Oenomaus
Encyclopedia
In Greek mythology
, King Oenomaus (or Oinomaos, Oenamaus) of Pisa
, the father of Hippodamia
, was the son of Ares
, either by the naiad
Harpina
(daughter of the river god
Phliasian Asopus
, the armed (harpe) spirit of a spring near Pisa) or by Sterope
, one of the Pleiades
, whom some identify as his consort instead. He married, if not Sterope, then Evarete of Argos
, the daughter of Acrisius
and Eurydice
. Yet others give Eurythoe, daughter of Danaus
, either as his mother or consort. His children besides Hippodamia were Leucippus
(who perished because of his love for Daphne
) and Alcippe (mother of Marpessa
by Evenus
). The genealogy offered in the earliest literary reference, Euripides
' Iphigenia in Tauris, would place him two generations before the Trojan War
, making him the great-grandfather of the Atreides, Agamemnon
and Menelaus
. His name Oinomaos signifies him as a wine
man.
wanted to marry Hippodamia. King Oenomaus, her father, fearful of a prophecy that claimed he would be killed by his son-in-law, had killed thirteen suitors of Hippodamia after defeating them in a chariot race
and affixed their heads to the wooden columns of his palace. Pausanias
was shown what was purported to be the last standing column in the late 2nd century CE. Pelops came to ask for her hand and prepared to race Oenomaus. Worried about losing, Pelops went to the seaside and invoked Poseidon, his former lover. Reminding Poseidon of their love ("Aphrodite
's sweet gifts"), he asked Poseidon for help. Smiling, Poseidon caused a chariot drawn by winged horses to appear. Pelops and Hippodamia, very much in love, devised a plan to replace the bronze linchpins attaching the wheels to the chariot
axle with fake ones made of beeswax. The race began, and went on for a long time. But just as Oenomaus was catching up to Pelops and readying to kill him, the wheels flew off and the chariot broke apart. Oenomaus' charioteer, Myrtilus
, survived, but Oenomaus was dragged to death by his horses, although before dying he cursed Myrtilus. Pelops then killed Myrtilus (by throwing him off a cliff into the sea) after the latter attempted to claim Hippodamia.
In memory of Oenomaus, the Olympic Games were created (or alternatively the Olympic Games were in celebration of Pelops' victory). As Myrtilus died, he cursed Pelops. This was the source of the curse that haunted future generation of Pelops' children, including Atreus
, Thyestes
, Agamemnon
, Aegisthus
, Menelaus
and Orestes
. Also, the burial place of Myrtilus was a taraxippus
in Olympia, a "horse-frightening place" during races. Oenomaus' chariot race was one legendary origin of the Olympic Games; one of its turning-posts was preserved, and round it grew an Elean
legend of a burnt "house of Oenomaus", reported by Pausanias
in the 2nd century CE.
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...
, King Oenomaus (or Oinomaos, Oenamaus) of Pisa
Pisa (Greece)
Pisa was the name of an ancient town in the western Peloponnese, Greece. The area controlled by Pisa was called Pisatis, which included Olympia, the site of the Ancient Olympic Games. Pisa and Pisatis were subjugated by Elis in 572 BC. Currently, it is a village within the municipality of Olympia...
, the father of Hippodamia
Hippodamia
Hippodamia was a daughter of King Oenomaus and wife of Pelops with whom her offspring were Thyestes, Atreus, Pittheus, Alcathous, Troezen, Hippalcimus, Copreus, Astydameia, Nicippe, Eurydice and others....
, was the son of Ares
Ares
Ares is the Greek god of war. He is one of the Twelve Olympians, and the son of Zeus and Hera. In Greek literature, he often represents the physical or violent aspect of war, in contrast to the armored Athena, whose functions as a goddess of intelligence include military strategy and...
, either by the naiad
Naiad
In Greek mythology, the Naiads or Naiades were a type of nymph who presided over fountains, wells, springs, streams, and brooks....
Harpina
Harpina
In Greek mythology, Harpina was a Naiad nymph and daughter of Phliasian Asopus and of Metope. Pausanias and Diodorus Siculus mention Harpina and state that, according to the tradition of the Eleans and Phliasians, Ares mated with her in the city of Pisa and she bore him Oenomaus, the king of Pisa...
