But as he turned back,
his host spun out the tightest trap of all:
picking the best men from Lycia far and wide
he set an ambush – that never came home again!
Fearless Bellerophon killed them all.
Then, yes,
when the king could see the man’s power at last,
a true son of the gods, he pressed him hard to stay,
he offered his own daughter’s hand in marriage,
he gave him half his royal honors as the king.
– Homer
The Iliad, Book 6, lines 220-228. Glaucus recounts the story of his heroic grandfather Bellerophon to Diomedes, when they meet as enemies on the battlefield. Bellerophon was sent by Proetus to Iobates, the king of Lycia, with a message that he was to be slain. A trap was set but Bellerophon killed all those sent to ambush him. When the Lycian king saw his power and heroism, he took him into his household and offered him his daughter’s hand in marriage.