In Greek mythology, Automedon, son of Diores, was Achilles' charioteer and driver of the immortal horses Balius and Xanthus. Homer's Iliad shows him yoking the team for Patroclus, struggling to master the grieving horses after Patroclus falls, and fighting beside the Aiantes to defend the corpse; Virgil later places him among the Greeks who break into Priam's palace.
Adapted from Wikipedia, "Automedon" · CC BY-SA 4.0
I.Charioteer in the Iliad
Automedon is the son of Diores; Hyginus places his home on Scyros and credits him with bringing ten ships to Troy. When Patroclus dons Achilles' armour, Automedon yokes Balius and Xanthus and rides into battle. After Patroclus dies, the immortal horses refuse to move, mourning their driver; Automedon cannot console them until Zeus intervenes. He then resumes the chariot but needs Alcimedon as second man before he can fight effectively.
He turns aside an attack by Hector, Aeneas, Chromius, and Aretus, killing Aretus and stripping his armour. Elsewhere Achilles honours him highly among the Myrmidons after Patroclus; he appears again when the horses are yoked for Achilles' return and at the funeral games.
II.Reception
Virgil's Aeneid names Automedon at the storming of Priam's palace (Book 2). Henri Regnault's painting Automedon with the Horses of Achilles (1868) is a well-known modern image of the charioteer and the immortal team. This notice concerns Achilles' driver, not later historical namesakes.