(daughter of the river god
River God
River God is a novel by author Wilbur Smith. It tells the story of the talented eunuch slave Taita, his life in Egypt, the flight of Taita along with the Egyptian populace from the Hyksos invasion, and their eventual return. The novel can be grouped together with Wilbur Smith's other books on...
Phliasian Asopus
Asopus
Asopus or Asôpos is the name of four different rivers in Greece and one in Turkey. In Greek mythology, it was the name of the gods of those rivers.-The rivers in Greece:...
, the armed (harpe) spirit of a spring near Pisa) or by Sterope
Sterope (Pleiad)
In Greek mythology, Sterope , also called Asterope , was one of the seven Pleiades and the wife of Oenomaus ....
, one of the Pleiades
Pleiades (Greek mythology)
The Pleiades , companions of Artemis, were the seven daughters of the titan Atlas and the sea-nymph Pleione born on Mount Cyllene. They are the sisters of Calypso, Hyas, the Hyades, and the Hesperides...
, whom some identify as his consort instead. He married, if not Sterope, then Evarete 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...
, the daughter of Acrisius
Acrisius
Acrisius was a mythical king of Argos, and a son of Abas and Aglaea , grandson of Lynceus, great-grandson of Danaus. His twin brother was Proetus, with whom he is said to have quarreled even in the womb of his mother...
and Eurydice
Eurydice of Argos
In Greek Mythology, Eurydice was wife to Acrisius, king of Argos, mother of Danaë and therefore maternal grandmother to Perseus. She was said to have been a daughter to Lacedaemon and Sparta, the legendary founders of Sparta.-References:...
. Yet others give Eurythoe, daughter of Danaus
Danaus
In Greek mythology Danaus, or Danaos , was the twin brother of Aegyptus and son of Achiroe and Belus, a mythical king of Egypt. The myth of Danaus is a foundation legend of Argos, one of the foremost Mycenaean cities of the Peloponnesus...
, either as his mother or consort. His children besides Hippodamia were Leucippus
Leucippus
Leucippus or Leukippos was one of the earliest Greeks to develop the theory of atomism — the idea that everything is composed entirely of various imperishable, indivisible elements called atoms — which was elaborated in greater detail by his pupil and successor, Democritus...
(who perished because of his love for Daphne
Daphne
Daphne was a female minor nature deity. Pursued by Apollo, she fled and was chased. Daphne begged the gods for help, who then transformed her into Laurel.-Overview:...
) and Alcippe (mother of Marpessa
Marpessa
In Greek mythology, Marpessa was an Aetolian princess, and a granddaughter of Ares. She was kidnapped by Idas but loved by Apollo as well. Zeus made her choose between them. According to another myth, she was the daughter of Evenus and Alcippe. She married Idas after he kidnapped her with a winged...
by Evenus
Evenus (mythology)
Evenus is the name of two characters in Greek mythology.1. Evenus the river-god . He was the son either of Oceanus and Tethys, or of Ares and Demonice , or of Ares and Sterope , or of Heracles...
). The genealogy offered in the earliest literary reference, 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...
' Iphigenia in Tauris, would place him two generations before 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...
, making him the great-grandfather of the Atreides, Agamemnon
Agamemnon
In Greek mythology, Agamemnon was the son of King Atreus and Queen Aerope of Mycenae, the brother of Menelaus, the husband of Clytemnestra, and the father of Electra and Orestes. Mythical legends make him the king of Mycenae or Argos, thought to be different names for the same area...
and Menelaus
Menelaus
Menelaus may refer to;*Menelaus, one of the two most known Atrides, a king of Sparta and son of Atreus and Aerope*Menelaus on the Moon, named after Menelaus of Alexandria.*Menelaus , brother of Ptolemy I Soter...
. His name Oinomaos signifies him as a wine
Wine
Wine is an alcoholic beverage, made of fermented fruit juice, usually from grapes. The natural chemical balance of grapes lets them ferment without the addition of sugars, acids, enzymes, or other nutrients. Grape wine is produced by fermenting crushed grapes using various types of yeast. Yeast...
man.
