Agelaus

🗡 heroἈγέλαος

Combat, servitude

Trojan warrior and herdsman who was ordered to expose the infant Paris on Mount Ida‌‌‌‍‍‌‌‌‍‍‌‌‌‍‌‍‌‍‌‍‍‌‌‌‌‍‍‌‌‍‍‍

The Legend of Agelaus

Agelaus was a herdsman of King Priam who received the fateful order to abandon the newborn Paris on Mount Ida after Hecuba dreamed her son would destroy Troy.‌‌‌‍‍‌‌‌‍‍‌‌‌‍‌‍‌‍‌‍‍‌‌‌‌‍‍‌‌‍‍‍ Unable to bring himself to kill the child, Agelaus left the infant exposed but returned days later to find a bear had nursed the boy. He then raised Paris as his own son among the shepherds of Ida. The name Agelaus also belongs to several Trojan warriors who fought and fell during the war, including a fighter killed by Diomedes during the great battle before the ships. His act of mercy in sparing Paris ultimately sealed the fate of Troy.

Parents

None recorded

Symbols

shepherd staff

Fun Fact

Agelaus's decision to spare baby Paris rather than obey Priam's order ultimately caused Troy's destruction

Explore Further

Hector

🗡 hero

Champion of Troy

Hector was Troy's greatest warrior, who fought not for glory but to defend his city, wife, and son.

hector

Neoptolemus

🗡 hero

Son of Achilles

Neoptolemus was Achilles' fierce son, brought to Troy because a prophecy declared the city could not fall without him.

pyrrhic

Parthenopaeus

🗡 hero

Seven Against Thebes, Youth, Arcadia

Young Arcadian hero, one of the Seven Against Thebes, who died at the city walls before seeing his homeland again.

Andromache

🗡 hero

Wife of Hector

Andromache was Hector's devoted wife whose farewell with him on Troy's walls is the most tender scene in the Iliad — and whose fate after Troy's fall was the cruelest.

Idomeneus of Crete

🗡 hero

war

King of Crete and grandson of Minos who led eighty ships to Troy and made a rash vow to Poseidon on the voyage home.

Sarpédon

🗡 hero

Son of Zeus who died at Troy

Sarpedon was a son of Zeus and the greatest Lycian warrior at Troy — his death forced Zeus to confront the limits of even divine power.

Graphium sarpedon (blue triangle butterfly)

Achilles

🗡 hero

Greatest warrior of the Trojan War

The greatest warrior in the Greek army at Troy, nearly invulnerable thanks to being dipped in the River Styx as an infant — except for the heel by which his mother held him.

Achilles heelAchilles tendon