Heracleidae
Encyclopedia
In Greek mythology
, the Heracleidae or Heraclids were the numerous descendants of Heracles
(Hercules), especially applied in a narrower sense to the descendants of Hyllus
, the eldest of his four sons by Deianira
(Hyllus was also sometimes thought of as Heracles' son by Melite (naiad).) Other Heracleidae included Macaria
, Lamos
, Manto
, Bianor, Tlepolemus
, and Telephus
. These Heraclids were a group of Dorian kings who conquered the Peloponnesian kingdoms of Mycenae
, Sparta
and Argos
; according to the literary tradition in Greek mythology
, they claimed a right to rule through their ancestor. Since Karl Otfried Müller
's Die Dorier (1830, English translation 1839), I. ch. 3, their rise to dominance has been associated with a "Dorian invasion
". Though details of genealogy differ from one ancient author to another, the cultural significance of the mythic theme, that the descendants of Heracles, exiled after his death, returned after some generations in order to reclaim land that their ancestors had held in Mycenaean Greece
, was to assert the primal legitimacy of a traditional ruling clan that traced its origin, thus its legitimacy, to Heracles.
had originally intended to be ruler of Argos
, Lacedaemon and Messenian Pylos
, had been supplanted by the cunning of Hera
, and his intended possessions had fallen into the hands of Eurystheus
, king of Mycenae
. After the death of Heracles
, his children, after many wanderings, found refuge from Eurystheus at Athens. Eurystheus, on his demand for their surrender being refused, attacked Athens, but was defeated and slain. Hyllus and his brothers then invaded Peloponnesus, but after a year's stay were forced by a pestilence to quit. They withdrew to Thessaly
, where Aegimius
, the mythical ancestor of the Dorians, whom Heracles had assisted in war against the Lapithae, adopted Hyllus and made over to him a third part of his territory.
After the death of Aegimius
, his two sons, Pamphilus
and Dymas
, voluntarily submitted to Hyllus (who was, according to the Dorian tradition in Herodotus
V. 72, really an Achaea
n), who thus became ruler of the Dorians, the three branches of that race being named after these three heroes. Desiring to reconquer his paternal inheritance, Hyllus consulted the Delphic oracle
, which told him to wait for "the third fruit", (or "the third crop") and then enter Peloponnesus by "a narrow passage by sea". Accordingly, after three years, Hyllus
marched across the isthmus
of Corinth to attack Atreus
, the successor of Eurystheus
, but was slain in single combat by Echemus
, king of Tegea
. This second attempt was followed by a third under Cleodaeus
and a fourth under Aristomachus, both unsuccessful.
, Cresphontes
and Aristodemus
, the sons of Aristomachus, complained to the oracle that its instructions had proved fatal to those who had followed them. They received the answer that by the "third fruit" the "third generation" was meant, and that the "narrow passage" was not the isthmus of Corinth, but the straits of Rhium. They accordingly built a fleet at Naupactus
, but before they set sail, Aristodemus
was struck by lightning (or shot by Apollo) and the fleet destroyed, because one of the Heracleidae had slain an Acarnanian soothsayer.
The oracle, being again consulted by Temenus
, bade him offer an expiatory sacrifice and banish the murderer for ten years, and look out for a man with three eyes to act as guide. On his way back to Naupactus
, Temenus
fell in with Oxylus
, an Aetolian, who had lost one eye, riding on a horse (thus making up the three eyes) and immediately pressed him into his service. According to another account, a mule on which Oxylus rode had lost an eye. The Heracleidae repaired their ships, sailed from Naupactus
to Antirrhium, and thence to Rhium in Peloponnesus. A decisive battle was fought with Tisamenus
, son of Orestes
, the chief ruler in the peninsula, who was defeated and slain. This conquest was traditionally dated sixty years after the Trojan War
.
The Heracleidae, who thus became practically masters of Peloponnesus, proceeded to distribute its territory among themselves by lot. Argos
fell to Temenus
, Lacedaemon to Procles
and Eurysthenes
, the twin sons of Aristodemus
; and Messene
to Cresphontes
. The fertile district of Elis
had been reserved by agreement for Oxylus
. The Heracleidae ruled in Lacedaemon till 221 BC
, but disappeared much earlier in the other countries.
