In Greek mythology

Greek mythology

Greek mythology is the body of myths and legends belonging to the ancient Greeks, concerning their gods and heroes, the nature of the world, and the origins and significance of their own cult and ritual practices. They were a part of religion in ancient Greece...

, Phorcys was a Phrygia

Phrygia

In antiquity, Phrygia was a kingdom in the west central part of Anatolia, in what is now modern-day Turkey. The Phrygians initially lived in the southern Balkans; according to Herodotus, under the name of Bryges , changing it to Phruges after their final migration to Anatolia, via the...

n ally of King Priam

Priam

Priam was the king of Troy during the Trojan War and youngest son of Laomedon. Modern scholars derive his name from the Luwian compound Priimuua, which means "exceptionally courageous".- Marriage and issue :...

 in the Trojan War

Trojan War

In Greek mythology, the Trojan War was waged against the city of Troy by the Achaeans after Paris of Troy took Helen from her husband Menelaus, the king of Sparta. The war is among the most important events in Greek mythology and was narrated in many works of Greek literature, including the Iliad...

. Phorcys appears in The Iliad as the leader of the Phrygians, a son of Phaenops

Phaenops

In Greek mythology, the name Phaenops refers to three characters who are all associated with Troy and the Trojan War:* Father of Xanthus and Thoon, who were slain by Diomedes. He was an old man by the time the Trojan War began, and had no other sons and heirs except these two.* Father of Phorcys,...

. Apollodorus

Apollodorus

Apollodorus of Athens son of Asclepiades, was a Greek scholar and grammarian. He was a pupil of Diogenes of Babylon, Panaetius the Stoic, and the grammarian Aristarchus of Samothrace...

, however, refers to him as a son of Aretaon

Aretaon

In Greek mythology, the name Aretaon refers to the following figures associated with the Trojan War, who may or may not be one and the same character:*Aretaon, father of the Phrygian leaders Ascanius and Phorcys....

 and brother of Ascanius, another Phrygian leader. Phorcys is mentioned among the Trojan allies whom Hector

Hector

In Greek mythology, Hectōr , or Hektōr, is a Trojan prince and the greatest fighter for Troy in the Trojan War. As the first-born son of King Priam and Queen Hecuba, a descendant of Dardanus, who lived under Mount Ida, and of Tros, the founder of Troy, he was a prince of the royal house and the...

 addresses with a speech in Book 17 of the Iliad. He was killed in battle by the Greek hero Ajax

Ajax (mythology)

Ajax or Aias was a mythological Greek hero, the son of Telamon and Periboea and king of Salamis. He plays an important role in Homer's Iliad and in the Epic Cycle, a series of epic poems about the Trojan War. To distinguish him from Ajax, son of Oileus , he is called "Telamonian Ajax," "Greater...

.

Phorcys is referenced in Pausanias' Description of Greece: the author explains that Phorcys was referred to as "shieldless" in the Iliad because he was wearing a two-piece corselet, which was thought to provide enough protection in the battle.