In Greek mythology, Pelops (Greek Πέλοψ, from pelios: dark; and ops: face, eye) was venerated at Olympia, where his cult developed into the founding myth of the Olympic Games, the most important expression of unity, not only for the Peloponnesus, "land of Pelops", but for all Hellenes. At the sanctuary at Olympia, chthonic night-time libations were offered each time to "dark-faced" Pelops in his sacrificial pit (bothros) before they were offered to the sky-god Zeus (Burkert 1983:96). 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. ... Olympia among the principal Greek sanctuaries Olympia (Greek: Olympía or Olýmpia, older transliterations, Olimpia, Olimbia), a sanctuary of ancient Greece in Elis, is known for having been the site of the Olympic Games in classical times, comparable in importance to the Pythian Games held in Delphi. ... A founding myth is a story or myth surrounding the foundation of a nation-state. ... Ruins of the training grounds at Olympia The Ancient Olympic Games, originally referred to as simply the Olympic Games (Greek: ; Olympiakoi Agones) were a series of athletic competitions held between various city-states of Ancient Greece. ... 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. ... For other uses, see Chthon (disambiguation). ...

Genealogy

Pelops was a son of Tantalus and Dione. Of Phrygian or Lydian birth, he departed his homeland for Greece, and won the crown of Pisa (or Olympia) from King Oenomaus. Pelops was credited with numerous children, begotten on his wife Hippodameia, daughter of Oenomaus. Pelops' sons include Pittheus, Alcathous, Dias, Pleisthenes, Atreus, Thyestes, Copreus, and Hippalcimus. Pelops and Hippodameia also had several daughters, some of whom married into the House of Perseus, such as Astydameia (who married Alcaeus), Nicippe (who married Sthenelus), and Eurydice (who married Electryon). By the nymph Axioche, Pelops was father of Chrysippus. Tantalos, by Goya In Greek mythology Tantalus (Greek Τάνταλος) was a son of Zeus[1] and the nymph Plouto (riches)[2] Thus he was a king in the primordial world, the father of a son Broteas whose very name signifies mortals (brotoi)[3] Other versions name his father as Tmolus wreathed... Dione in Greek mythology is a vague goddess presence who has her most concrete form in Book V of Homers Iliad as the mother of Aphrodite: Aphrodite journeys to Diones side after she has been wounded in battle while protecting her favorite son Aeneas. ... Phrygian can refer to: A person from Phrygia The Phrygian language This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists other pages that might otherwise share the same title. ... Lydian was an Indo-European language, one of the Anatolian languages, that was spoken in the city-state of Lydia in Anatolia, present day Turkey. ... Pisa, or Pisatis, was the name of an ancient Greek town in Elis. ... Olympia among the principal Greek sanctuaries Olympia (Greek: Olympía or Olýmpia, older transliterations, Olimpia, Olimbia), a sanctuary of ancient Greece in Elis, is known for having been the site of the Olympic Games in classical times, comparable in importance to the Pythian Games held in Delphi. ... In Greek mythology, King Oenomaus of Pisa was the son of Ares by Harpina (daughter of Phliasian Asopus) and father of Hippodamia. ... Hippodamia, also Hippodamea, was a daughter of King Oenomaus and mother of Thyestes, Atreus, and Pittheus, Alacathous by Pelops. ... In Greek mythology, Pittheus was a son of Pelops and father of Aethra. ... In Greek mythology, Alcathous was a son of Pelops and Hippodamia. ... In Greek mythology, Pleisthenes was the a son of Pelops. ... 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. ... In Greek mythology, Copreus was King Eurystheus herald. ... Perseus with the head of Medusa, by Antonio Canova, completed 1801 (Vatican Museums) Perseus, Perseos, or Perseas (Greek: Περσεύς, Περσέως, Περσέας), the legendary founder of Mycenae and of the Perseid dynasty there, and was the hero who killed Medusa. ... In Greek mythology, Astydameia was the Queen of Iolcus and wife of Acastus. ... In Greek mythology, Alcaeus, or Alkaios was one of the Perseidae, a son of Perseus and Andromeda. ... Nicippe is the name of two women in Greek mythology Nicippe one of the fifty daughters of Thespius and Megamede. ... In Greek mythology, Sthenelus refers to four different people. ... In Greek Mythology, Eurydice was the daughter of Pelops and was married to Electryon, king of Mycenae and son of Perseus. ... In Greek mythology, Electryon was the father of Alcmene, son of Perseus and Andromeda, and king of Mycenae. ... In Greek mythology, Axioche (or Astioche) was a nymph. ... Laius abducting Chrysippus, who is reaching out to Pelops, his father (detail). ...