This conquest of Peloponnesus by the Dorians, commonly called the "Dorian invasion" or the "Return of the Heraclidae", is represented as the recovery by the descendants of Heracles of the rightful inheritance of their hero ancestor and his sons. The Dorians followed the custom of other Greek tribes in claiming as ancestor for their ruling families one of the legendary heroes, but the traditions must not on that account be regarded as entirely mythical. They represent a joint invasion of Peloponnesus by Aetolians and Dorians, the latter having been driven southward from their original northern home under pressure from the Thessalians. It is noticeable that there is no mention of these Heraclidae or their invasion in Homer
or Hesiod
. Herodotus
(vi. 52) speaks of poets who had celebrated their deeds, but these were limited to events immediately succeeding the death of Heracles.
, the Heraclids formed two dynasties ruling jointly: the Agiads and the Eurypontids.
dynasty before the aristocratic revolution, which brought a Bacchiad aristocracy into power. The kings were as follows:
The Heracleidae are the main subject of Euripides
' play, Heracleidae
. J. A. Spranger found the political subtext of Heracleidae, never far to seek, so particularly apt in Athens towards the end of the peace of Nicias, in 419 BCE, that he suggested the date as its first performance.
In the tragedy, Iolaus
, Heracles' old comrade, and his children, Macaria and her brothers and sisters have hidden from Eurystheus
in Athens
, which was ruled by King Demophon
; as the first scene makes clear, their expectation is that the blood relationship of the kings with Heracles and their father's past indebtedness to Theseus
, will finally provide them sanctuary. As Eurysttheus prepared to attack, an oracle
told Demophon that he would win if and only if a noble woman was sacrificed to Persephone
. Macaria volunteered for the sacrifice and a spring was named the Macarian spring in her honor.
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...
, the Heracleidae or Heraclids were the numerous descendants of Heracles
Heracles
Heracles ,born Alcaeus or Alcides , was a divine hero in Greek mythology, the son of Zeus and Alcmene, foster son of Amphitryon and great-grandson of Perseus...
(Hercules), especially applied in a narrower sense to the descendants of Hyllus
Hyllus
In Greek mythology, Hyllus was the son of Heracles and Deianira, husband of Iole, nursed by Abia....
, the eldest of his four sons by Deianira
Deianira
Deïanira or Dejanira is a figure in Greek mythology, best-known for being Heracles' third wife and, in the late Classical story, unwittingly killing him with the Shirt of Nessus...
(Hyllus was also sometimes thought of as Heracles' son by Melite (naiad).) Other Heracleidae included Macaria
Macaria
Macaria or Makaria is the name of two figures from ancient Greek religion and mythology. Although they are not said to be the same and are given different fathers, they are discussed together in a single entry in both the 10th-century Byzantine encyclopedia the Suda and by Zenobius.-Daughter of...
, Lamos
Lamos
Lamos is a name variously applied in Greek mythology and in classical geographical writings.* Lamos, a small river on the summit of Mount Helicon according to Pausanias...
, Manto
Manto (mythology)
There are several distinct figures in Greek mythology named Manto, the most prominent being the daughter of Tiresias. The name Manto derives from Ancient Greek Mantis, "seer, prophet" .-Daughter of Tiresias:...
, Bianor, Tlepolemus
Tlepolemus
For others of this name see Tlepolemus In Greek mythology, Tlepolemus is the son of Heracles by Astyocheia, daughter of the King of Ephyra. Either that or he was the son of Melite and the second of the two sons of Hercules who goes by the name of Hyllus...
, and Telephus
Telephus
A Greek mythological figure, Telephus or Telephos Telephus was one of the Heraclidae, the sons of Heracles, who were venerated as founders of cities...
