Protesilaus in the context of "Astyoche"

Actor (Ancient Greek: Ἄκτωρ; gen.: Ἄκτoρος Aktoros) is a very common name in Greek mythology. Here is a selection of characters that share this name (which means 'leader', from the verb άγω: to lead or carry):

• Actor, father of Eurytus who was an ally of Phineus during his fight with Perseus.
• Actor, a king of Phthia, was said to be the son of King Myrmidon and Peisidice, daughter of Aeolus. Some say that Actor died childless, but others say that he is the father of Eurytion, his successor or of Irus, who was also called the father of Eurytion. According to Diodorus, Actor without an heir, was succeeded by Peleus who fled to his country from Aegina for killing his half-brother, Phocus. The hero was then purified by the king for his sins. This story was usually attributed to Actor's possible son Eurytion who was slain accidentally by his son-in-law Peleus. This Actor married Aegina, daughter of the river god Asopus, and had several children, among them Menoetius. Menoetius was counted among the Argonauts, and was the father of Patroclus (Achilles' very close companion).
• Actor, son of King Deioneus of Phocis and Diomede, daughter of Xuthus, thus a brother of Asterodeia, Aenetus, Phylacus, and Cephalus. This Actor could be the man referred by Hesiod as the father of Protesilaus, one of the suitors of Helen of Troy.
• Actor, son of Azeus, descendant of Phrixus, was ruler of the Minyans of Orchomenus. He was father of Astyoche, who was seduced by the war-god Ares and bore him twin sons, named Ascalaphus and Ialmenus. These last two led the Minyan contingent to the Trojan War.
• Actor, son of Phorbas and Hyrmine, thus a brother of Augeas and Tiphys. He was king of Elis, and founded the city of Hyrmina, which he named after his mother. This Actor married Molione and became by her father of the twins known as the Molionides, Eurytus and Cteatus.
• Actor, the Elean son of Poseidon and Agamede, daughter of King Augeas. He was the brother of Belus and Dictys.
• Actor and Eurythemis were in one source called parents of Ancaeus (who other sources call the son of Lycurgus) and grandparents of Agapenor.
• Actor, the Achaean son of Hippasus from Pellene and one of the Argonauts.
• Actor, a Lapith. He was killed by the centaur Clanis.
• Actor, father of Sthenelus. Sthenelus followed Heracles in his campaign against the Amazons and was killed by them.
• Actor, son of Acastus, was accidentally killed by Peleus while hunting. As a retribution, Peleus sent to Acastus some cows and sheep that had been killed by a wolf sent by Thetis.
• Actor, son of Oenops, brother of Hyperbius. He was among the defenders of the Borraean Gate at Thebes when the Seven against Thebes attacked the city, and confronted Parthenopaeus at the gate.
• Actor, a warrior in the army of the Seven against Thebes. He saw a chasm open in the earth that swallowed Amphiaraus.
• Actor, an old Theban servant of Antigone, the daughter of Oedipus. During the war of the Seven against Thebes, he accompanied her to the walls when that army appeared in front of the barriers outside the city. Because of his age, Actor cannot follow the princess and he just stayed halfway up the climb to listen to her lament when she saw her brother in the enemy army.
• Actor, father of Echecles. His son married Polymele, mother of Eudoros by Hermes.
• Actor, a shepherd in Lemnos who befriended Philoctetes in Euripides' play Philoctetes. According to some accounts, he was instead the king of Lemnos whose shepherd named Iphimachus, son of Dolops, took care the abandoned hero after he was bitten by a snake.
• Actor, one of the companions of the exiled Aeneas. He is probably the same who in another passage is called an Auruncan, and of whose conquered lance Turnus made a boast. This story seems to have given rise to the proverbial saying "Actoris spolium" ("the spoil of Actor"), for any poor spoil in general.
• Actor, father of Actoris (though unnamed in the Odyssey) who was given by Icarius to his daughter Penelope after her wedding with Odysseus to serve as her personal handmaiden.

In Greek mythology, the name Laodamia (Ancient Greek: Λαοδάμεια Laodámeia) referred to:

• Laodamia (or Hippodamia), a Lycian princess as the daughter of Bellerophon and Philonoe, daughter of King Iobates. Her mother was also known Alkimedousa, Anticleia, Pasandra or Cassandra. Laodamia's brothers were Hippolochus and Isander, and by Zeus, she became the mother of Sarpedon. She was shot by Artemis (that is, died a sudden, instant death) one day when she was weaving. Diodorus Siculus called her Deidamia, the wife of Evander, who was a son of Sarpedon the elder and by her father of Sarpedon the younger. Xanthus was also called the father of Sarpedon according to one account.
• Laodamia, daughter of Acastus and Astydamia and the wife of Protesilaus. When her husband fell in the Trojan War, Laodamia committed suicide rather than be without him.
• Laodamia or Leaneira, an Arcadian queen as the wife of King Arcas by whom she became the mother of Elatus, Apheidas and Triphylus. Laodamia was the daughter of King Amyclas of Sparta and Diomede, daughter of Lapithes. Through this parentage, she was considered the sister of Argalus, Cynortes, Hyacinthus, Polyboea, Hegesandra and, in other versions, of Daphne.
• Laodamia, daughter of Alcmaeon, wife of Peleus and mother by him of Polydora. But see Antigone.
• Laodamia, wife of Anticlus. Her husband was one of the men who were hiding in the Trojan Horse.
• Laodamia, alternate name for Iphthime, daughter of Icarius of Sparta and Asterodia, daughter of Eurypylus. She was the sister of Penelope, Amasichus, Phalereus, Thoon, Pheremmelias, Perilaos. Laodamia was also called Laodice, Mede and Hypsipyle.
• Laodamia or Arsinoe, nurse of Orestes. She saved his life by sending him to Strophius after the murder of Agamemnon, whereas Aegisthus killed her own son, taking him for Orestes.
• Laodamia, alternate name for Hippodamia (wife of Pirithous) occurring in a red-figure vase painting.

