Sarpédon

Myth

In its youth, he quarrels with his brothers for the love of a boy, Milétos (or Atymnios). Overcome by Minos, it must be exiled and joined then his uncle Cilix, established in a region to which it gives his name: the Cilicie. With this last, it fights the Lycie NS and fact of the area of the Xanthe its kingdom. Zeus then grants to him the privilege of living during three generations of men.

When bursts the Trojan War, it assists from Priam to the head from the troops lycians. During the tenth year of the war, it is wounded with the thigh in its confrontation with the Héraclide Tlépolème. Zeus intervenes then to save it.

Thereafter, it meets Patrocle covered divine armor of Achille. Patrocle kills initially its coachman, Thrasydème, like one of its horses. At the beginning of the combat, Zeus, which observes the scene, knows that his/her son is dedicated to perish under the blows of Patrocle. Taken pity, it wants to save it but is stopped by the remonstrances of Héra, which recalls him that each of Immortal has a descendant in the battle. Yielding to Héra, Zeus decides to give up his/her son with his destiny. It makes nevertheless rain a downpour of blood to pay homage to him.

Sarpédon is cut down of a blow of spade in full heart. Before dying, he asks Glaucos, his comrade in arms, not leaving his skin to the hands of the Achaens. Itself wounded, Glaucos can only exhort Troyens to defend the body, but Patrocle pushes back finally Hector and Lyciens. Sarpédon is then stripped of its weapons. At once, Apollo, on the order of Zeus, comes to carry the body. It washes it in water of the Scamandre, the oint of ambrosia, the revêt of immortal clothes, and between the hands of the twin gods Hypnos gives it (the Sleep) and of Thanatos (Death) which carries it in Lycie, in the middle of its people.

Representations

The death of Sarpédon is a topic running in the iconography of the ancient vases. A vase protolucanien of the Painter of Policoro (cf fig. 1) watch the death of the hero in accordance with the scene described by Homère: Sarpédon was cut down by the spade of Patrocle, which completes the hero by withdrawing his spade.

However, the most current representation is that of the removal of the body by Hypnos and Thanatos, which appears on several vases attics with black figures and red figures of the end of sixth century BC and the beginning of the 5th century. In these representations, the twin, glabrous or bearded gods according to the cases, seem to remove the body of the battle field. On a hydrie lucanienne, one sees them carrying the body in the airs. On a crater apulien, they bring the body to Europe, mother of the hero - episode probably drawn from the Cariens of Eschyle. This scene becomes then a generic funerary scene, in particular on Lécythe S at white zone.

Sarpédon is also represented by Polygnote on a fresco at the sides of Memnon.

Sources

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