Page 11 - Sarpedon’dan Keykubad’a Bir Zamanlar Antalya

Introduction

When the word mythology is brought to mind, there is no
doubt that the first thing that comes into the mind of the ma-
jority is classical Greek Mythology and the great whole of the
events, people and heroes that are associated with it. This is of
course, related to the epic the “Iliad”, which is considered to be
the pioneering work of western literature and is attributed to the
poet Homer. The Iliad, which is an important work in itself, has
been scientifically researched in many ways, including through
archaeology, ancient history, literature and theology, and is still
the subject of research today. However, we know that classi-
cal Greek mythology is not limited to the events and heroes in
Greece. The war, which is the subject of the Iliad, takes place in
Troy, which is located within the borders of the Çanakkale Prov-
ince of today, and the heroes named Sarpedon and Glaukos,
who participated in this war from Anatolia, are from Xanthos and
Tlos, two of the important cities of the Lycian Region, which is
located within the borders of Antalya Province today. In the epic
of the Iliad, these heroes, especially Sarpedon, are mentioned
over pages. However, despite this, we find that these heroes
are not brought to the fore when considered in terms of classi-
cal Greek mythology. In addition, there are many mythological
transfers within the context of the establishment of Lycian cities
in the narratives of many ancient writers, especially Herodotos.
Our knowledge on this subject has only been dealt with singu-
larly in scientific studies that have been exposed as a result of
archaeological studies, or it has been briefly mentioned in guide
books alongside archaeological and historical information. In
other words, most people living in Antalya today, who are not
informed about archaeology and ancient history, are unaware of
the Lycian heroes such as Sarpedon, or of the stance taken by
the inhabitants of the city of Xanthos against both the Persians
and Romans. These situations we describe apply not only to
mythology, but also to important historical events and person-
alities. For example, do we know anything about the Inscribed

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