Who was the Lycian king killed by Patroclus?

The Lycian king killed by Patroclus was Sarpedon. In Homer’s Iliad, Sarpedon is the son of Zeus and Laodamia and rules the Lycians, Trojan allies who fight against the Achaeans. He is one of the poem’s most formidable and dignified Trojan supporters.

When Patroclus enters battle wearing Achilles’ armor, he drives the Trojans and their allies back. Sarpedon confronts him, and the two exchange spears. Patroclus wounds Sarpedon fatally. Zeus watches his son die but does not rescue him, because the gods debate whether intervening would undermine the fates of other divine children.

Apollo later helps carry Sarpedon’s body from the battlefield, and Sleep and Death transport it to Lycia for burial. The episode is especially memorable because it combines heroic combat with the tragic limits imposed even on Zeus. Glaucus, one of the wrong options, is also a Lycian leader and Sarpedon’s ally, but Patroclus does not kill him.