# Sarpedon — The Iliad character guide

> Sarpedon in The Iliad by Homer.

**Role:** supporting

**Also known as:** King Sarpedon, Noble Sarpedon, great Sarpedon, Godlike Sarpedon

**First appearance:** 0001-the-iliad

## Snapshot

Lycian king and son of Zeus who fights and dies at Troy, embodying the honor that makes even a doomed ally magnificent.

## Who they are

Sarpedon commands Lycia's contingent on the Trojan side, a warrior-king whose divine parentage never shields him from the front line. His speeches to Glaucus about why men of privilege must earn their glory in battle give the war its clearest statement of heroic ethics. When he falls, the gods themselves debate whether fate can be bent for a beloved son, making his death a turning point in the epic's meditation on mortality.

## In the story

### [Book V: The Exploits of Diomed](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_iliad_se/chapters/book-v-the-exploits-of-diomed)

Kills Tlepolemus in single combat, but is himself wounded in the thigh; his comrades carry him from the field.

### [Book XII: The Battle at the Grecian Wall](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_iliad_se/chapters/book-xii-the-battle-at-the-grecian-wall)

Leads the Lycian assault on the wall, delivers a speech on honor and mortality, and kills Alcmaon.

### [Book XVI: The Sixth Battle—Death of Patroclus](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_iliad_se/chapters/book-xvi-the-sixth-battle-death-of-patroclus)

Killed by Patroclus during the battle.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_iliad_se/characters/sarpedon
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_iliad_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_iliad_se/characters