Finally, Odysseus threw his shield out and landed on that, and Protesilaus jumped next from his own ship.

The Metropolitan's sculpture of a heroically nude helmeted warrior stands on a forward-slanting base, looking down and slightly to his left, with his right arm raised, prepared to strike, would not be identifiable, save by comparison made by Gisela Richter with a torso of the same model and its associated slanting base, schematically carved as the prow of a ship encircled by waves: Protesilaus about to jump ashore.

Protesilaus was the first to land: " the first man who dared to leap ashore when the Greek fleet touched the Troad, Pausanias recalled, quoting " the author of the epic called the Cypria ".

Some stories he refers to are the wedding of Peleus and Thetis, the departure of the Argonauts, Theseus and the Minotaur, Ariadne ’ s abandonment, Tereus and Procne, as well as Protesilaus and Laodamia.

He had fought the Greek champion Protesilaus in single combat at the start of the war and killed him.

Many combats, deaths, boasts, threats, epithets, figures of speech, stories, lines of poetry and books of the Iliad later, Hector lays hold of Protesilaus ' ship and calls for fire.

Finally, Protesilaus, leader of the Phylaceans, landed first.

Hector killed Protesilaus in single combat, though the Trojans conceded the beach.

Protesilaus had killed many Trojans but was killed by Hector in most versions of the story, though others list Aeneas, Achates, or Ephorbus as his slayer.

After Protesilaus ' death, his brother, Podarces, took command of his troops.

An earlier appeal to Achilles to return was rejected, but after Hector burned Protesilaus ' ship, he allowed his close friend and relative Patroclus to go into battle wearing Achilles ' armour and lead his army.

* Podarces-The younger brother of Protesilaus.

The Nymphs also planted elms on the tomb in the Thracian Chersonese of “ great-hearted Protesilaus ’’ (« μεγάθυμου Πρωτεσιλάου »), the first Greek to fall in the Trojan War.

* A Thessalonian man, son of Phylacus and Clymene, father of Protesilaus and Podarces by Diomedeia or Astyoche.

In Greek mythology, Protesilaus (, Protesilaos ), was a hero in the Iliad who was venerated at cult sites in Thessaly and Thrace.

Protesilaus was the son of Iphicles, a " lord of many sheep "; as grandson of the eponymous Phylacos, he was the leader of the Phylaceans.

Hyginus surmised that he was originally known as Iolaus — not to be confused with Iolaus, the nephew of Heracles —, but was referred to as " Protesilaus " after being the first (, protos ) to die at Troy.

Protesilaus was one of the suitors of Helen.

After Protesilaus ' death, his brother, Podarces, joined the war in his place.

According to legend, the Nymphs planted elms on the tomb, in the Thracian Chersonese, of " great-hearted Protesilaus " (« μεγάθυμου Πρωτεσιλάου »), elms that grew to be the tallest in the known world ; but when their topmost branches saw far off the ruins of Troy, they immediately withered, so great still was the bitterness of the hero buried below.

Only two sanctuaries to Protesilaus are attested.

There was a shrine of Protesilaus at Phylace, his home in Thessaly, where his widow was left lacerating her cheeks in mourning him, and games were organised there in his honour, Pindar noted.

The tomb of Protesilaus at Elaeus in the Thracian Chersonese is documented in the 5th century, when, during the Persian War, votive treasure deposited at his tomb was plundered by the satrap Artayctes, under permission from Xerxes.

He offered a sacrifice on the tomb, hoping to avoid the fate of Protesilaus when he arrived in Asia.

Like Protesilaus before him, Alexander was the first to set foot on Asian soil during his campaign.

Philostratus writing of this temple in the early 3rd century AD, speaks of a cult statue of Protesilaus at this temple " standing on a base which was shaped like the prow of a boat ;" Gisela Richter noted coins of Elaeus from the time of Commodus that show on their reverses Protesilaus on the prow of a ship, in helmet, cuirass and short chiton.

Odysseus, at least, accused him of this crime and Ajax was to be stoned to death, but saved himself by establishing his innocence with an oath.

After Achilles, Ajax is the most valuable warrior in Agamemnon's army ( along with Diomedes ), though he is not as cunning as Nestor, Diomedes, Idomeneus, or Odysseus, he is much more powerful and just as intelligent.

In Book 9, Agamemnon and the other Mycenaean chiefs send Ajax, Odysseus and Phoenix to the tent of Achilles in an attempt to reconcile with the great warrior and induce him to return to the fight.

Later, when Achilles dies, killed by Paris ( with help from Apollo ), Ajax and Odysseus are the heroes who fight against the Trojans to get the body and bury it next to his friend, Patroclus.

Ajax, with his great shield and spear, manages to drive off the Trojans, while Odysseus pulls the body to his chariot, and rides away with it to safety.

After several days of competition, Odysseus and Ajax are tied for the ownership of the magical armor which was forged on Mount Olympus by the god Hephaestus.

In Sophocles ' play Ajax, a famous retelling of Ajax's demise takes place — after the armor is awarded to Odysseus the hero Ajax falls to the ground, exhausted.

Homer is somewhat vague about the precise manner of Ajax's death but does ascribe it to his loss in the dispute over Achilles's shield: when Odysseus visits Hades, he begs the soul of Ajax to speak to him, but Ajax, still resentful over the old quarrel, refuses and descends silently back into Erebus.

During the embassy to Achilles, Odysseus, Phoenix and Ajax all try to persuade Achilles to rejoin the fight.

Proteus then answered truthfully, further informing Menelaus that his brother Agamemnon had been murdered on his return home, that Ajax the Lesser had been shipwrecked and killed, and that Odysseus was stranded on Calypso's Isle Ogygia.

Ajax held back the Trojans, while Odysseus carried the body away.

Among the contenders were Odysseus, Menestheus, Ajax the Great, Patroclus, and Idomeneus.

In Homer's Iliad, Phoenix, along with Odysseus and Ajax, urges Achilles to re-enter battle.

However, it has been suggested that Achilles speaks only to Phoenix and Ajax, ignoring Odysseus, to whose guile he bears a considerable dislike.

Helen identifies Agamemnon, Odysseus, Telamonian ( Greater ) Ajax, and Idomeneus.

Among the contenders were Odysseus, Ajax the great, Diomedes, Achilles, Patroclus, Idomeneus, and both Menelaus and Agamemnon.

They woke up Odysseus, Nestor, Ajax, Diomedes and Idomeneus.

Odysseus, unsuccessfully, tried to persuade the Greek leaders to put Ajax to death, by stoning the Locrian leader ( to divert the goddess's anger ).

After retrieving his body, which had been protected on the field by Odysseus and Ajax ( Telamonian Aias ), Achilles returned to battle and avenged his companion's death by killing Hector.

Two declamations have survived, named Ajax and Odysseus, which are purely rhetorical.

The lost epic Little Iliad, in four books, took up the story of the Homeric Iliad, and, beginning with the contest between Telamonian Ajax and Odysseus for the arms of Achilles, carried it down to the feast of the Trojans over the captured Trojan Horse, according to the epitome in Proclus, or to the Fall of Troy, according to Aristotle.

The Aethiopis concluded with the death and burial of Achilles and the dispute between Ajax and Odysseus for his arms.