Tantalus' savage banquet

Pelops' father was Tantalus, king at Mount Sipylus in Anatolia. Wanting to make an offering to the Olympians, Tantalus cut Pelops into pieces and made his flesh into a stew, then served it to the gods. Demeter, deep in grief after the abduction of her daughter Persephone by Hades, absentmindedly accepted the offering and ate the left shoulder. The other gods sensed the plot, however, and held off from eating of the boy's body. Pelops was ritually reassembled and brought back to life, his shoulder replaced with one made of ivory made for him by Hephaestus. Pindar mentioned this tradition in his First Olympian Ode, only to reject it as a malicious invention. In Greek mythology, Mount Sipylus northeast of Smyrna in Lydia (southwestern Anatolia, now Turkey) was the region ruled by Tantalus. ... Anatolia and Europe Anatolia (Turkish: from Greek: Ανατολία - Anatolia) is a peninsula of Western Asia which forms the greater part of the Asian portion of Turkey, as opposed to the European portion (Thrace, or traditionally Rumelia). ... This article is about the grain goddess Demeter. ... Proserpine by Dante Gabriel Rossetti, 1874) (Tate Gallery, London In Greek mythology, Persephone (Greek Περσεφόνη, Persephónē) was the Queen of the Underworld of epic literature. ... Hades, Greek god of the underworld, enthroned, with his bird-headed staff, on a red-figure Apulian vase made in the 4th century BC. For other uses, see Hades (disambiguation). ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... Hephaestus, Greek god of forging, riding a Donkey; Greek drinking cup (skyphos) made in the 5th century BC Hephaestus (IPA pronunciation: or ; Greek Hêphaistos) was the Greek god whose Roman equivalent was Vulcan; he was the god of technology including, specifically blacksmiths, craftsmen, artisans, sculptors, metals and metallurgy, and...

After his resurrection, Pelops was more beautiful than before; Poseidon fell in love with him, took him to Olympus, and made the youth his lover, teaching him to drive the divine chariot. Later, Zeus threw Pelops out of Olympus, angry that his father, Tantalus, had stolen the food of the gods, given it to his subjects, and revealed the secrets of the gods. Neptune reigns in the city of Bristol. ... This article refers to a mountain in Greece. ...

Courting Hippodamia

Having grown to manhood Pelops 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. Pelops came to ask for her hand and prepared to race Oenomaus. Worried about losing, he went to the seaside and invoked Poseidon, his former lover.^[1] 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.^[2] Still unsure of himself, Pelops (or alternatively, Hippodamia herself) convinced Oenomaus' charioteer, Myrtilus, a son of Hermes, (by promising him half of Oenomaus' kingdom and the first night in bed with Hippodamia), to help him win. The night before the race, while Myrtilus was putting Oenomaus' chariot together, he replaced the bronze linchpins attaching the wheels to the chariot axle with fake ones made of beeswax. The race started, 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. Myrtilus survived, but Oenomaus was dragged to death by his horses. Pelops then killed Myrtilus (by throwing him off a cliff into the sea) after the latter attempted to rape Hippodamia. Hippodamia, also Hippodamea, was a daughter of King Oenomaus and mother of Thyestes, Atreus, and Pittheus, Alacathous by Pelops. ... In Greek mythology, King Oenomaus of Pisa was the son of Ares by Harpina (daughter of Phliasian Asopus) and father of Hippodamia. ... Chariot racing was one of the most popular ancient Greek and Roman sports. ... The Birth of Venus, (detail) by Sandro Botticelli, 1485 For other uses, see Aphrodite (disambiguation). ... 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. ... For other uses, see Hermes (disambiguation). ... For other uses, see Chariot (disambiguation). ...

