In Greek mythology, Pirithous (also transliterated as Perithoos or Peirithoos) was the King of the Lapiths and husband of Hippodamia. He was either a son of Dia and Ixion or of Dia and Zeus. His best friend was Theseus. In Iliad I, Nestor numbers Pirithous and Theseus "of heroic fame" among an earlier generation of heroes of his youth, "the strongest men that Earth has bred, the strongest men against the strongest enemies, a savage mountain-dwelling tribe whom they utterly destroyed." No trace of such an oral tradition, which Homer's listeners would have recognized in Nestor's allusion, survived in literary epic. // Greek mythology consists in part in a large collection of narratives that explain the origins of the world and detail the lives and adventures of a wide variety of gods, goddesses, heroes, and heroines. ... Transliteration is a mapping from one system of writing into another. ... In Greek mythology, the Lapiths were a semi-legenday, semi-historical race, whose home was in Thessaly in the valley of the Peneus. ... From hippos (horse) and damazo (to tame), Tamer of horses. ... Dia (bright sky) in Greek mythology was the mother of the Lapith Pirithous, whose marriage to Hippodameia was the occasion of the Lapiths battle with the Centaurs. ... This article is about the Greek myth. ... Dia (bright sky) in Greek mythology was the mother of the Lapith Pirithous, whose marriage to Hippodameia was the occasion of the Lapiths battle with the Centaurs. ... Statue of Zeus Phidias created the 12-m (40-ft) tall statue of Zeus at Olympia about 435 BC. The statue was perhaps the most famous sculpture in ancient Greece, imagined here in a 16th-century engraving. ... Theseus (Greek Θησεύς) was a legendary king of Athens, son of Aegeus (or of Poseidon) and of Aethra. ...

In episodes that have survived, Pirithous had heard rumors about Theseus' courage and strength in battle but he wanted proof. He drove Theseus' herd of cattle from Marathon and Theseus set out to pursue him. Pirithous took up arms and the pair met, then became so impressed by each other they took oaths of friendship. Marathon (Greek, Modern: Μαραθώνας Marathona or Marathonas, Ancient/ Katharevousa: Μαραθών, Marathon) is a town in Greece, the site of the battle of Marathon in 490 BC, in which the Athenian army defeated the Persians. ...

They helped hunt the Calydonian Boar. Later, Pirithous was set to marry Hippodamia (offspring: Polypoetes). The centaurs were guests at the party, but they got drunk and tried to abduct the women, including Hippodamia. The Lapiths won the ensuing battle, a favorite motif of Greek art. The Calydonian Hunt shown on a Roman frieze (Ashmolean Museum, Oxford) The Calydonian Boar is one of the many monsters in Greek mythology, which met its end in the Calydonian Hunt, a popular subject in classical art. ... From hippos (horse) and damazo (to tame), Tamer of horses. ... In Greek mythology, Polypoites or Polypoetes (Greek: Πολυποίτης) was the name of several individuals: Polypoites was a son of Hippodamia and Pirithous. ... See also centaur (planetoid), Centaur (rocket stage) Guido Reni, Abduction of Deianira, 1620-21 In Greek mythology, the centaurs (Greek: Κένταυροι) are a race part human and part horse, with a horses body and a human head and torso (illustration, right). ...

Theseus and Pirithous pledged to marry daughters of Zeus. Theseus chose Helen and together they kidnapped her when she was 13 years of age and decided to hold onto her until she was old enough to marry. Pirithous chose Persephone. They left Helen with Theseus' mother, Aethra and travelled to the underworld, domain of Persephone and her husband, Hades. Hades pretended to offer them hospitality and set a feast; as soon as the pair sat down, either snakes coiled around their feet and held them there or the stone itself grew and attached itself to their thighs. Statue of Zeus Phidias created the 12-m (40-ft) tall statue of Zeus at Olympia about 435 BC. The statue was perhaps the most famous sculpture in ancient Greece, imagined here in a 16th-century engraving. ... Helen () was the wife of Menelaus and reputed to be the most beautiful woman in the world; her abduction by Paris brought about the Trojan War. ... Persephone, the Maiden: the late Archaic Kore of Antenor from the Acropolis, Athens In Greek mythology, Persephone (Greek Περσεφόνη, Classical Greek Persephónē, Modern Greek Persefóni) was the queen of the Underworld, the Kore or young maiden, and the daughter of Demeter. ... In Greek mythology, Aethra was a daughter of King Pittheus of Troezena and, with Aegeas, or in some versions, Poseidon, mother of Theseus. ... ...

Heracles freed Theseus but the earth shook when he attempted to liberate Pirithous. When Theseus returned to Athens, the Dioscuri (Helen's twin brothers Castor and Pollux) had taken Helen and Aethra back to Sparta. Pirithous remained in Hades for eternity. Hercules, a Roman bronze (Louvre Museum) In Greek mythology, Heracles, or Herakles (glory of Hera, Ἥρα + κλέος, )(Etruscan Hercle) was a divine hero, the son of Zeus and Alcmene, stepson of Amphitryon and great-grandson of Perseus. ... Castor (or Kastor) and Polydeuces (sometimes called Pollux), were in Greek mythology the twin sons of Leda and the brothers of Helen of Troy and Clytemnestra. ... In Greek mythology, Aethra was a daughter of King Pittheus of Troezena and, with Aegeas, or in some versions, Poseidon, mother of Theseus. ... Sparta (Doric: Σπάρτα, Attic (and Koine): Σπάρτη) was a state in ancient Greece, whose territory included, in Classical times, all Laconia and Messenia, and which was the most powerful state of the Peloponnesus. ...

References

• Homer, Odyssey XXI, 295-305, XI, 631;
• Apollodorus, Bibliotheke;
• Ovid, Metamorphoses, XII.