. These Heraclids were a group of Dorian kings who conquered the Peloponnesian kingdoms of Mycenae
Mycenae
Mycenae is an archaeological site in Greece, located about 90 km south-west of Athens, in the north-eastern Peloponnese. Argos is 11 km to the south; Corinth, 48 km to the north...
, Sparta
Sparta
Sparta or Lacedaemon, was a prominent city-state in ancient Greece, situated on the banks of the River Eurotas in Laconia, in south-eastern Peloponnese. It emerged as a political entity around the 10th century BC, when the invading Dorians subjugated the local, non-Dorian population. From c...
and Argos
Argos
Argos is a city and a former municipality in Argolis, Peloponnese, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Argos-Mykines, of which it is a municipal unit. It is 11 kilometres from Nafplion, which was its historic harbour...
; according to the literary tradition 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...
, they claimed a right to rule through their ancestor. Since Karl Otfried Müller
Karl Otfried Müller
Karl Otfried Müller , was a German scholar and Philodorian, or admirer of ancient Sparta, who introduced the modern study of Greek mythology.-Biography:...
's Die Dorier (1830, English translation 1839), I. ch. 3, their rise to dominance has been associated with a "Dorian invasion
Dorian invasion
The Dorian invasion is a concept devised by historians of Ancient Greece to explain the replacement of pre-classical dialects and traditions in southern Greece by the ones that prevailed in Classical Greece...
". Though details of genealogy differ from one ancient author to another, the cultural significance of the mythic theme, that the descendants of Heracles, exiled after his death, returned after some generations in order to reclaim land that their ancestors had held in Mycenaean Greece
Mycenaean Greece
Mycenaean Greece was a cultural period of Bronze Age Greece taking its name from the archaeological site of Mycenae in northeastern Argolis, in the Peloponnese of southern Greece. Athens, Pylos, Thebes, and Tiryns are also important Mycenaean sites...
, was to assert the primal legitimacy of a traditional ruling clan that traced its origin, thus its legitimacy, to Heracles.
Origin
Heracles, whom ZeusZeus
In the ancient Greek religion, Zeus was the "Father of Gods and men" who ruled the Olympians of Mount Olympus as a father ruled the family. He was the god of sky and thunder in Greek mythology. His Roman counterpart is Jupiter and his Etruscan counterpart is Tinia.Zeus was the child of Cronus...
had originally intended to be ruler of Argos
Argos
Argos is a city and a former municipality in Argolis, Peloponnese, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Argos-Mykines, of which it is a municipal unit. It is 11 kilometres from Nafplion, which was its historic harbour...
, Lacedaemon and Messenian Pylos
Pylos
Pylos , historically known under its Italian name Navarino, is a town and a former municipality in Messenia, Peloponnese, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Pylos-Nestoras, of which it is the seat and a municipal unit. It was the capital of the former...
, had been supplanted by the cunning of Hera
Hera
Hera was the wife and one of three sisters of Zeus in the Olympian pantheon of Greek mythology and religion. Her chief function was as the goddess of women and marriage. Her counterpart in the religion of ancient Rome was Juno. The cow and the peacock were sacred to her...
, and his intended possessions had fallen into the hands of Eurystheus
Eurystheus
In Greek mythology, Eurystheus was king of Tiryns, one of three Mycenaean strongholds in the Argolid, although other authors including Homer and Euripides cast him as ruler of Argos: Sthenelus was his father and the "victorious horsewoman" Nicippe his mother, and he was a grandson of the hero...
, king of Mycenae
Mycenae
Mycenae is an archaeological site in Greece, located about 90 km south-west of Athens, in the north-eastern Peloponnese. Argos is 11 km to the south; Corinth, 48 km to the north...
. After the death of Heracles
Heracles
Heracles ,born Alcaeus or Alcides , was a divine hero in Greek mythology, the son of Zeus and Alcmene, foster son of Amphitryon and great-grandson of Perseus...
