Sarpedon (Cretan)

Half-Olympian son of Zeus by Europa daughter of Agenor (or Phoenix in variant traditions); third of the three Cretan brothers — alongside Minos (kingship of Crete) and Rhadamanthys (lawgiver, judge of the dead). Conceived when Zeus, in bull-form, abducted Europa from Tyre and carried her across the sea to Crete. Reared on Crete under the protection of Asterius the Cretan king (Europa's subsequent husband, social-father to the three Zeus-sons). After Asterius's death, quarreled with Minos over the kingship of Crete and over the love of the youth Miletus (son of Apollo and Areia). Minos prevailed; Sarpedon and his followers were driven from Crete. Miletus fled to Caria and founded the eponymous city Miletus; Sarpedon proceeded to Lycia (the country called Termilae), where he established kingship. Per Herodotus 1.173, Sarpedon's settlement gave rise to the people who in his day were called Lycians. Per the canonical genealogy (Apollod. 3.1.2; Diod. Sic. 5.79), Zeus granted Sarpedon an extended lifespan of three generations — the structural device that allows the Cretan-Lycian Sarpedon-tradition to bridge the foundation-era and the Trojan War. The Lycian Sarpedon of the Iliad (5, 12, 16) — son of Zeus by Laodamia daughter of Bellerophon — is variously read as either the grandson of the Cretan Sarpedon (the more common interpretation) or as the same figure under the three-generation lifespan extension; the registry treats them as distinct entries (greek_sarpedon_cretan and greek_homer_sarpedon) with the ancestor-relation noted.

Parentage

• paternal: Zeus
• maternal: Europa

Domains

• kingship of Lycia
• foundation of Lycian people and kingdom

Powers

• extended Zeus granted lifespan
• royal authority

Relations

• sibling: MinosApollod. 3.1.1-2 (primary)
• sibling: RhadamanthusApollod. 3.1.1-2 (primary)
• rival and beloved of: Miletus (rival-and-beloved of the Cretan Sarpedon, founder of the city Miletus in Caria) · GreekMiletus son of Apollo and Areia; the youth over whom Sarpedon and Minos quarreled. Entry pending.Apollod. 3.1.2 (primary)
• social father: Asterius (king of Crete, social-father of Minos/Sarpedon/Rhadamanthus by Europa) · GreekAsterius the Cretan king, who married Europa and raised the three Zeus-sons as his own. Entry pending.Apollod. 3.1.2 (primary)
• ancestor of: Sarpedon the Lycian (son of Zeus by Laodamia, Trojan ally killed by Patroclus in Iliad book 16) · GreekThe Lycian Sarpedon of Iliad 5, 12, 16 — son of Zeus by Laodamia daughter of Bellerophon — is descended from the Cretan Sarpedon by the grandfather-grandson reading; in the same-figure reading he IS the Cretan Sarpedon under three-generation lifespan.the Lycian-Sarpedon-of-the-Iliad descent — variously grandfather-grandson or same-figure with extended lifespan (primary)

Sources

• existence: Hesiod, fr. 140 M-W (the early genealogy) (primary); Iliad 14.321-322 (the canonical naming of the three sons of Europa by Zeus) (primary); Apollodorus, Bibliotheca 3.1.1-2 (the canonical narrative) (primary); Herodotus 1.173 (the Lycian-foundation tradition) (primary); Diodorus Siculus 5.79 (the extended-lifespan three-generation tradition) (primary)