Iobates

Iobates was a king of Lycia in Greek mythology, the father-in-law of King Proetus of Tiryns. He is remembered as the host of the hero Bellerophon, whom he was asked to kill and whom he sent against the Chimera, the Solymi and the Amazons before accepting him as his son-in-law and heir. Homer tells the story without naming the king; Apollodorus gives him the name Iobates.

Family

In Homer, the wife of Proetus is Anteia, and the Lycian king to whom Proetus sends Bellerophon is her father (Iliad 6.160, 6.170, 6.177). Apollodorus says that Proetus married a daughter of Iobates (or, as some say, of Amphianax), whom Homer calls Anteia and the tragic poets Stheneboea (Library 2.2.1); he also says that Iobates gave his daughter Philonoe to Bellerophon (Library 2.3.2). Homer does not name the king or say what became of him; in Apollodorus he leaves the kingdom to Bellerophon when he dies (Library 2.3.2).

Bellerophon Arrives in Lycia

Bellerophon was the son of Glaucus. Proetus had driven him from Argos because the hero refused the advances of Proetus’ wife, who then accused him falsely; Proetus feared to kill a guest and instead sent him to Lycia with a folded tablet carrying deadly signs, which asked the recipient to put the bearer to death (Iliad 6.155–170; Apollodorus, Library 2.3.1). The Lycian king received him with honour, feasting him for nine days and sacrificing nine oxen, and on the tenth day asked to see the message from his son-in-law (Iliad 6.171–178).

The Tasks

Having read the tablet, the king set Bellerophon a series of tasks that he expected to be fatal:

• First he ordered him to kill the Chimera, a monster of divine origin with a lion’s front, a serpent’s tail and a goat in the middle, which breathed fire (Iliad 6.179–183). Homer says Bellerophon killed it “trusting in the signs of the gods”. Hesiod says that Pegasus and noble Bellerophon slew her (Theogony 319–325), and in Apollodorus the hero mounted the winged horse Pegasus, offspring of Medusa and Poseidon, and shot the Chimera down from the air (Library 2.3.2; Hesiod, Theogony 278–281).
• Second came the war against the glorious Solymi, which Bellerophon described as the hardest battle he had ever fought (Iliad 6.184–185).
• Third he killed the Amazons (Iliad 6.186).
• Finally, the king chose the best men of Lycia and set an ambush for him; Bellerophon killed them all (Iliad 6.187–190).

Athena and Pegasus

The help of Athena is not part of Homer’s account. Pindar tells that Bellerophon had long failed to bridle Pegasus at the spring of Peirene, until Athena appeared to him in a dream and then gave him a bridle with golden cheek-pieces; he took the horse and rode him (Pindar, Olympian 13.63–92). Pegasus was therefore already alive: Athena gave Bellerophon the means to tame him.

Iobates Accepts Bellerophon

When the king realised that Bellerophon was the son of a god, he kept him in Lycia, gave him his daughter and half of all his royal honours, and the Lycians cut him a choice estate of orchard and ploughland (Iliad 6.191–195). In Apollodorus, Iobates was moved by the hero’s deeds to show him the letter and ask him to stay; he gave him his daughter Philonoe and left him the kingdom when he died (Library 2.3.2). Bellerophon had three children, Isander, Hippolochus and Laodamia; Laodamia bore Sarpedon to Zeus (Iliad 6.196–199).

Homer adds that Bellerophon later came to be hated by all the gods and wandered alone over the Aleian plain, eating his heart out and avoiding the paths of men (Iliad 6.200–202).

Iobates Sources

Homer, Iliad 6.155–211; Apollodorus, Library 2.2.1, 2.3.1–2; Pindar, Olympian 13.63–92; Hesiod, Theogony 278–281, 319–325.

See Also: Bellerophon, Proetus, Chimera, Athena, Pegasus, Amazons