, his children, after many wanderings, found refuge from Eurystheus at Athens. Eurystheus, on his demand for their surrender being refused, attacked Athens, but was defeated and slain. Hyllus and his brothers then invaded Peloponnesus, but after a year's stay were forced by a pestilence to quit. They withdrew to Thessaly
Thessaly
Thessaly is a traditional geographical region and an administrative region of Greece, comprising most of the ancient region of the same name. Before the Greek Dark Ages, Thessaly was known as Aeolia, and appears thus in Homer's Odyssey....
, where Aegimius
Aegimius
Aegimius was the Greek mythological ancestor of the Dorians, who is described as their king and lawgiver at the time when they were yet inhabiting the northern parts of Thessaly. He asked Heracles for help in a war against the Lapiths and, in gratitude, offered him one-third of his kingdom...
, the mythical ancestor of the Dorians, whom Heracles had assisted in war against the Lapithae, adopted Hyllus and made over to him a third part of his territory.
After the death of Aegimius
Aegimius
Aegimius was the Greek mythological ancestor of the Dorians, who is described as their king and lawgiver at the time when they were yet inhabiting the northern parts of Thessaly. He asked Heracles for help in a war against the Lapiths and, in gratitude, offered him one-third of his kingdom...
, his two sons, Pamphilus
Pamphilus (mythology)
Pamphilus , a son of Aegimius and brother of Dymas, was king of the Dorians at the foot of mount Pindus, and along with the Heracleidae invaded Peloponnesus. After him, a tribe of the Sicyonians was called Pamphyli....
and Dymas
Dymas
In Greek mythology, Dymas is the name attributed to at least four individuals.- Dymas :The first Dymas was a Phrygian king and father of Hecuba , wife to King Priam of Troy...
, voluntarily submitted to Hyllus (who was, according to the Dorian tradition in Herodotus
Herodotus
Herodotus was an ancient Greek historian who was born in Halicarnassus, Caria and lived in the 5th century BC . He has been called the "Father of History", and was the first historian known to collect his materials systematically, test their accuracy to a certain extent and arrange them in a...
V. 72, really an Achaea
Achaea
Achaea is one of the regional units of Greece. It is part of the region of West Greece. It is situated in the northwestern part of the Peloponnese peninsula. The capital is Patras. The population exceeds 300,000 since 2001.-Geography:...
n), who thus became ruler of the Dorians, the three branches of that race being named after these three heroes. Desiring to reconquer his paternal inheritance, Hyllus consulted the Delphic oracle
Delphi
Delphi is both an archaeological site and a modern town in Greece on the south-western spur of Mount Parnassus in the valley of Phocis.In Greek mythology, Delphi was the site of the Delphic oracle, the most important oracle in the classical Greek world, and a major site for the worship of the god...
, which told him to wait for "the third fruit", (or "the third crop") and then enter Peloponnesus by "a narrow passage by sea". Accordingly, after three years, Hyllus
Hyllus
In Greek mythology, Hyllus was the son of Heracles and Deianira, husband of Iole, nursed by Abia....
marched across the isthmus
Isthmus
An isthmus is a narrow strip of land connecting two larger land areas usually with waterforms on either side.Canals are often built through isthmuses where they may be particularly advantageous to create a shortcut for marine transportation...
of Corinth to attack Atreus
Atreus
In Greek mythology, Atreus was a king of Mycenae, the son of Pelops and Hippodamia, and the father of Agamemnon and Menelaus. Collectively, his descendants are known as Atreidai or Atreidae....
, the successor of Eurystheus
Eurystheus
In Greek mythology, Eurystheus was king of Tiryns, one of three Mycenaean strongholds in the Argolid, although other authors including Homer and Euripides cast him as ruler of Argos: Sthenelus was his father and the "victorious horsewoman" Nicippe his mother, and he was a grandson of the hero...
, but was slain in single combat by Echemus
Echemus
In Greek mythology, Echemus was the king of Arcadia. He succeeded Lycurgus, and married Timandra, daughter of Leda and Tyndareus of Sparta.Timandra bore him a son, Laodocus, before deserting Echemus for Phyleus, the king of Dulichium....
, king of Tegea
Tegea
Tegea was a settlement in ancient Greece, and it is also a former municipality in Arcadia, Peloponnese, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Tripoli, of which it is a municipal unit. Its seat was the village Stadio....
