hector and Andromache.
   • The jealous chiefs, and all the states of Greece, / With one united voice complain of Pyrrhus; / That now, forgetful of the promise giv'n, / And mindless of his godlike father's fate, / Astyanax he nurses in his court; Astyanax, the young, surviving hope / Of ruin'd Troy; Astyanax descended / From...1712, Ambrose Philips, The Distrest Mother, [adapted from 1667, Jean Racine, Andromaque], 1819, The Distrest Mother: A Tragedy, Act 1, Scene 1, page 3
   • After lying that the boy is dead and defying the threat of torture, she^([Andromache]) is unable to conceal her anguish for the boy's life and gives in to the threat that Hector's tomb will be destroyed if Astyanax is dead, that is, to the threat that both the sanctity of the tomb and the life of...1983, Norman T. Pratt, Seneca's Drama, page 110