Asteropaios edit extracted from Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia (using Wikipedia Reflection Script)

Achille provoca strage all'interno del fiume Scamandro (la divinità del fiume è sdraiata, a destra). Miniatura del XVIII secolo, opera di Johann Balthasar Probst.

In the Iliad, Asteropaios (Greek: Ἀστεροπαῖος; Latin: Asteropaeus) was the leader of the Trojan-allied Paionians along with fellow warrior Pyraechmes. Asteropaios was the son of Pelagon, who was the son of the river god Axios and the mortal woman Periboia, daughter of Akessamenos (Greek: Ἀκεσσαμενός). Asteropaios was a newcomer to the war at the start of the Iliad; he had only been in Troy for less than two weeks.

Asteropaios had the distinction in combat of being ambidextrous and would on occasion throw two spears at once. In Book XII of the Iliad as the Trojans attacked the Achaean wall, Asteropaios was a leader of the same division as the Lycian warriors Sarpedon and Glaucus, the division which pressed hard enough to allow Hector and his division breach in the wall.

In Book XXI, as Achilles is mercilessly slaughtering Trojan warriors alongside the river Skamandros and polluting the waters with dead bodies (including one of Priam's sons, Lycaon), the river god in turn encourages Asteropaios to make a stand against Achilles.

Achilles and Asteropaios thus engage in one-on-one combat, Asteropaios throwing two spears at the same time at Achilles. One spear hit Achilles' shield, while the other reached his right forearm and drew blood. Asteropaios was the only Trojan in the Iliad who was able to draw blood from Achilles. However, he ultimately fails to kill Achilles, and is slain. Later, in the funeral games for the slain Patroclus, the silver-studded sword of Asteropaios is awarded as a prize along with the armor of Sarpedon.

There is also an asteroid called Asteropaios named after the hero.

References

• Homer, Iliad, Book XII, Book XXI

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