. This second attempt was followed by a third under Cleodaeus
Cleodaeus
In Greek mythology, Cleodaeus was one of the Heracleidae, a grandson of Heracles. He was the son of Heracles's eldest son Hyllus and Iole of Oechalia. He became father of Aristomachus, who led the third attempt to capture Mycenae and failed. He also had a daughter Lanassa, who married Neoptolemus...
and a fourth under Aristomachus, both unsuccessful.
Dorian Invasion
At last, TemenusTemenus
In Greek mythology, Temenus was a son of Aristomachus and brother of Cresphontes and Aristodemus. He was a great-great-grandson of Heracles and helped lead the fifth and final attack on Mycenae in the Peloponnese. He became King of Argos. He was the father of Ceisus, Káranos, Phalces, Agraeus,...
, Cresphontes
Cresphontes
In Greek mythology, Cresphontes was a son of Aristomachus, husband of Merope, and brother of Temenus and Aristodemus. He was a great-great-grandson of Heracles and helped lead the fifth and final attack on Mycenae in the Peloponnesus...
and Aristodemus
Aristodemus
In Greek mythology, Aristodemus was an Heracleidae, son of Aristomachus and brother of Cresphontes and Temenus. He was a great-great-grandson of Heracles and helped lead the fifth and final attack on Mycenae in the Peloponnesus....
, the sons of Aristomachus, complained to the oracle that its instructions had proved fatal to those who had followed them. They received the answer that by the "third fruit" the "third generation" was meant, and that the "narrow passage" was not the isthmus of Corinth, but the straits of Rhium. They accordingly built a fleet at Naupactus
Naupactus
Naupactus or Nafpaktos , is a town and a former municipality in Aetolia-Acarnania, West Greece, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Nafpaktia, of which it is the seat and a municipal unit...
, but before they set sail, Aristodemus
Aristodemus
In Greek mythology, Aristodemus was an Heracleidae, son of Aristomachus and brother of Cresphontes and Temenus. He was a great-great-grandson of Heracles and helped lead the fifth and final attack on Mycenae in the Peloponnesus....
was struck by lightning (or shot by Apollo) and the fleet destroyed, because one of the Heracleidae had slain an Acarnanian soothsayer.
The oracle, being again consulted by Temenus
Temenus
In Greek mythology, Temenus was a son of Aristomachus and brother of Cresphontes and Aristodemus. He was a great-great-grandson of Heracles and helped lead the fifth and final attack on Mycenae in the Peloponnese. He became King of Argos. He was the father of Ceisus, Káranos, Phalces, Agraeus,...
, bade him offer an expiatory sacrifice and banish the murderer for ten years, and look out for a man with three eyes to act as guide. On his way back to Naupactus
Naupactus
Naupactus or Nafpaktos , is a town and a former municipality in Aetolia-Acarnania, West Greece, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Nafpaktia, of which it is the seat and a municipal unit...
, Temenus
Temenus
In Greek mythology, Temenus was a son of Aristomachus and brother of Cresphontes and Aristodemus. He was a great-great-grandson of Heracles and helped lead the fifth and final attack on Mycenae in the Peloponnese. He became King of Argos. He was the father of Ceisus, Káranos, Phalces, Agraeus,...
fell in with Oxylus
Oxylus
In Greek mythology, Oxylus may refer to:*A son of Ares and Protogeneia, daughter of Calydon.*An one-eyed man from Aetolia, son of Haemon or of Andraemon. He was exiled from Aetolia on account of unintentional homicide; his victim was either his own brother Therimus or a certain Alcidocus, son of...