Walter Burkert notes^[3] that though the story of Hippodamia's abduction figures in the Hesiodic Catalogue of Women and on the chest of Cypselus (ca. 570 BCE) that was conserved at Olympia, and though preparations for the chariot-race figured in the pediment of the great temple of Zeus at Olympia, the myth of the chariot race only became important at Olympia with the introduction of chariot racing in the twenty-fifth Olympiad (680 BCE). G. Devereux connected the abduction of Hippodamia with animal husbandry taboos of Elis,^[4] and the influence of Elis at Olympia that grew in the seventh century. The Catalogue of Women (Greek: γυναικῶν κατάλογος, gynaikon katalogos) is an epic of ancient Greek literature. ... Cypselus (or Kypselos) was the first tyrant of Corinth, Greece in the 7th century BC. With increased wealth and more complicated trade relations and social structures, Greek city-states tended to overthrow their traditional hereditary priest-kings; Corinth, the richest archaic polis, led the way. ... Chariot racing was one of the most popular ancient Greek and Roman sports. ...

Curse of the Pelopides

As Myrtilus died, he cursed Pelops for his ultimate betrayal. This was one of the sources of the curse that destroyed his family (two of his sons, Atreus and Thyestes killed a third, Chrysippus, who was his favorite son and was meant to inherit the kingdom; Atreus and Thyestes were banished by him together with Hippodamia, their mother, who then hanged herself) and haunted Pelops' children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren including Atreus, Thyestes, Agamemnon, Aegisthus, Menelaus and Orestes. 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. ... Laius abducting Chrysippus, who is reaching out to Pelops, his father (detail). ... This article is about a character in Greek mythology. ... In Greek mythology, Aegisthus (goat strength, also transliterated as Aegisthos or Aigísthos) was the son of Thyestes and his daughter, Pelopia. ... Menelaus regains Helen, detail of an Attic red-figure crater, ca. ... The Remorse of Orestes by William-Adolphe Bouguereau For other uses, see Orestes (disambiguation). ...

Pelop's cultus

The shrine of Pelops at Olympia, the Pelopion "drenched in glorious blood"^[5], described by Pausanias^[6] stood apart from the temple of Zeus, next to Pelops' grave-site by the ford in the river. It was enclosed with a circle of stones. Pelops was propitiated at night, with the offering of a black ram. His remains were contained in a chest near the sanctuary of Artemis Kordax (Pausanmias 6.22.1), though in earlier times a gigantic shoulder blade was shown; during the Trojan War, John Tzetzes said, Pelops' shoulder-blade was brought to Troy by the Greeks because the Trojan prophet Helenus claimed the Pelopids would be able to win by doing so.^[7]. Pausanias was told the full story:^[8] the shoulder-blade of Pelops was brought to Troy from Pisa, the rival of Elis; on the return, the bone was lost in a shipwreck, but afterwards recovered by a fisherman, miraculously caught in his net. 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. ... The fall of Troy, by Johann Georg Trautmann (1713–1769). ... John Tzetzes, was a Byzantine poet and grammarian, known to have lived at Constantinople during the 12th century. ... For other uses of Troy or Ilion, see Troy (disambiguation) and Ilion (disambiguation). ... Helenus was a Trojan soldier in the Trojan War. ... Pisa, or Pisatis, was the name of an ancient Greek town in Elis. ...

Pelops (son of Agamemnon)

There is another Pelops in Greek mythology. This was a son of Agamemnon and Cassandra. This Pelops, carrying the ancestral name, and his twin brother Teledamus (destined to have been "far-ruling"), the very emblems of the Pelopides, were murdered in their infancy by the usurper Aegisthus. For other uses, see Cassandra (disambiguation). ... In Greek mythology, Aegisthus (goat strength, also transliterated as Aegisthos or Aigísthos) was the son of Thyestes and his daughter, Pelopia. ...

