Tlepolemus
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For others of this name see Tlepolemus (disambiguation)
In Greek mythology, Tlepolemus (Greek: Τληπόλεμος Tlēpólemos) is the son of Heracles by Astyocheia, daughter of the King of Ephyra. Either that or he was the son of Melite and the second of the two sons of Hercules who goes by the name of Hyllus. According to Hesiod, And he [Tlepolemus] lived in the house of his mother Melite and in Arcadia near the river [Alpheus].
Tlepolemus and the Heraclids
In his youth and it was said that like Heracles' situation with Linus in his youth, Tlepolemus accidentally killed his father's maternal uncle, Licymnius, one of the Heracleidae. The Heraclids threatened Tlepolemus with the threat of death. Hyllus led his brothers into this decision as well and it was said by Appolonius:
And he [Tlepolemus] must leave before he [Hyllus] would dishonor not only himself, but his great father [Hercules] on all high Olympus.
And so he fled his father's house with his followers to Rhodes, of which he became the ruler. There he founded cities and married Polyxo.
Tlepolemus's loves
Polyxo
Polyxo was an islander of Rhodes whose father and friends met with Tlepolemus and his companions on the western shore after he traveled from Athens to Rhodes. The men feasted the youths but soon got drunk on wine and attacked the youths. Polyxo who had an affectionate passion for the young man prayed first to Thanatos, then to Hades then to Persephone and made sacrifice to Hercules to forgive her for the crime against the gods but she hoped that he would understand that she was in love with his son. Then she called on Morpheus and asked for him to lull her father to sleep. Once her father was asleep she committed patricide. Then she fled further into the island of Rhodes with her lover where they were married. The two created three towns in Rhodes where they soon grew bigger and bigger. Soon after the latest king passed on they announced that Tlepolemus would be made King of Rhodes. Their love bonds remained strong for many years until Helen of Sparta reached a suitable age to marry and word reached him from Philoctetes. He told Polyxo that he would be out on official Rhodian business journey.
The three city-states were very important of the later Rhodian history:
Helen
Tlepolemus was one of the suitors of Helen, thus he fought on the Achaean side during the campaign at Troy. He was one of the first suitors to agree to set sail for Troy. He led the Rhodian forces, nine ships total, that joined the Achaean force in the Trojan War. When the Argive army realized they were fighting their own and not the Trojans when they mistakenly landed on Mysia, Tlepolemus was one of the envoys sent to smooth the situation out with the Mysian king Telephus, because they were both sons of Heracles.
He encountered Sarpedon on the first day of fighting in the Iliad and taunted him saying that he lacked courage and could not really be the son of Zeus. Tlepolemus then attacked him, and although he wounded Sarpedon, he was slain by the latter. In revenge Helen was killed by Polyxo.