, an Aetolian, who had lost one eye, riding on a horse (thus making up the three eyes) and immediately pressed him into his service. According to another account, a mule on which Oxylus rode had lost an eye. The Heracleidae repaired their ships, sailed from Naupactus
Naupactus
Naupactus or Nafpaktos , is a town and a former municipality in Aetolia-Acarnania, West Greece, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Nafpaktia, of which it is the seat and a municipal unit...
to Antirrhium, and thence to Rhium in Peloponnesus. A decisive battle was fought with Tisamenus
Tisamenus
Tisamenus or Tissamenus in Greek mythology, was a son of Orestes and Hermione. He succeeded his father to the thrones of Argos, Mycenae and Sparta and was later killed in the final battle with the Heracleidae. The latter were led by Aristodemus, Cresphontes, Oxylus, Temenus and sought to retake...
, son of Orestes
Orestes (mythology)
In Greek mythology, Orestes was the son of Clytemnestra and Agamemnon. He is the subject of several Ancient Greek plays and of various myths connected with his madness and purification, which retain obscure threads of much older ones....
, the chief ruler in the peninsula, who was defeated and slain. This conquest was traditionally dated sixty years after 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...
.
The Heracleidae, who thus became practically masters of Peloponnesus, proceeded to distribute its territory among themselves by lot. Argos
Argos
Argos is a city and a former municipality in Argolis, Peloponnese, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Argos-Mykines, of which it is a municipal unit. It is 11 kilometres from Nafplion, which was its historic harbour...
fell to Temenus
Temenus
In Greek mythology, Temenus was a son of Aristomachus and brother of Cresphontes and Aristodemus. He was a great-great-grandson of Heracles and helped lead the fifth and final attack on Mycenae in the Peloponnese. He became King of Argos. He was the father of Ceisus, Káranos, Phalces, Agraeus,...
, Lacedaemon to Procles
Procles
In Greek legend, Procles was one of the Heracleidae, a great-great-great-grandson of Heracles, and a son of Aristodemus and Argia. His twin was Eurysthenes. Together they received the land of Lacedaemon after Cresphontes, Temenus and Aristodemus defeated Tisamenus, the last Achaean king of the...
and Eurysthenes
Eurysthenes
In Greek legend, Eurysthenes was one of the Heracleidae, a great-great-great-grandson of Heracles, and a son of Aristodemus and Argia. His twin was Procles. Together they received the land of Lacedaemon after Cresphontes, Temenus and Aristodemus defeated Tisamenus, the last Achaean king of the...
, the twin sons of Aristodemus
Aristodemus
In Greek mythology, Aristodemus was an Heracleidae, son of Aristomachus and brother of Cresphontes and Temenus. He was a great-great-grandson of Heracles and helped lead the fifth and final attack on Mycenae in the Peloponnesus....
; and Messene
Messene
Messene , officially Ancient Messene, is a Local Community of the Municipal Unit , Ithomi, of the municipality of Messini within the Regional Unit of Messenia in the Region of Peloponnēsos, one of 7 Regions into which the Hellenic Republic has been divided by the Kallikratis...
to Cresphontes
Cresphontes
In Greek mythology, Cresphontes was a son of Aristomachus, husband of Merope, and brother of Temenus and Aristodemus. He was a great-great-grandson of Heracles and helped lead the fifth and final attack on Mycenae in the Peloponnesus...
. The fertile district of Elis
Elis
Elis, or Eleia is an ancient district that corresponds with the modern Elis peripheral unit...
had been reserved by agreement for Oxylus
Oxylus
In Greek mythology, Oxylus may refer to:*A son of Ares and Protogeneia, daughter of Calydon.*An one-eyed man from Aetolia, son of Haemon or of Andraemon. He was exiled from Aetolia on account of unintentional homicide; his victim was either his own brother Therimus or a certain Alcidocus, son of...
. The Heracleidae ruled in Lacedaemon till 221 BC
221 BC
Year 221 BC was a year of the pre-Julian Roman calendar. At the time it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Asina and Rufus/Lepidus...
, but disappeared much earlier in the other countries.
