Antilochus



In Greek mythology, Antilochus (also transliterated as Antílokhos - Ἀντίλοχος) was the son of Nestor, king of Pylos. One of the suitors of Helen, he accompanied his father and his brother Thrasymedes to the Trojan War. He was distinguished for his beauty, swiftness of foot, and skill as a charioteer. Though the youngest among the Greek princes, he commanded the Pylians in the war and performed many deeds of valour. He was a favorite of the gods and an intimate friend of Achilles, to whom he was commissioned to announce the death of Patroclus. When Nestor was attacked by Memnon, he saved his life by sacrificing Antilochus thus fulfilling an oracle which had warned to "beware of an Ethiopian." Antilochus' death was avenged by Achilles. According to other accounts, he was slain by Hector or by Paris in the temple of the Thymbraean Apollo together with Achilles His ashes, along with those of Achilles and Patroclus, were enshrined in a mound on the promontory of Sigeum, where the inhabitants of Ilium offered sacrifice to the dead heroes. In the Odyssey, the three friends are represented as united in the underworld and walking together in the Asphodel Meadows. According to Pausanias, they dwell together on the island of Leuke. Among the Trojans he killed were Melanippus, Ablerus, Atymnius, Phalces, and Thoon, although Hyginus records that he only killed 2 Trojans. At the funeral games of Patroclus, Antilochus finished second in the chariot race and third in the foot race.

Antilochus left behind in Messenia a son Paeon, whose descendants were among the Neleidae expelled from Messenia, by the descendants of Heracles.