In Greek mythology, Phylacus (/ˈfɪləkəs/; Ancient Greek: Φύλακος means "guardian") was the name of the following figures:

• Phylacus, founder of the city of Phylace, Thessaly. He was the son of Deioneus and Diomede, husband of Clymene (Periclymene), and the father of Iphiclus, Alcimede, Evadne and possibly Clymenus. In some accounts, Phylacus was also called the father of Alcimache who became the mother of Ajax the Lesser to Oileus. His children and grandchildren are sometimes referred to by the patronymic Phylacides. His grandson through Iphiclus was also named Phylacus. In some accounts, his grandsons Protesilaus and Podarces were called his sons by Astyoche.
• Phylacus, a Trojan who was killed by Leitus.
• Phylacus, a hero who had a sanctuary in Delphi. He was one of the four heroes whose ghosts terrified the Gaulish troops that attacked Delphi.

Cleopatrē Alcyone (Ancient Greek: Κλεοπάτρη Ἀλκυόνη, romanized: Kleopátrē Alkuónē) was the daughter of Idas and Marpessa and the wife of Meleager, a Calydonian prince and participant in the Calydonian boar hunt. Together they had a daughter, Polydora. According to Greek traveler and geographer Pausanias, Polydora was the wife of Protesilas, the first soldier to leap ashore in Troy, and therefore the first to die in the Trojan War.

In Greek mythology, Iphiclus (/ˈɪfɪkləs/, Ancient Greek: Ἴφικλος Iphiklos) was the name of the following figures:

• Iphiclus, other name for Iphicles, son of Alcmene and Amphitryon.
• Iphiclus, a Pleuronian prince as the son of King Thestius and either Laophonte, Leucippe, Deidameia or Eurythemis. He was the brother of Althaea, Leda, Hypermnestra, Evippus, Plexippus and Eurypylus. Iphitus was one of the Argonauts, and a participant in the hunt for the Calydonian Boar, where he was killed by Meleager.
• Iphiclus, a Phylacean prince as the son of the eponymous King Phylacus of Phylace and Clymene, and brother of Alcimede and Clymenus. He was the father of Protesilaus and Podarces by Diomedeia. Hesiod described him as fleet of foot. Iphiclus was cured of infertility by Melampus, and gave him his famous herd of oxen in reward. He was counted among the Argonauts who sailed for Colchis in their quest of the Golden Fleece.
• Iphiclus, a Cretan prince as the son of King Idomeneus and Meda, probably the brother of Orsilochus, Cleisithyra and Lycus. Together with the latter, they were slain by the usurper Leucus.

In Greek mythology, Laodamia (Ancient Greek: Λαοδάμεια Laodámeia) was the daughter of Acastus, king of Iolcus, possibly by his wife Astydamia. Laodamia became the wife of Protesilaus.

Polydora (/ˌpɒlɪˈdɔːrə/; Ancient Greek: Πολυδώρα, romanized: Poludṓra in Attic and Πολυδώρη in Ionic, means 'many-gifts' or 'the shapely') was the name of several characters in Greek mythology:

• Polydora, the 'handsome' Oceanid, one of the 3,000 water-nymph daughters of the Titans Oceanus and his sister-spouse Tethys.
• Polydora, a nymph and one of the 50 Danaïdes, daughter of King Danaus. She was the mother of King Dryops of Oeta, by the river-gods Spercheus or Peneus.
• Polydora, wife of Aphareus of Messenia and thus, the possible mother of his children, Idas, Lynceus and Peisus. In some accounts, the consort of Aphareus was called Arene or Laocoosa.
• Polydora, daughter of Peleus and Antigone, daughter of King Eurytion of Phthia. She married Borus, son of Perieres, who wooed her with large dowry, but regardless of this, Polydora became the mother of Menesthius by Spercheios.
• Polydora, daughter of Perieres and wife of Peleus. In some accounts, she became the mother of Menesthius by Spercheus.
• Polydora, daughter of Meleager and Cleopatra. She was married to Protesilaus, and after his death she was so affected by grief that she took her own life.
• Polydora, one of the Amazons.

Phylace or Phylake (Ancient Greek: Φυλάκη, [ˌfyˈlaˌkɛː]), was a town and polis (city-state) of Phthiotis in ancient Thessaly. According to Greek mythology, this city was founded by Phylacus. In Ancient Greece, Phylace was a kingdom. Homer writes that this was one of the places subject to Protesilaus, who was the first Greek hero killed in the Trojan War, and the place is frequently mentioned in the Homeric poems. It contained a temple of Protesilaus. Pliny erroneously calls it a town of Magnesia. Strabo describes it as standing between Pharsalus and Phthiotic Thebes, at the distance of about 100 stadia from the latter.

The site of ancient Phylace has traditionally been identified with a low hill at Kitiki (renamed Filaki), in the municipal unit of Filaki. As no inscriptions have been found at this location confirming the identification, it must be regarded as tentative. Another candidate is the hill of Dervisi close to Aerino (formerly Persoufli).