This conquest of Peloponnesus by the Dorians, commonly called the "Dorian invasion" or the "Return of the Heraclidae", is represented as the recovery by the descendants of Heracles of the rightful inheritance of their hero ancestor and his sons. The Dorians followed the custom of other Greek tribes in claiming as ancestor for their ruling families one of the legendary heroes, but the traditions must not on that account be regarded as entirely mythical. They represent a joint invasion of Peloponnesus by Aetolians and Dorians, the latter having been driven southward from their original northern home under pressure from the Thessalians. It is noticeable that there is no mention of these Heraclidae or their invasion in Homer
Homer
In the Western classical tradition Homer , is the author of the Iliad and the Odyssey, and is revered as the greatest ancient Greek epic poet. These epics lie at the beginning of the Western canon of literature, and have had an enormous influence on the history of literature.When he lived is...
or Hesiod
Hesiod
Hesiod was a Greek oral poet generally thought by scholars to have been active between 750 and 650 BC, around the same time as Homer. His is the first European poetry in which the poet regards himself as a topic, an individual with a distinctive role to play. Ancient authors credited him and...
. Herodotus
Herodotus
Herodotus was an ancient Greek historian who was born in Halicarnassus, Caria and lived in the 5th century BC . He has been called the "Father of History", and was the first historian known to collect his materials systematically, test their accuracy to a certain extent and arrange them in a...
(vi. 52) speaks of poets who had celebrated their deeds, but these were limited to events immediately succeeding the death of Heracles.
At Sparta
At SpartaSparta
Sparta or Lacedaemon, was a prominent city-state in ancient Greece, situated on the banks of the River Eurotas in Laconia, in south-eastern Peloponnese. It emerged as a political entity around the 10th century BC, when the invading Dorians subjugated the local, non-Dorian population. From c...
, the Heraclids formed two dynasties ruling jointly: the Agiads and the Eurypontids.
At Corinth
At Corinth the Heraclids ruled as the BacchiadaeBacchiadae
The Bacchiadae , a tightly-knit Doric clan, were the ruling family of archaic Corinth in the eighth and seventh centuries BCE, a period of Corinthian cultural power. Corinth had been a backwater in eighth-century Greece...
dynasty before the aristocratic revolution, which brought a Bacchiad aristocracy into power. The kings were as follows:
- Aletes 1073 - 1035 BCE
- Ixion 1035 - 997 BCE
- Agelas I 997 - 960 BCE
- Prymnis 960 - 925 BCE
- Bacchis 925 - 890 BCE
- Agelas II 890 - 860 BCE
- Eudemus 860 - 835 BCE
- Aristomedes 835 - 800 BCE
- Agemon 800 - 784 BCE
- Alexander 784 - 759 BCE
- Telestes 759 - 747 BCE
In Euripides' tragedy
The story was first amplified by the Greek tragedians, who probably drew their inspiration from local legends, which glorified the services rendered by Athens to the rulers of Peloponnesus.The Heracleidae are the main subject of Euripides
Euripides
Euripides was one of the three great tragedians of classical Athens, the other two being Aeschylus and Sophocles. Some ancient scholars attributed ninety-five plays to him but according to the Suda it was ninety-two at most...
' play, Heracleidae
Heracleidae (play)
Herakles' Children is an Athenian tragedy by Euripides that was first performed c. 430 BC. It follows the children of Herakles as they seek protection from Eurystheus...
. J. A. Spranger found the political subtext of Heracleidae, never far to seek, so particularly apt in Athens towards the end of the peace of Nicias, in 419 BCE, that he suggested the date as its first performance.
In the tragedy, Iolaus
Iolaus
In Greek mythology, Iolaus was a Theban divine hero, son of Iphicles, Heracles's brother, and Automedusa.He was famed for being Heracles's nephew and for helping with some of his Labors, and also for being one of the Argonauts...
, Heracles' old comrade, and his children, Macaria and her brothers and sisters have hidden from Eurystheus
Eurystheus
In Greek mythology, Eurystheus was king of Tiryns, one of three Mycenaean strongholds in the Argolid, although other authors including Homer and Euripides cast him as ruler of Argos: Sthenelus was his father and the "victorious horsewoman" Nicippe his mother, and he was a grandson of the hero...
in Athens
Athens
Athens , is the capital and largest city of Greece. Athens dominates the Attica region and is one of the world's oldest cities, as its recorded history spans around 3,400 years. Classical Athens was a powerful city-state...
