Laomedon

Laomedon appears in the Trojan dynastic genealogy as son of Ilus and grandson of Tros. In the mythic sequences that precede the Trojan War he rules the city later called Troy (Ilium). During his reign the gods Poseidon and Apollo, disguised as workmen, build the walls of Troy at his command on the condition of receiving wages; after they finish he refuses to pay them. In retribution the gods afflict Troy with pestilence and a sea-monster. Later an oracle commands that Laomedon expose his daughter Hesione to the monster; Heracles rescues her in exchange for the divine horses that had been given to Tros, but Laomedon reneges on that promise. Heracles then sacks Troy, kills Laomedon and most of his sons, and Podarces (later Priam) survives after being ransomed by Hesione.

Ancient narrative sources do not provide a sustained physical description of Laomedon. Later artistic depictions (engraving and print traditions) portray him conventionally as an adult male king within scenes such as Poseidon and Apollo building Troy's walls or the sack of the city, but the mythic texts themselves record no distinctive bodily traits. Thus descriptions of his appearance rest on later visual motifs of regal dress and iconography associated with Trojan kings rather than on explicit ancient textual detail.

Laomedon is a mortal ruler whose capacities are political and military rather than supernatural. He commands armies (he musters forces against Heracles' expedition and 'marched against the ships with a multitude'), presides over dynastic arrangements (father of Hesione and Podarces/Priam), and makes or breaks agreements with powerful beings. Notable behaviors in the sources include refusing to pay Poseidon and Apollo for labor, exposing his daughter Hesione at the oracle's prescription, and promising then withholding the divine horses from Heracles — acts that invite divine punishment (pestilence and a sea-monster) and heroic vengeance culminating in his death and the sacking of Troy.