Introduction
Sarpedon is a son of Zeus and Europa, king of Lycia, and one of the most prominent allies of Troy in Homer's Iliad, where his death at the hands of Patroclus is one of the epic's most emotionally significant episodes.
This figure marks the point where the genealogy of the gods gives way to the genealogy of heroes. A fuller account of their adventures belongs to a separate treatment of the Greek Heroic Cycle; this article covers their divine parentage and place in that transition.
Family
- Father: Zeus
- Mother: Europa
- Siblings: Persephone, Athena, Apollo, Artemis, Hermes, Dionysus, Ares, Hephaestus, Hebe, Eileithyia, Calliope, Clio, Erato, Euterpe, Melpomene, Polyhymnia, Terpsichore, Thalia, Urania, Perseus, Heracles, Arcas, Epaphus, Aeacus, Dardanus, Minos, Rhadamanthus, Pollux (Polydeuces), Helen, Amphion, Zethus
In the Iliad
Sarpedon leads the Lycian contingent fighting for Troy, and is portrayed as one of the bravest and most honourable warriors on either side, delivering, at one point, a famous speech on the duties and privileges of a king that must be earned through courage in battle.
Death and Zeus's grief
When Sarpedon is killed by Patroclus (Achilles' close companion, fighting in Achilles' own armour), Homer depicts Zeus, his father, watching from Olympus and grieving deeply, even briefly considering whether to save his son from his fated death before accepting that he cannot, or should not, override fate itself. Zeus sends Apollo to cleanse Sarpedon's body and have Sleep and Death carry it gently home to Lycia for proper burial, one of the Iliad's most tender passages amid its violence.