Automedon

Automedon appears in the narrative world of the Trojan War as preserved in Homeric epic. In the Iliad he functions as Achilles' charioteer and companion during the war. Later mythographic tradition (the Fabulae, as reported in secondary summaries) attributes to him an origin on the island of Skyros and the command of a contingent of ships (ten ships) to the Trojan expedition; this later detail is separate from the depiction in Homer.

The primary sources do not supply a detailed physiognomic description. In narrative scenes Automedon is depicted in the role of a warrior-charioteer: driving Achilles' chariot, handling the immortal horses Balius and Xanthos, hurling spears, and handling armor in battle. No further specific features (height, hair, distinctive garments beyond standard warrior gear) are provided in the cited materials.

Automedon is portrayed as an expert mortal charioteer who controls Achilles' immortal horses Balius and Xanthos and as an able combatant in the Iliad. His recorded actions include driving into battle when Patroclus dons Achilles' armour, attempting to console the horses after Patroclus' death, resuming driving after divine intervention, recruiting Alcimedon as a driver so he can fight, repelling an attack by Hector, Aeneas, Chromios, and Aretos, killing Aretos and taking his armour, and being the first in one episode to hurl a spear and fell a Trojan. While his horses are described as immortal in the epic, Automedon himself is presented as a mortal human attendant rather than a supernatural controller.