Courtship of Hippodamia
PelopsPelops
In Greek mythology, Pelops , was king of Pisa in the Peloponnesus. He was the founder of the House of Atreus through his son of that name....
wanted to marry Hippodamia. King Oenomaus, her father, fearful of a prophecy that claimed he would be killed by his son-in-law, had killed thirteen suitors of Hippodamia after defeating them in a chariot race
Chariot racing
Chariot racing was one of the most popular ancient Greek, Roman and Byzantine sports. Chariot racing was often dangerous to both driver and horse as they frequently suffered serious injury and even death, but generated strong spectator enthusiasm...
and affixed their heads to the wooden columns of his palace. Pausanias
Pausanias (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...
was shown what was purported to be the last standing column in the late 2nd century CE. Pelops came to ask for her hand and prepared to race Oenomaus. Worried about losing, Pelops went to the seaside and invoked Poseidon, his former lover. Reminding Poseidon of their love ("Aphrodite
Aphrodite
Aphrodite is the Greek goddess of love, beauty, pleasure, and procreation.Her Roman equivalent is the goddess .Historically, her cult in Greece was imported from, or influenced by, the cult of Astarte in Phoenicia....
's sweet gifts"), he asked Poseidon for help. Smiling, Poseidon caused a chariot drawn by winged horses to appear. Pelops and Hippodamia, very much in love, devised a plan to replace the bronze linchpins attaching the wheels to the chariot
Chariot
The chariot is a type of horse carriage used in both peace and war as the chief vehicle of many ancient peoples. Ox carts, proto-chariots, were built by the Proto-Indo-Europeans and also built in Mesopotamia as early as 3000 BC. The original horse chariot was a fast, light, open, two wheeled...
axle with fake ones made of beeswax. The race began, and went on for a long time. But just as Oenomaus was catching up to Pelops and readying to kill him, the wheels flew off and the chariot broke apart. Oenomaus' charioteer, Myrtilus
Myrtilus
In Greek mythology, Myrtilus was a divine hero, a son of Hermes on Theobule , and charioteer of King Oenomaus of Pisa in Elis, on the northwest coast of the Peloponnesus....
, survived, but Oenomaus was dragged to death by his horses, although before dying he cursed Myrtilus. Pelops then killed Myrtilus (by throwing him off a cliff into the sea) after the latter attempted to claim Hippodamia.
In memory of Oenomaus, the Olympic Games were created (or alternatively the Olympic Games were in celebration of Pelops' victory). As Myrtilus died, he cursed Pelops. This was the source of the curse that haunted future generation of Pelops' children, including 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....
, Thyestes
Thyestes
In Greek mythology, Thyestes was the son of Pelops and Hippodamia, King of Olympia, and father of Pelopia and Aegisthus. Thyestes and his twin brother, Atreus, were exiled by their father for having murdered their half-brother, Chrysippus, in their desire for the throne of Olympia...
, Agamemnon
Agamemnon
In Greek mythology, Agamemnon was the son of King Atreus and Queen Aerope of Mycenae, the brother of Menelaus, the husband of Clytemnestra, and the father of Electra and Orestes. Mythical legends make him the king of Mycenae or Argos, thought to be different names for the same area...
, Aegisthus
Aegisthus
In Greek mythology, Aegisthus was the son of Thyestes and of Thyestes' daughter, Pelopia....
, Menelaus
Menelaus
Menelaus may refer to;*Menelaus, one of the two most known Atrides, a king of Sparta and son of Atreus and Aerope*Menelaus on the Moon, named after Menelaus of Alexandria.*Menelaus , brother of Ptolemy I Soter...
and 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....
. Also, the burial place of Myrtilus was a taraxippus
Taraxippus
The Taraxippus was a presence, either a ghost or a site, that frightened the horses during races at the Panhellenic Games....
in Olympia, a "horse-frightening place" during races. Oenomaus' chariot race was one legendary origin of the Olympic Games; one of its turning-posts was preserved, and round it grew an Elean
Elis
Elis, or Eleia is an ancient district that corresponds with the modern Elis peripheral unit...
legend of a burnt "house of Oenomaus", reported by Pausanias
Pausanias (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...
in the 2nd century CE.