, which was ruled by King Demophon
Demophon
In Greek mythology, Demophon referred to two men:*Demophon of Athens*Demophon of Eleusis...
; as the first scene makes clear, their expectation is that the blood relationship of the kings with Heracles and their father's past indebtedness to Theseus
Theseus
For other uses, see Theseus Theseus was the mythical founder-king of Athens, son of Aethra, and fathered by Aegeus and Poseidon, both of whom Aethra had slept with in one night. Theseus was a founder-hero, like Perseus, Cadmus, or Heracles, all of whom battled and overcame foes that were...
, will finally provide them sanctuary. As Eurysttheus prepared to attack, an oracle
Oracle
In Classical Antiquity, an oracle was a person or agency considered to be a source of wise counsel or prophetic predictions or precognition of the future, inspired by the gods. As such it is a form of divination....
told Demophon that he would win if and only if a noble woman was sacrificed to Persephone
Persephone
In Greek mythology, Persephone , also called Kore , is the daughter of Zeus and the harvest-goddess Demeter, and queen of the underworld; she was abducted by Hades, the god-king of the underworld....
. Macaria volunteered for the sacrifice and a spring was named the Macarian spring in her honor.
Sources
- ApollodorusApollodorusApollodorus 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...
ii. 8 - Diodorus SiculusDiodorus SiculusDiodorus Siculus was a Greek historian who flourished between 60 and 30 BC. According to Diodorus' own work, he was born at Agyrium in Sicily . With one exception, antiquity affords no further information about Diodorus' life and doings beyond what is to be found in his own work, Bibliotheca...
iv. 57, 58 - PausaniasPausanias (geographer)Pausanias was a Greek traveler and geographer of the 2nd century AD, who lived in the times of Hadrian, Antoninus Pius and Marcus Aurelius. He is famous for his Description of Greece , a lengthy work that describes ancient Greece from firsthand observations, and is a crucial link between classical...
i. 32, 41, ii. 13, 18, iii. I, iv. 3, v. 3 - EuripidesEuripidesEuripides was one of the three great tragedians of classical Athens, the other two being Aeschylus and Sophocles. Some ancient scholars attributed ninety-five plays to him but according to the Suda it was ninety-two at most...
, HeracleidaeHeracleidae (play)Herakles' Children is an Athenian tragedy by Euripides that was first performed c. 430 BC. It follows the children of Herakles as they seek protection from Eurystheus... - PindarPindarPindar , was an Ancient Greek lyric poet. Of the canonical nine lyric poets of ancient Greece, his work is the best preserved. Quintilian described him as "by far the greatest of the nine lyric poets, in virtue of his inspired magnificence, the beauty of his thoughts and figures, the rich...
, PythiaPythiaThe Pythia , commonly known as the Oracle of Delphi, was the priestess at the Temple of Apollo at Delphi, located on the slopes of Mount Parnassus. The Pythia was widely credited for her prophecies inspired by Apollo. The Delphic oracle was established in the 8th century BC...
, ix. 137 - HerodotusHerodotusHerodotus was an ancient Greek historian who was born in Halicarnassus, Caria and lived in the 5th century BC . He has been called the "Father of History", and was the first historian known to collect his materials systematically, test their accuracy to a certain extent and arrange them in a...
ix. 27
- Connop ThirlwallConnop ThirlwallConnop Thirlwall was an English bishop and historian.-Early life:Thirlwall was born at Stepney, London, of a Northumbrian family. He was a prodigy, learning Latin at three, Greek at four, and writing sermons at seven.He went to Charterhouse School, where George Grote and Julius Hare were among...
, History of Greece, ch. vii - George GroteGeorge GroteGeorge Grote was an English classical historian, best known in the field for a major work, the voluminous History of Greece, still read.-Early life:He was born at Clay Hill near Beckenham in Kent...
, History of Greece, pt. i. ch. xviii - Georg Busolt, Griechische Geschichte, i. ch. ii. sec. 7, where a list of modern authorities is given