Laius abducting Chrysippus, who is reaching out to Pelops, his father (detail). Volute crater, ca. 320 BCE. The Getty, Malibu, California.

In Greek mythology, Chrysippus was a divine hero of Elis in the Peloponnesus, a young boy, the bastard son of Pelops and the nymph Axioche. He was kidnapped by the Theban Laius, his tutor, who was escorting him to the Nemean Games, where the boy planned to compete. Instead, Laius ran away with him to Thebes and raped him, a crime for which he, his city, and his family were later punished by the gods. Download high resolution version (964x882, 604 KB) The copyright status of this vintage image is undetermined; it may still be copyrighted. ... Download high resolution version (964x882, 604 KB) The copyright status of this vintage image is undetermined; it may still be copyrighted. ... The bust of Zeus found at Otricoli (Sala Rotonda, Museo Pio-Clementino, Vatican) Greek mythology is the body of stories 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. ... Elis, or Eleia (Greek, Modern: Ήλιδα Ilida, Ancient/Katharevousa: Ήλις, also Ilis, Doric: Άλις) is an ancient district within the modern prefecture of Ilia. ... Peloponnesos (Greek: Πελοπόννησος, sometime Latinized as Peloponnesus or Anglicized as The Peloponnese) is a large peninsula in Greece, forming the part of the country south of the Isthmus of Corinth. ... // Illegitimacy is a term that was once in common use for the status of being born to parents who were not validly married to one another. ... In Greek mythology, Pelops (Greek Πέλοψ) (from pelios: dark; and ops: face, eye) was a son of Tantalus and Dione. ... In Greek mythology, Axioche (or Astioche) was a nymph. ... Thebes (in Demotic Greek: Θήβα — Thíva, Katharevousa: — ThÄ“bai or Thíve) is a city in Greece, situated to the north of the Cithaeron range, which divides Boeotia from Attica, and on the southern edge of the Boeotian plain. ... In Greek mythology, King Laius, or Laios of Thebes was a divine hero and key personage in the Theban founding myth. ... The Nemean Games were one of the Panhellenic Games of Ancient Greece, and were held at Nemea every two years. ... Look up deity in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ...

Chryssipus's death was related in various ways. One author who cites Peisandros as his source claims that he killed himself with his sword out of shame.^[1] Hellanikos and Thucydides write that he was killed out of jealousy by Atreus and Thyestes, his half-brothers, who cast him into a well. They had been sent by their mother, Hippodamia, who feared Chrysippus would inherit Pelops's throne instead of her sons. Atreus and Thyestes, together with their mother, were banished by Pelops and took refuge in Mycene. There Hippodamia hanged herself. Hellanicus of Lesbos (in Ancient Greek Hellanicós) (born in Mytilene on the isle of Lesbos in 490 BC) was an ancient Greek logographer who flourished during the latter half of the 5th century BC. He is reputed to have lived to the age of 85. ... Bust of Thucydides residing in the Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto. ... In Greek mythology, King Atreus (Greek: Ατρεύς, Atreús) (fearless) of Mycenae was the son of Pelops and Hippodamia and father of Agamemnon and Menelaus. ... In Greek mythology, Thyestes was the son of Pelops, King of Mycenae, and Hippodamia and father of Pelopia and Aegisthus. ... Hippodamia, also Hippodamea, was a daughter of King Oenomaus and mother of Thyestes, Atreus, and Pittheus, Alacathous by Pelops. ... This article is about the Greek archaeological site. ...

The death of Chryssippus is sometimes seen as springing from the curse that Myrtilus placed on Pelops. In Greek mythology, Myrtilus was a divine hero, a son of Hermes on Theobula, and charioteer of King Oenomaus of Pisa in Elis, on the northwest coast of the Peloponnesus. ...

See also

• Theban pederasty

Laius abducting Chrysippus, who is reaching out to Pelops, his father. ...

Spoken-word myths – audio files

Pindar (or Pindarus) (probably born 522 BC in Cynoscephalae, a village in Boeotia; died 443 BC in Argos), was perhaps the greatest of the nine lyric poets of ancient Greece. ... Apollodorus was a common name in ancient Greece. ... Gaius Julius Hyginus, (c. ... Pausanias (Greek: ) was a Greek traveller and geographer of the 2nd century A.D., who lived in the times of Hadrian, Antoninus Pius and Marcus Aurelius. ... Athenaeus (ca. ... Clement of Alexandria (Titus Flavius Clemens), was the first member of the Church of Alexandria to be more than a name, and one of its most distinguished teachers. ...

Notes

1. ^ Gantz, Timothy. Early Greek Myth. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1993, p. 489