In Homer's Iliad, Zeus lay with Laodamia, daughter of Bellerophon, and fathered Sarpedon, the Lycian hero who fell at Troy.
Sarpedon and Glaucus, both descendants of Bellerophon, jointly commanded the Lycian contingent at Troy. Glaucus mourned Sarpedon's death and prayed to Apollo to heal his own wounds so he could defend his cousin's body.
Sarpedon and Hector fought as allies defending Troy. In Iliad 5, Sarpedon rebuked Hector for relying too heavily on foreign allies, urging him to rally the Trojans themselves to fight harder.
Patroclus slew Sarpedon, son of Zeus and king of Lycia, during his aristeia in the Iliad. Zeus considered saving his son but Hera warned him not to defy fate.
At Zeus's command, the twin brothers Thanatos and Hypnos carried Sarpedon's body from the battlefield at Troy to his homeland Lycia for proper burial. Homer describes them bearing the fallen hero gently through the air.
In Iliad 16, Zeus wished to save his son Sarpedon from death at Troy but yielded to fate's decree. The Moirai had appointed Sarpedon's death, and even the king of the gods could not overrule them.
In Iliad 16, Apollo cleansed Sarpedon's body of blood and dust on the battlefield at Zeus's command, anointing it with ambrosia before handing it to Hypnos and Thanatos for transport to Lycia.
In Iliad 16, Hera warned Zeus against rescuing his son Sarpedon from death at Patroclus's hands, arguing that other gods would demand the same privilege for their own children if he defied fate.
Sarpedon, son of Zeus and king of Lycia, was the Trojans' greatest ally during the Trojan War. His death at Patroclus's hands prompted Zeus to weep tears of blood, and the battle over his body was among the war's fiercest.
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