InGreek mythology,Polydamas (/pəˈlɪdəməs/;Ancient Greek: Πολυδάμας, gen. Πολυδάμαντος,Polydámas,Polydámantos) was a lieutenant and friend ofHector during theTrojan War.

Polydamas was the son ofPanthous, one of the Trojan elders andPhrontis.^[1] He was the father ofLeocritus who was killed byOdysseus.^[2]

During the battles described in theIliad, he often proposes a cautious battle strategy which is sometimes accepted but more often refused by Hector, who prefers direct attack. In Book XII, he prefers retreat in the face of the omen of an eagle. Hector defies this and presses forth anyway. However, Hector does take his advice to regroup in Book XIII, after the Argives have done tremendous damage to the Trojans. In Book XVIII of theIliad, Polydamas advises the Trojans to retire from the battlefield after the death of Patroclus. Hector, however, overrules Polydamas, leaving the army in the field whenAchilles ends his feud withAgamemnon and rejoins theAchaean forces. As a result, Achilles kills a great number of Trojan warriors, culminating in aduel with Hector in which the latter is killed.

Polydamas appears periodically throughout the battles, and brags about killingProthoënor. He often complements Hector in battle. In Book XV, after killing Mecistus andOtus, he is attacked by Meges, butApollo saves him, causing him to dodge at the last moment. Polydamas killed three Greeks in the war.^[3]

Homer gives no foreshadowing of Polydamas's final fate, nor is he mentioned in most of the later poems dealing with the aftermath of the war, leaving the reader to infer that he perished in the general slaughter after the fall of Troy to the Greek forces.

He is mentioned inQuintus Smyrnaeus'Posthomerica, but again, no death is mentioned. In Quintus Smyrneaus' story, Polydamas actually suggests that instead of attacking or fleeing, the Trojans should just giveHelen back to the Greeks. This suggestion is well received by many soldiers, but nobody admits it. Paris calls him a deserter and a coward, but Polydamas retorts that Paris' ambitions instigated the problem. Later on, he tries again to persuade the Trojans to stay inside the city in order to raise troop morale, but it isAeneas that opposes his opinion this time, on the grounds that the Greeks will not be disheartened by a long stay inside the walls.

Notes

Bibliography

• Gaius Julius Hyginus,Fabulae from The Myths of Hyginus translated and edited by Mary Grant. University of Kansas Publications in Humanistic Studies.Online version at the Topos Text Project.
• Pausanias,Description of Greece with an English Translation by W.H.S. Jones, Litt.D., and H.A. Ormerod, M.A., in 4 Volumes. Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1918.ISBN 0-674-99328-4.Online version at the Perseus Digital Library
• Pausanias,Graeciae Descriptio.3 vols. Leipzig, Teubner. 1903.Greek text available at the Perseus Digital Library.

• 4348 Poulydamas - an asteroid named after Polydamas

• Media related toPolydamas (mythology) at Wikimedia Commons

• Trojans
• Characters in the Iliad

• Commons category link from Wikidata