ELEPHENOR (mythical king)
Figure of myth · mythical king, son of Chalcodon
- Parents
- Chalcodon, Melanippe
- Haunts and cult places
- Euboea
- In the sources
- 10 ancient passages
Elephenor, son of Chalcodon and Melanippe, was a Euboean leader of the Abantes and a descendant of the war god Ares.1,2,3,4,5,6 He commanded warriors from Chalcis, Eretria, Carystus, and Styra with fifty ships, while contributing forty vessels to the fleet assembled at Aulis.2,3,7,1
Among the many Greek kings who courted Helen, Elephenor traveled to Sparta with numerous gifts, deeply desiring to become her husband.6,5 He later received Theseus’s children, who had secretly withdrawn to Euboea, and led them into the Trojan campaign.3,8,2,7
During the battle, Elephenor dragged the body of Echepolus from the field and attempted to strip his armor.4 Agenor struck his unprotected side with a spear, killing him and causing the fighting between Trojans and Achaeans to intensify.4
He died during the sack of Troy.9 His followers were shipwrecked in the Ionian gulf and settled in Apollonia in Epirus, while Theseus’s sons returned home without him.9,7
The codex facts behind this entry
Elephenor was a leader and captain of the Abantes. Iliad 4 ¶36 +1
In the myths
Elephenor commanded the Abantes and men of Carystus and Styra with fifty ships, accompanied by the sons of Theseus. Iliad 2 ¶38 +1 Elephenor traveled to Sparta to seek Helen's hand in marriage, offering many gifts and deeply desiring to become her husband. Apollodorus 3.10.8 +1
