In Greek mythology, Astyanax (Ancient Greek: Ἀστυάναξ, "king of the city") was the son of Hector, crown prince of Troy, and Andromache of Cilician Thebe. His birth name was Scamandrius, after the river Scamander; the Trojans nicknamed him Astyanax because he was the heir of the city's great defender. After Troy fell, Greek tradition usually has him thrown from the walls — by Neoptolemus or Odysseus — lest he avenge his father and rebuild the city; a minority of later tales have him survive.
Adapted from Wikipedia, "Astyanax" · CC BY-SA 4.0
I.Mythology
During the Trojan War, Andromache hid the child in Hector's tomb, but he 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. In the version given by the Little Iliad and repeated by Pausanias, he was killed by Neoptolemus (Pyrrhus), who threw the infant from the walls, as Andromache had feared in the Iliad.
Another version in the Iliou persis has Odysseus kill Astyanax. Some Greek vases depict Neoptolemus killing Priam at a sacred altar using Astyanax's dead body as a club. In Euripides's The Trojan Women, the herald Talthybius reveals that Odysseus has convinced the council to have the child thrown from the walls. In Seneca's Trojan Women the prophet Calchas declares that Astyanax must be thrown from the walls for the Greek fleet to sail, but once led to the tower the child himself leaps off.
II.Survival traditions
Dictys Cretensis has Neoptolemus give "the sons of Hector" to Helenus as a reward for betraying his family. Conon records how Astyanax and his brother Oxynios were sent to Lydia for safety, then returned after the war to rebuild Troy. In Abas' lost Troika, Astyanax takes over the city after its destruction, is ousted by Antenor, and is then restored by Aeneas. Medieval and Renaissance stories likewise sometimes have Astyanax survive the sack.