In Greek legend, Idomeneus was the King of Crete, the son of Deucalion and the grandson of Minos and Pasiphaë. A suitor of Helen of Troy, he was a major figure in the war between the Greeks and the Trojans precipitated by Helen's departure from Greece with the Trojan Prince Paris. "The Odyssey" relates that after the Greeks' victory, he led his men through the perils of their journey home without losing a single one of them. Later writings relate that his voyage was afflicted by a violent storm, amidst which he vowed to Poseidon, the god of the sea, that if he was allowed to set foot on Crete again, he would sacrifice the first living thing that he encountered there. Poseidon granted his wish, but when his ship finally reached his island's shore, the first creature that he met was his son, Idamantes. His slaying of the Prince in accordance with his oath was followed by the outbreak of a plague. Blamed by his people for their misfortune, he was driven into exile in Sallentum in Calabria. Later he moved to Colophon in Anatolia, settling near the temple of the Clarian Apollo. One tradition claims that he was buried there on Mount Cercaphus, while Cretans came to venerate his memory at a grave in Knossos.