The
Iliad tells of Antilochus' actions during the
Trojan War. One of the
suitors of Helen, Antilochus accompanied his father Nestor and his brother Thrasymedes to the war. When fighting there resumed after the aborted duel of Paris and
Menelaus, Antilochus was first to kill a Trojan captain (named Echepolus). Antilochus was distinguished for his beauty, swiftness of foot, and skill as a charioteer. Though the youngest among the Greek princes, he commanded the Pylians in the war and performed many deeds of valour. He was a favorite of
the gods and a close friend of
Achilles. In an early battle, Menelaus ill-advisedly goes to the front lines to face
Aeneas, a strong fighter for the Trojans. Antilochus goes to join Menelaus, causing Aeneas to withdraw rather than fight them both. Later, when Antilochus lost the foot race, he made a speech declaring that the others were all older than him, and thus honored by the gods. He then complimented Achilles, and Achilles doubled Antilochus' prize. The Achaeans retrieved Antilochus' body on the battlefield and lamented him. Achilles embraced Antilochus and lamented as well, promising him a glorious funeral and vengeance, in the same way Achilles had honored Patroclus. Achilles then killed Memnon to avenge Antilochus' death, and drove the Trojans back to the gates, where Achilles was killed by Paris. In later accounts, Antilochus was slain by
Hector or by
Paris in the temple of the Thymbraean
Apollo, together with Achilles. Nestor deeply grieved the death of Antilochus after the war. Peisistratus also mourned Antilochus, even though the brothers had never met. Antilochus' ashes, along with those of Achilles and Patroclus, were enshrined in a mound on the promontory of
Sigeion, where the inhabitants of
Ilion offered sacrifice to the dead heroes. The ashes of Achilles and Patroclus were mixed together in one urn, with Antilochus's ashes kept separately but nearby in the mound. Antilochus is described as the companion Achilles honoured most after Patroclus. the three are represented as always united in the underworld and walking together in the
Asphodel Meadows. However, according to
Pausanias, they dwell together on the island of
Leuke.
Legacy Among the Trojans he killed were
Melanippus,
Ablerus, Atymnius, Phalces, Echepolos, and Thoon, although Hyginus records that he only killed two Trojans. Antilochus left behind in
Messenia a son
Paeon, whose descendants were among the
Neleidae expelled from Messenia, by the descendants of
Heracles. == Analysis ==