Which Greek hero killed the Lycian leader Sarpedon in the Iliad?

Which Greek hero killed the Lycian leader Sarpedon in the Iliad? Patroclus did.

Sarpedon was a son of Zeus and a leading ally of Troy who commanded Lycian forces. In Book 16, Patroclus enters battle wearing Achilles’ armor and drives the Trojans back from the Greek ships. During this assault, he kills Sarpedon, one of the poem’s most important Trojan allies.

The episode is especially dramatic because Zeus knows that Sarpedon is destined to die. He considers rescuing his son, but Hera reminds him that interfering would set a troubling example for the other gods. Zeus therefore allows the mortal hero’s fate to unfold, though Apollo later helps remove Sarpedon’s body from the battlefield.

A common mix-up is Achilles, who kills Hector later in the poem. Patroclus’s victory over Sarpedon happens before Patroclus himself is killed by Hector, Apollo, and Euphorbus. His death then brings Achilles back into the fighting.