Laomedon

Laomedon was a king of Troy in Greek mythology, son of Ilus and grandson of Tros, and the father of Priam. He is remembered as the king who cheated the gods Poseidon and Apollo of their wages for building the walls of Troy and then refused Heracles the horses he had promised for saving his daughter Hesione. For these broken promises Heracles sacked Troy and killed him.

Family of Laomedon

Laomedon was the son of Ilus, who was the son of Tros; his uncle was Ganymede, the most beautiful of mortals, whom the gods carried off to be Zeus’ cupbearer (Homer, Iliad 20.230–236). Zeus gave Tros horses, the best under the dawn and the sun, as compensation for his son (Iliad 5.265–267). Apollodorus names Laomedon’s mother as Eurydice, daughter of Adrastus (Library 3.12.3).

Homer gives Laomedon five sons: Tithonus, Priam, Lampus, Clytius and Hicetaon (Iliad 20.237–238); Apollodorus names the same five, with Podarces in place of Priam, and adds three daughters, Hesione, Cilla and Astyoche. He gives Laomedon’s wife as Strymo, daughter of the river Scamander, though he notes that some called her Placia or Leucippe, and says that by a nymph, Calybe, Laomedon had another son, Bucolion (Library 3.12.3). Homer calls Bucolion his eldest son, born of an unwed mother (Iliad 6.23–26). The son Podarces became known as Priam (Library 2.6.4).

The Walls of Troy

In the Iliad, Poseidon tells how he and Apollo, sent by Zeus, served the proud Laomedon for a year for a fixed wage. Poseidon built the great wall around the city, and Apollo herded the king’s cattle on the slopes of Mount Ida. When the time came for payment, Laomedon refused the whole wage and sent them away with threats: he would bind their hands and feet and sell them into distant islands, and cut off the ears of both (Iliad 21.441–457). Elsewhere in the poem Poseidon says that he and Apollo built the city for the hero Laomedon (Iliad 7.452–453).

Apollodorus adds that the two gods took human form to put the king’s arrogance to the test and fortified Pergamum, the citadel, for wages (Library 2.5.9). Pindar says that they took a mortal, Aeacus, with them to help in the work (Pindar, Olympian 8.30–46). Homer gives no reason why Zeus sent the gods into service.

Hesione and the Sea Monster

When Laomedon withheld the wages, Apollo sent a plague and Poseidon sent a sea monster, which, carried up by a flood, carried off the people of the plain. Oracles said that the city would be freed of these calamities if Laomedon exposed his daughter Hesione to the monster, and he fastened her to rocks by the sea (Apollodorus, Library 2.5.9). Ovid tells the story the same way: Poseidon flooded the land of avaricious Troy, then demanded the king’s daughter for the monster (Metamorphoses 11.194–215).

Heracles, returning from his expedition against the Amazons, reached Troy at this moment. He promised to save Hesione if Laomedon would give him the mares which Zeus had given in compensation for Ganymede. Laomedon agreed, Heracles killed the monster, and the king then refused to give the horses (Apollodorus, Library 2.5.9). The Iliad knows that Heracles came to Troy for these horses and that Laomedon rewarded his service with insults and did not hand them over (Iliad 5.640–651). It also mentions a high wall built by the Trojans and Athena as a refuge for Heracles from the sea monster (Iliad 20.144–148).

The Death of Laomedon

After finishing his servitude to Omphale, Heracles sailed to Troy with eighteen ships and a force of volunteers; Homer says that he took the city with only six ships and fewer men (Iliad 5.641–642). Laomedon attacked the ships and killed Oicles, whom Heracles had left on guard, but was driven back and besieged. Telamon was the first to breach the wall, and Heracles followed. Heracles took the city and shot down Laomedon and all his sons except Podarces. He gave Hesione to Telamon as a prize and allowed her to take one of the captives with her. She chose her brother Podarces, whom Heracles first made a slave and then allowed her to ransom with her veil; from this buying he was called Priam, from the Greek word for “to buy” (Apollodorus, Library 2.6.4). Ovid says that Laomedon, who twice broke his word, lost Troy to Heracles and that Telamon received Hesione (Metamorphoses 11.215–217). The Roman poet Virgil refers to the same story as the perjury of Laomedon’s Troy (Georgics 1.502).

Laomedon Sources

Homer, Iliad 5.265–272, 5.638–651, 6.23–26, 7.452–453, 20.144–148, 20.230–240, 21.441–460; Apollodorus, Library 2.5.9, 2.6.4, 3.12.2–3; Pindar, Olympian 8.30–46; Ovid, Metamorphoses 11.194–220; Virgil, Georgics 1.501–502.

See Also: Tros, Podarces, Priam, Hesione, Ganymede, Zeus, Apollo, Poseidon, Heracles, Telamon