In Greek mythology, Scamander (Skamandros) was a river god, son of Oceanus and Tethys according to Hesiod. Scamander is also thought of as the river god, son of Zeus. By Idaea, he fathered King Teucer. However, in the Iliad, he is a priest who after self-mutilation and dedicated worship of Cybele, a Phrygian and Anatolian equivalent of the Greco-Roman Titaness Rhea, was rewarded by being transformed into a river god. The Trojans to honor the god, threw in the river bulls and horses in an act of supplication. Scamander fought on the side of the Trojans during the Trojan War (Iliad XX, 73/74; XXI). Scamander was also said to have fought against Achilles, who was only saved due to the intervention of Hera, Athena and Hephaestus. In this context, he is the personification of the Scamander River that flowed from Mount Ida across the plain beneath the city of Troy, joining the Hellespont north of the city. The Achaeans, according to Homer, had set up their camp near its mouth, and their battles with the Trojans were fought on the plain of Scamander. According to Homer, he was called Xanthos by gods and Scamander by men, which might indicate that the former name refers to the god and the latter one to the river itself. In Iliad XXI he tried to drown Achilles after being mocked by him, but was stopped by Hera and Hephaestus.
References
- Tsotakou-Karveli. Lexicon of Greek Mythology. Athens: Sokoli, 1990.