Notes

For other uses, see Cicero (disambiguation). ... William Aiton (1731 - February 2, 1793) was a Scottish botanist. ... 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. ...

Spoken-word myths - audio files

For other uses, see Homer (disambiguation). ... 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. ... A statue of Euripides. ... Apollodorus was a common name in ancient Greece. ... For other uses, see Ovid (disambiguation) Publius Ovidius Naso (March 20, 43 BC – 17 AD) was a Roman poet known to the English-speaking world as Ovid who wrote on topics of love, abandoned women and mythological transformations. ... 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. ... 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. ... This article is about the Greek tragedian. ... A statue of Euripides. ... Apollodorus was a common name in ancient Greece. ... Diodorus Siculus (c. ... 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. ... Philostratus, was the name of four Greek sophists of the Roman imperial period: (c. ... Philostratus, was the name of four Greek sophists of the Roman imperial period: (c. ... Wikipedia does not have an article with this exact name. ... The Vatican Mythographer (Mythographus Vaticanus), a major source of Greek mythology, refers to three anonymous authors in the Vatican Library and in other manuscripts. ... 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. ...

Ancient sources

• Ovid, Metamorphoses VI, 403-11
• Apollodorus, Epitome II, 3-9; V, 10
• Pindar, Olympian Ode I
• Sophocles, Electra 504 and Oinomaos Fr. 433
• Euripides, Orestes 1024-1062
• Diodorus Siculus, Histories 4.73
• Hyginus, Fables: 84 - Oenomaus
• Pausanias, Description of Greece 5.1.3-7, 5.13.1, 6.21.9, 8.14.10-11
• Philostratus, Imagines 1.30 - Pelops
• Philostratus the Younger, Imagines 9 - Pelops
• First Vatican Mythographer, 22 Myrtilus, [[At", the Latinized spelling

For other uses, see Ovid (disambiguation) Publius Ovidius Naso (March 20, 43 BC – 17 AD) was a Roman poet known to the English-speaking world as Ovid who wrote on topics of love, abandoned women and mythological transformations. ... // Cover of George Sandyss 1632 edition of Ovids Metamorphosis Englished The Metamorphoses by the Roman poet Ovid is a poem in fifteen books that describes the creation and history of the world in terms according to Greek and Roman points of view. ... Apollodorus was a common name in ancient Greece. ... An epitome (Greek epitemnein—to cut short) is a summary or miniature form, also used as a synonym for embodiment. ... 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. ... This article is about the Greek tragedian. ... In Greek mythology, King Oenomaus of Pisa was the son of Ares by Sterope (or by Harpina daughter of Phliasian Asopus) and father of Hippodamia. ... A statue of Euripides. ... Orestes (408 BCE) is an Ancient Greek play by Euripides that follows the events of Orestes after he had murdered his mother. ... Diodorus Siculus (c. ... Gaius Julius Hyginus, (c. ... In Greek mythology, King Oenomaus of Pisa was the son of Ares by Harpina (daughter of Phliasian Asopus) and father of Hippodamia. ... 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. ... Philostratus, was the name of several, three (or four), Greek sophists of the Roman imperial period: Philostratus the Athenian (c. ... Philostratus, was the name of four Greek sophists of the Roman imperial period: (c. ... 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. ...

Modern sources

• Burkert, Walter (1983). "Pelops at Olympia", Homo Necans. University of California Press, 93-103. 
• Kerenyi, Karl (1959). The Heroes of the Greeks. New York/London: Thames and Hudson. 

Walter Burkert (born Neuendettelsau (Bavaria), February 2, 1931), the most eminent living scholar of Greek myth and cult, is an emeritus professor of classics at the University of Zurich, Switzerland who has also taught in the United Kingdom and the United States. ... Károly Kerényi One of the founders of modern studies in Greek mythology, Károly (Carl, Karl) Kerényi (January 19, 1897 - April 14, 1973) was born in modern-day Timisoara, Romania, and then lived in Hungary. ...

External links

• The sacrifice of Pelops, a fully developed story compiled from selected primary sources to highlight the shamanic and Promethean aspects of the tale. By Pindar's time this view would have been rejected.