Lycia
A mountainous region in southwestern Anatolia whose warriors fought for Troy and whose hero Bellerophon slew the Chimera.
The Story of Lycia
Lycia sat along the southwestern coast of Anatolia, a rugged land of mountains and valleys. In the Iliad, the Lycians were Troy's most important allies, led by Sarpedon (a son of Zeus) and Glaucus. Sarpedon's death scene is among the most poignant in the poem: Zeus himself weeps tears of blood as his mortal son falls to Patroclus, unable to intervene without disrupting fate. The mythological hero Bellerophon was sent to Lycia by a king who wished him dead, carrying sealed letters requesting his execution. Instead, the Lycian king set Bellerophon impossible tasks — including slaying the Chimera, a fire-breathing monster with a lion's head, goat's body, and serpent's tail. Riding the winged horse Pegasus, Bellerophon succeeded and married the king's daughter. Historical Lycia was remarkable for its federation of cities, one of the earliest known democratic confederations, admired by later political theorists.
Parents
None recorded
Fun Fact
The Lycian League, a federation of over twenty cities with proportional voting, was studied by the American Founding Fathers as a model of federal government.
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