Who is sarpedon killed by

Instead of drawing a systematic theology out of the poems, I will explain this discrepancy by analyzing the narrative purposes that the deaths of Sarpedon and Menelaus serve within the poems. In the Odyssey , Menelaus mentions Elysium—where he will enjoy immortality—side-by-side.

In each case, the fate of a lesser character— Sarpedon or Menelaus—gives us insights about the destiny of a central character—Hector or Odysseus. Homer connects the death of Sarpedon with that of Hector by having Zeus waver over whether to spare each man. In both speeches, Zeus proceeds to contemplate whether he should save the Trojan fighter or allow him to die at the hands of his Greek attacker.

In both cases, a goddess averse to the Trojans—Hera in the case of Sarpedon, Athena in the case of Hector— persuades Zeus not to intervene and save his favorite. Both times this persuades Zeus to acquiesce to the death of his favorite. However, the structural parallels of these two scenes are too great for us to construe the verbal parallels as accidents of oral composition.

The structural parallels might indicate that these two episodes are variations on a type scene that was more frequent in non-extant epic poetry. But even if we concede such an unprovable speculation, it is significant that Homer chooses to employ this type scene only in the deaths of these two characters. Sarpedon is a unique figure in the Trojan War; other than Aeneas, he is the only son of a god fighting on the Trojan side, and he is the only son of Zeus fighting on either side.

First, Patroclus attains his aristeia when he kills Sarpedon. Second, Hector reaches his aristeia when he slays Patroclus. Finally, Achilles slaughters Hector, which precipitates his aristeia. This ultimately magnifies Hector by placing his death at the culmination of a chain that began with the slaughter of a son of Zeus.

Whereas the Iliad links the death of Sarpedon to the death of Hector, the Odyssey juxtaposes the immortality promised to Menelaus with the immortality offered to Odysseus. Elysium, as described here, has much in common with Ogygia as described in the following book Od.

Likewise, both Elysium and Ogygia are remote islands. I have argued that Sarpedon dies in order to give greater significance to the death of Hector. Furthermore, Menelaus, who is promised immortality in fulfillment of destiny, contrasts with Odysseus, who is offered immortality to distract from his destiny. According to Homer's Iliad, Zeus directs Hermes to call both Sleep and Death to the scene of battle where Sarpedon, having been wounded, "clawed with his hands at the bloody dust" Iliad, transl.

Richmond Lattimore, Book 16, line Interestingly, Zeus asks for Sleep's assistance at the same time as he calls upon Thanatos, the god of Death. Toggle navigation. Annotated by: Bertman, Sandra. Death of Sarpedon. Date of entry: Jul Last revised: Apr Summary This early Greek painting depicts an episode from Homer's Iliad where Sarpedon, a hero of the Trojan War, is killed by the spear of Patroklos, an enemy warrior.

Commentary Euphronios's depiction of Sarpedon's death is an early portrait of the barbarity of war and the needless death that is its legacy. Zeus considers saving his son Sarpedon, but Hera persuades him that the other gods would either look down upon him for it or try to save their own mortal offspring in turn.

Patroclus soon spears Sarpedon, and both sides fight over his armor. Hector returns briefly to the front in an attempt to retrieve the armor.

Zeus decides to kill Patroclus for slaying Sarpedon, but first he lets him rout the Trojans. Zeus then imbues Hector with a temporary cowardice, and Hector leads the retreat. Patroclus, disobeying Achilles, pursues the Trojans all the way to the gates of Troy. Homer explains that the city might have fallen at this moment had Apollo not intervened and driven Patroclus back from the gates. Amid the chaos, Apollo sneaks up behind Patroclus and wounds him, and Hector easily finishes him off.

Book 15 marks the beginning of the end for Hector and the Trojans, who have reached the height of their power and now face a downhill slope. From this vantage point, the end is in sight, and, correspondingly, Zeus now outlines the rest of The Iliad and beyond, predicting even the eventual fall of Troy, which occurs after the end of the poem. This sense of predestination points to an important difference between ancient and modern fiction.

Much of modern fiction creates a sense of dramatic tension by keeping the reader wondering how a story will end. In contrast, ancient narratives often base themselves on mythological tradition, and ancient audiences would have listened to a given story already aware of its outcome. For example, the poem creates a sense of drama and poignancy in its portrayal of Hector, who continues to fight valiantly for Troy even though he knows in his heart—as he tells Andromache in Book 6 —that he is doomed to die and Troy doomed to fall.

Similarly, Achilles eventually rejoins the battle despite his knowledge that the glory of fighting will cost him his life. The drama comes not from waiting to see how the story ends but from waiting to see how the characters respond to an end already foreseen. Achilles faces the dilemma of whether to enter the battle and save his comrades or stew in his angry self-pity and let them suffer.

These inner struggles of an individual character create not only a sense of drama but often a sense of irony as well.