PODALIRIUS (mythical son of Asclepius)

Leading a contingent of thirty ships, he commanded troops from Tricca, Ithome, and Oechalia, serving alongside his brother Machaon.^6,7 He gained significant fame among the Greeks for his medical services, having developed the art of healing alongside Machaon and skillfully treating wounded soldiers.⁵ Some claim he treated illnesses rather than performing surgery, using salves given to him by his father that could heal deadly wounds in a single day.^8,9 Due to his healing work, he was exempted from combat and other civic duties.⁵

During the siege, he treated the injuries of boxers with loving care, pressing out black humours and stitching up gashes to quickly assuage pain and heal scars.⁹ He applied healing salves to the injuries of Thoas and Eurypylus, and later healed Philoctetes by invoking his father Asclepius's name.^10,11,2 Tragedy struck when he learned that his brother had been killed in the battle.¹² Having been treating spear wounds of men near the ships, he put on his armor and entered the battle out of anger for his brother.¹² In his fury, he threw a snake-headed javelin to kill Cleitus, son of Agamestor, and also killed Lassus, the brother of his fallen sibling.¹²

Overcome with sorrow, he fasted and groaned in the dust near his brother's tomb, refusing to leave the grave despite his friends' pleadings.¹³ He threw dust on his head and beat his breast while crying, repeatedly attempting to kill himself using his sword or poisonous herbs.¹³ Nestor approached him to stop his excessive mourning, advising him to endure grief like a wise man rather than wail like a woman.¹³ Though Nestor addressed him as his son, Podalirius's heart was moved with his own hands to slay himself.¹³

After Troy's fall, he was carried off his intended route while returning home and eventually arrived safely at Syrnus on the Carian mainland.¹⁴ He settled in a mountain-encircled spot on the Carian Chersonnese, having traveled to Delphi to consult the oracle about his future home.¹⁵ The oracle had instructed him to settle where a falling sky would not harm him.¹⁵ He is honored by a heroion or shrine in the region of Daunia, located near the foot of the hill called Drium, approximately one hundred stadia away from the sea.¹⁶