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Pandarus is a minor antagonist in Homer's Illiad.
Biography[]
Pandarus was a Lycian aristocrat, and the son of Lyacon. He is said to be the best archer in Lycia. When the Trojan prince Paris abducted the Greek king Menelaus's wife Helen, Menelaus lead a Greek force to invade Troy and retrieve her. Pandarus was one of the Lycians who travelled to defend Troy. After they arrived, the Trojans managed to broker a truce and opened negotiations for Helen's safe return. However, the Greek goddess Athena, who wanted Troy destroyed, encouraged Pandarus to try and kill Menelaus with an arrow, violating the truce. Menelaus survived with only a flesh wound.
During the ensuing battle, Pandarus wounded the Greek hero Diomedes with an arrow. Pandarus and the heroic Aeneas later encountered Diomedes again, and Pandarus attacked him with a spear, believing that his archery would do no good. His spear pierced Diomedes' shield but failed to hit him, at which point Diomedes stabbed Pandarus in the face and killed him.
Trivia[]
- Pandarus was also the name of another Trojan in Virgil's Aeneid, one of the companions of Aeneas and a survivor of Troy. He is killed when the story's main antagonist Turnus vertically splits his skull with his sword.
